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Music

New cafe plays to a different beat

If you’ve passed by the old Bike Pirates location at Bloor and Lansdowne recently, you might have noticed it’s looking a lot more presentable.

“There used to be a lot of spray-painted dicks on the walls,” says Erika Supply, who, along with business partner Jess Montebello, is making more than just superficial changes to the old renegade bike shop.

Their business, D-Beatstro, aims to be a wholly accessible community-focused cafe and event space, and they’re well on their way to seeing that vision through.

After a successful crowd-funding campaign, the two got to work on shaping the space to their needs. Now outfitted with two accessible washrooms, a hand-painted banner designed by artist Bree Crosby (which also adorns the cafe’s mugs), newly refinished floors and fresh drywall with a creative exposed brick feature, 1292 Bloor looks completely rejuvenated.

But they didn’t do it alone. Montebello explains, “We’re a very community-minded space, and the whole thing is very DIY. So we’ve been lucky that our friends have helped us out with all the work.”

Even the counter that we stand around during our interview was born from their supportive network. Bike Pirates donated the black and green milk crates that make up the base of the counter, and the remarkable wooden top, made from locally sourced fallen ash, is a contribution from a friend.

Having such a strong network is a tribute to Supply and Montebello’s punk rock roots (the name D-Beatstro is a play on the classic punk rock drum beat “d-beat”). The two met when putting together a launch party for Supply’s punk compilation This Is Not A Test, the proceeds of which went to Girls Rock Camp Toronto and Sistering. Supply recalls being “really blown away by how organized Jess was and how amazingly she ran everything.”

The pair quickly realized they shared more than a love for punk, and that their interests extended into wanting to start their own business – specifically, a cafe.

When asked about the connection between food and punk, Supply says it all comes down to politics. “Where [the food] comes from, how it gets here, how the workers are treated. It’s all in punk politics. Anti-oppressive politics.”

The cafe specializes in vegan cuisine, but plans to roll out the menu slowly. For now, they’re serving up hot cups of coffee, courtesy of Dark City Roasters.

Starting their own business wasn’t without its headaches, but they’re still excited about getting the place up and running. Issues with a neighbour upstairs set their launch back by a month, but they quickly rebounded, this time with the support of people from outside the punk community, like Councillor Ana Bailão, the Bloordale BIA and their neighbour the Caribbean Queen of Patties.

“She’s like our cheerleader,” Supply says of the Queen. “She’s really supportive of other women starting their own businesses.”

“It’s been really nice to see that people are as excited as we are about this,” beams Montebello.

Though the two feel a sense of accomplishment at having made it this far, they explain that there’s still a lot of work to do, including getting their kitchen in order. They’ve launched another crowd-funding campaign, and if they meet their target amount, they’ll have an official launch for D-Beatstro in June.

In the meantime, they’ve started hosting events ranging from children’s screenprinting classes, panel discussions on accountability and the highly anticipated punk rock lottery show to keep the space busy and open to their community. More info on upcoming events and the crowd-funding campaign can be found on their Facebook page.

music@nowtoronto.com | @therewasnosound

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