Many of us have clustered around the cozy tables of Snakes & Lattes (Lattes, for short), or its recently opened counterpart, Snakes & Lagers (Lagers, for short). For those of you who don’t know, Snakes & Lattes is a board game cafe at Bloor & Bathurst, conveniently close to the St. George Campus. For a cover charge of $5, you can stay at Snakes for as long as you like, playing games from their absolutely enormous collection. I sat down with U of T alumnus (studied: Film, History, and English), co-owner, and Director of Operations of the Snakes family, Aaron Zack, to get his take on coffee, food, beer, and of course, the board games and card games that we all know and love.
Origins & Growth
I have always been a huge fan of Snakes and Lattes, ever since I first went in August of 2011. It was much smaller then, with half of the cafe located in the basement. Snakes has since closed down the basement, expanding to accommodate the enormous amount of people coming through on evenings and weekends.
Aaron: “Snakes opened August of 2010, just a very small part of the space we were in now, maybe 1000-1200 sq. ft. at 600 Bloor, just a tiny part of the room we’re in now. We expanded over the years, taking over the space at 602 Bloor, and now 604 Bloor – we now have over 6000 sq. On Feb.1st, 2014, we opened up a new bar – Lagers down by College and Bathurst (488 College Street).”
Snakes & Lagers
I was incredibly curious about Lagers, as it has been open for a year now and I’ve never been legally (without implying I’ve gone illegally) able to go. Aaron says that it’s definitely something different, directed towards young adults who want to go out with friends and have fun – without the shouting matches of a nightclub or bar.
Aaron: “[The inspiration for Lager] evolved out of my desire to create an alternative space to [Lattes] to offer something a little different. Lattes grew as an organic space, and this [Snakes & Lagers] is our first opportunity to create a directed concept. [Lagers] is a lot more focused, we wanted to create an alternative to going out to a regular bar. Something a lot more quiet, that wasn’t just yelling to try to talk to people, and you can incorporate board games into that to create a more holistic experience.”
What’s so different about the two locations?
Games
Aaron says the main difference between the two are the game collections – at one point, Aaron mentioned that Lattes has the largest circulating public library of board games in North America (though with the caveat that he can’t be sure of that – I checked: it’s officially Jeff Bauspies in the US with 1531 different games – sorry!) Aaron estimates approximately 1500 playable games in Lattes’ collection, but with many more that are non-playable for a variety of reasons.
Aaron: “The game collection is smaller at [Lagers], around 300 games, and curated, to create a space that focuses on social interaction. If you’re out with friends for a night, you don’t want to be staring down at your cards for three hours. We selected games like Cockroach Poker or Bohnanza – games where you have to interact, and are probably a lot easier to play when you’re drinking than say, Twilight Struggle”
Now that’s a collection.
Aaron’s Recommendation: This was a very difficult answer to get, as it must be so difficult to choose a single game. But he recommends Shadow Hunters, Citadels, Cockroach Poker – games where he can impact other players and they can do the same. Lying is so much more fun than math and obsessing over every detail.
Food
I have been to Lattes often enough to know that the food is absolutely delicious. But, Lagers’ menu moves away from sandwiches and baked treats, to bring you fare such as cured meats and artisan cheeses, as well as prepared dishes such as bison burgers and honey-citrus salmon. Their kitchen was initially designed by Jamie Kennedy (a Canadian chef who won the first Governor General’s Award in Celebration of the Nation’s Table in 2010, and received the Order of Canada for his cooking talents).
Aaron: “Snakes & Lattes initially didn’t have the resources to create what we do at Snakes & Lagers. It grew as a bistro, based off of my experiences and Ben Oitcastanie’s (co-founder) experiences. But with Snakes & Lagers, we wanted to do something geared towards young adults, beginning with a snack menu with fun and cute foods. But now we’re focusing on larger meals such as traditional pub fare, and we put a lot of innovation into our food, cocktails, and beer.”
The Petit Mac, a Snakes & Lagers take on the Big Mac
Beer
Aaron commented that “beer and board games are a natural pairing,” and I have to say that I agree. Lattes will be serving alcohol soon, so feel free to start the afternoon there, and move to Lagers in the evening. Lagers serves a selection of craft beers, in-house cocktails, as well as scotches, wine, whiskey, and tequila.
Aaron: “I think both beer and board games are emerging industries here that are really drawing a lot of attention to each other, and work nicely with each other in terms of shared environment. As well, there’s just this huge amount of passion by the makers of both beer and board games, so they really work as a natural pairing.”
Aaron’s Recommendation: Febrewary by Beau’s brewery, with a new craft beer every week, served with Buster Balloon (balloons are put into a cage of sorts, and you roll a die to see how many nails you have to stick into it – if it pops you lose).
Coffee
Lattes has Lagers beat in terms of coffee (although in fairness, Lagers doesn’t serve coffee).
Aaron: “Coffee is great because it helps you focus on the game, beer is great because it helps you forget that you lost. This place just wouldn’t be the same without coffee. We’ve won best cafe in the city for the last two years, we take our coffee very seriously, and it’s because we work with great roasters, equipment, and training, coming from the people in the industry. Again, coffee and board games are a natural pairing – both industries have members that are highly enthusiastic and passionate about what they do.”
Aaron’s Recommendation: The Nutella Latte. Nutella blended with espresso, with steamed milk poured over it. Served with King of New York, Splendour, or Lords of Waterdeep.
I’ve had this. It’s delicious.
Growth
The tabletop game scene has certainly exploded in the city over the past few years, beginning with North America’s first board game cafe and Toronto’s first board game bar, both courtesy of the Snakes family. Why?
Aaron: “I definitely think it comes down to two things: One, we showed people who were interested that this concept is viable and can be successful. The other reason is that we live in a highly tech-connected age breeding social disconnect, so people want to connect in a real and visceral way, an environment which board games provide. I love Toronto, I’m from Toronto, but we can be slightly reserved so that can make social interaction a little more difficult.”
Future
Snakes has grown so much since I was a wispy little grade 9, walking in to play a game of Scrabble or Blokus. So what is the future of Snakes? Are we going to see board game cafes become as ubiquitous as Starbucks in Toronto? That would certainly be a dream come true for me – anyone who’s been to Snakes on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon knows getting a table is nearly impossible.
Aaron:“I’d love it if every major city in North America had a Snakes. We’re in very early stages right now, since the company’s only four years old, and we’ve been very lucky. We definitely would like to expand and there are expansion plans, but I can’t say much more than that.”
On U of T
Aaron: “U of T is a great place, and I always found it funny how U of T students will talk smack about U of T the entire time they’re there, but if anyone else tries to say a word about U of T, then hold on a second there. It’s kind of like a family thing, where you can say it, but no one else can.”
Damn straight.
Photo Sources:
https://fromundermyrock.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/2-snakes-and-lattes1…
http://www.snakesandlattes.com/img/layout/logo-lattes-black.png
http://www.snakesandlagers.com/img/layout/logo-black-bg.png
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/b4/2d/8f/snakes-lattes…
http://www.blogto.com/listings/restaurants/upload/2014/01/20140120-snake…