Caffeine culture boom

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This article was published 22/04/2025 (514 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A shimmering iridescent wall greets visitors inside Saintuary. The glass shifts from pink to purple to green in the sunlight — a fitting visual metaphor for a coffee shop that’s also an art gallery, also a bar, also an all-purpose event space.

Saintuary is one of two new Exchange District cafés offering more than lattes and pastry. Nearby, Sho Coffee and Bar operates as a European-style coffee shop by day and a cocktail-forward lounge by night.

The multipurpose businesses are the latest addition to the neighbourhood’s vibrant coffee scene, which boasts the highest concentration of independently owned cafés in Winnipeg.

The Exchange is also home to the city’s first third-wave coffee shop, Parlour Coffee — a 2011 venture at 468 Main St. from Winnipegger Nils Vik that inspired a local café revolution fuelled by artisanal espresso and minimalist decor.

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Saintuary owner Scott Ramos, a barber by trade, credits the Main Street institution for spurring his interest in coffee culture more than a decade ago.

“I got my first job at Berns and Black (salon) on Main Street and that was actually how I got introduced to coffee. Parlour was right next door and I was like, ‘One day, I want to do something like that,’” he says.

That day finally came when Ramos opened the doors to Saintuary in December 2024. The café at 123 James Ave. is an offshoot of his barbershop, Saint, which is located around the corner on Waterfront Drive.

The high-ceilinged coffee shop features a sleek, glowing counter and seating for 50 people between the sunny dining room and second-floor loft. There’s a garage door that will open onto a large south-facing patio come summer.

“I love meeting with friends for coffee, I love meeting friends for cocktails and I also love events.”–Scott Ramos

The colourful, eye-catching glass wall carries into a second room, which over the last four months has hosted vintage clothing pop-ups, art classes, poetry readings and dance classes.

When Ramos, who lives in the Exchange, first saw the space he imagined opening a café-slash-salon, but decided to simplify — kind of.

Instead, Saintuary has become a multifaceted gathering place that embodies its owner’s diverse interests. Caffeine is the entry point.

“I like waking up to a challenge. Being behind the chair is so repetitive that I need some extra flavours; I don’t want to just eat the same old chicken and rice everyday,” Ramos says.

“I love meeting with friends for coffee, I love meeting friends for cocktails and I also love events.”

Learning how to run a café and event planning business with no prior experience has been challenging indeed, but it doesn’t seem to have hampered his imagination. While leading a tour of the space, Ramos talks excitedly about plans for new decor, lighting and menu items.

The shop sells hot and cold coffee beverages, with a tight breakfast and lunch menu featuring overnight oats, croast (a croissant egg sandwich), a tomato burrata bowl and other bites. Smoothies and gourmet cereals are on the horizon.

“The shelf life on cereal is forever if you keep it fresh,” he says, offering another apt metaphor for his approach to business.

Saintuary is open seven days a week for café service with regular pop-up events. Visit saintuary.com for more info.

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Gregory Alieksanov towers over the black espresso machine sitting atop the service counter at Sho Coffee and Bar.

The counter runs the length of the long, narrow beverage bar at 290 William Ave., with coffee cups and flavoured syrup giving way to an ice well and liquor shelf.

The moody room gets progressively darker the deeper you travel — a nod to the business’s parallel personalities.

Owner Alieksanov came to Winnipeg from Ukraine three years ago following the Russian invasion. In April 2024, he opened Sho, which translates to “What” in Ukrainian, in an effort to bring a taste of European café and bar culture to his new home.

“We have a different experience and different understanding about the coffee, about the culture, about the service, so we just want to bring something new for this good area and for the city,” he says.

Alieksanov also lives in the Exchange District and saw the neighbourhood as an ideal location for his latest hospitality project.

“You can do whatever you want; just pay, I don’t care.”–Gregory Alieksanov

“All my businesses, I open in the downtown, the city centre,” says the entrepreneur, who has worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years and has opened more than a dozen of what he describes as “high-level” concepts in Europe, India, China and elsewhere.

“It has a soul because it’s an old area, and there is a lot of bus stops and (college) campuses here, which is very important for a coffee shop because you must have walking traffic.”

Located in a renovated former office building, Sho has a crisp, casual vibe and a detail-oriented menu that changes seasonally.

During the day, you can find crafty hot and cold drinks, including an espresso and orange juice concoction called a Bumble.

“It sounds weird, but it’s nice,” Alieksanov says with a laugh.

There’s a savoury daytime menu with crepes and salads, and a dessert case stocked daily with elegant pavlovas, eclairs and individual cakes. (Sho’s pastry chef used to work in a kitchen with two Michelin stars and Alieksanov says he plans to open the province’s first starred restaurant if the Michelin Guide ever comes to Manitoba.)

On weekend nights, the lights dim and the disco ball starts spinning along to DJ-powered dance music, with mixologists shaking craft cocktails.

“We have the music loud in the bar area and then it’s quiet over here so you can talk to your date,” Alieksanov says, pointing to the windowed alcove near the entrance.

“You can do whatever you want; just pay, I don’t care.”

Sho is open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to midnight, with extended hours coming this summer. Visit shocoffeebar.ca for more information.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com