Douce France — Attraction in Toronto

Horrific! A struggling café owner holds her customers hostage to pay her rent!!

It is a beautiful sunny Saturday, we went there with our friends.We ordered coffee and hot chocolate, the owner asks is that all you are ordering today? We will have coffee for now and we may feel like having something else in a bit.

An hour later, the café owner comes out and asks if she could get us the check, we did not ask for it and we had the intention of staying longer as we were waiting for another friend to join us and naturally we will order more as we were enjoying ourselves and they had a wide selection of pastries. We said ok, we can pay now, so I paid our check $23.00​ (including %15 tip)​ and went back to sit with my friends.

Suddenly, the owner comes out again and asks us to leave now, we were stunned​!!! Then she starts telling us, I am sorry but you have to leave, this is not a Starbucks where you sit forever without having except coffee, I have to pay my rental and you aren't ordering anymore (who said that?). Stunned to her rudeness and ​m​misdemeanor we couldn't believe this is actually happening and to us! She kept repeating herself in an aggressive tone, unconsciously standing in our way to get out from the terrace, I told her we are leaving...she couldn't stop herself from repeating and lecturing us (we and other customers were so disturbed and disappointed)

We left in wonder how this seemingly nice lady is such a miserable person who is so frustrated and struggling and is simply self sabotaging her business by holding her customers hostage to her struggle to pay her rent (as she mentioned to us):

To the cafe owner: you will never amount to more than barely paying your rent, here is why:

You carry yourself all the time wherever you go "you become what you think amd bring about". You dumped your conditioned mind on us thinking that's all we are ordering and because our orders didn't meet your scheduled time & financial cap you lost it on your customers.

Your business will always be struggling projecting your scarce mind and attitude "scarcity conjures more scarcity". You couldn't expect more so you ruined the whole experience, life cant give you more than what you expect of it.

You couldn't be grateful for what you have made in one hour rather spoiling good energy and tossing it all with your greed and conditional rude service.

You​ ​c​ouldnt​ see beyond your feet."It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it" if you think about that, you will do things differently. Have you learned about "the word of mouth" and the "art of hospitality" before you open your cafe?

You need to grow up and manage your expectations, otherwise you are a self fulfilling prophecy in all your surroundings. I feel so sorry for you, your business and everyone who have to deal with...

Ever want to try and see what the French gets to enjoy every hour and every day? Douce France goes out annually to France and brings back only the best to share with us frozen Canadians. They're actually there now till the end of February sourcing their 2018 items to let us try and nibble.

A small little quaint and rustic cafe just north of the busy intersection of Yonge & Eg. It looks more like a retail store but you can definitely sit among the shelves to enjoy a piece of Paris. The staff here is lead by a lovely lady who has the most wonderful crisp French Parisienne accent. She was very thoughtful to explain all the different treats that I've never heard of ... including the Soleil (yeah how could I resist.. blueberry or raspberry gelee and wrapped in marzipan).

Here you can find many wonderful things that could be amazing host gifts or just a day to indulge in all the best butter and sugar confections. This also include the very famous and well known Angelina Hot Chocolate. As you go further back, youll find a few more savoury options including sauces and preserved vegetables.

Just be aware on a few things... it's not cheap and barely affordable. A simple bag of candies can easily set you back $18 (My Soleils did!). That being said, you can find some gems here that are not only wonderful but wallet friendly. Kouignamann were here too and I would have loved to try the Brittany treat but ... I decided on the Soleils and Canele.

Canele - One of my favourite baked treats from France. This is simple ingredients transformed into something absolutely wonderful. They're baked in bronze casts that allows the sugar to create a wonderful dark caramelized crust that is crispy and gives a nice crunch when biting into it. The flavour should be a rich vanilla and rum scent throughout and saturating the eggy airy custard inside. The texture would be like a super fresh steamed Vietnamese rice cake... a bouncy and lovely chew to it. The ones from Douce France are not quite there... the flavour profile and colour are all there. It's just the wrong texture. It was soft and doughy throughout the exterior and interior. That being said, the price was very favourable... Only $1.10 for a medium sized one. For the best Canele, try Blackbird or Roselle... both sell out consistently for good reason. 4/5

Is it for an every day trip.. probably not. I would even say that it's not even weekly. It can put a serious dent into your wallet but what a joy to find the occasional gem that gives you a bit of...

Edit: Childish response from the owner confirms what I thought. It reflects how bitter the woman actually is.

The store does have a few good products, that are however overpriced. I went there a few times because my friend thought it was the only place that would offer good bread. The owner will explain to you all the pastries and bread are made in France and baked on premises. In my opinion, it is such a ridiculous idea to ship bread from overseas, just to say it is from France and overcharge people. It makes more sense to just find a good French baker locally in Toronto, trust me, there are a few! The thing that bothers me the most is the owner's attitude. She constantly pushes you to buy things, which normal when you own your business. It's just her overall behaviour that is disturbing. She does lack some social skills. She tries to sell mustard that is expired, which is not legal to my knowledge. When my friend told her the bread she bought the past time was not fresh, the owner did not make an attempt to fix the situation even though my friend was a regular customer. She does not recognize people either. My friend and I are both native French speakers: she speaks French to a white person but when speaking to someone of colour, she will switch to English. Whether she does it consciously or not, we will stop supporting her business!!

Reading the owner's response and I'm not surprised. She is not receptive to any kind of feedback. The tone of her response will give customers an idea of who she is. Money oriented, not interested in building a good relationship with customers. No, my intention is not to hurt your business, I could posted pictures if I really wanted to. You, however, definitely do not make a good job at being unprofessional. Being humble is sometimes and listening to customers, Madame, would be the best response. You can't keep attacking people when they have things to say. Again, instead of working so hard to sell products at any costs, you should work on your social...