Les P’tits Enfants de Felice Arrives on Parc From Ex-Olimpico Barista

Is peak coffee something that Mile Enders should worry about? Apparently not yet, as newcomer Les P’tits Enfants de Felice threw open its doors over the weekend. It takes the place of decades-old Greek bakery Navarino, which closed in December as its owner sold it off to head into retirement.

Felice is very much cut from the same cloth as other classic cafes around town focused on Italian espresso — a notch below third-wave options for price with $3 lattes; no bitterness. Owner Vince Spinale used to work a stone’s throw away at neighbourhood hub Café Olimpico around the corner. It’s a similar trajectory to Vito Azzue of Villeray’s Café Vito, who spent a couple of decades on Saint-Viateur and Waverly before going solo.

Inside the cafe, most traces of Navarino are gone — where the Greek cafe-bakery was a little dim with homey wooden furniture, Felice is bright and shiny, with a white and red colour scheme and glossy red banquette along one wall, with the requisite TV on a sports network. Felice does still have the iconic Navarino waitress sign, though. There’s space out front for a terrasse in summer, too.

Not unlike Olimpico or nearby Club Social, order at the counter, and coffee is efficiently whipped up by a duo working the cash and the machine. There’s biscotti and pastries on offer, too.

STATUS — Les P’tits Enfants de Felice is open seven days at 5563 Parc. It’s cash only for the time being, until an Interac machine is installed.

• Mile End Greek Bakery Navarino to Close After A Half-Century [EMTL]
• Les P’tits Enfants de Felice [Official]