Guillaume Côté's Leslieville

The National Ballet of Canada principal dancer takes us on a tour of his favourite spots

- JEAN GRANT

AFTER MORE THAN 20 years mesmerizing audiences with gravity-defying leaps and soulful performances, Guillaume Côté is retiring from the stage at the end of the 2024/25 season. Next, he'll focus on choreographing edgy contemporary pieces for his company, Côté Danse, where he serves as artistic director. He's been a devoted east ender for the past 25 years, and he currently lives at Jones and Dundas, near Greenwood Park, with his girlfriend, Sophie, and his two kids, who are nine and seven. “I used to love the east end for its grunginess,” he says. “Now I love it for the community feel.” Here are his go-to neighbourhood haunts.

For weekend fuel

MERCURY ESPRESSO

“Some espresso bars make you feel like an idiot if you're not cool enough—and I'm a 40-something ballet dancer. But Mercury has a chill atmosphere, and the coffee is fantastic. They also feature local art. One day, I walked in and saw the hyper-realist work of Lily Le, an illustrator I worked with on a production called Crypto, hanging on the walls. My go-to order is a triple-wet espresso macchiato. “Wet” is a fancy way of saying a bit of milk and foam. It's a lot of caffeine.” 915 Queen St. E., instagram.com/mercuryespresso