Saint James

Saint James is built like a specialty coffee bar and runs a kitchen that cooks like a brunch room. The two parts do not sit beside each other so much as fold into the same day. Espresso drinks and composed tartines belong to one daily rhythm — eight in the morning until three in the afternoon, every day, on James Street North — and the menu treats that overlap as the point rather than the compromise. A coffee stop could be a coffee stop; this one decided that the food on the plates and the food in the case ought to be cooked at the same level of attention as the drinks.

The Avocado Tartine is the clearest order for a first visit. Sourdough holds avocado, roasted pepper, feta, a fried egg, salsa verde and lentils — bright, filling, and built like a small composed plate rather than a stack on toast. The Smoked Salmon & Eggs Tartine works the savoury side: soft-scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, sour cream and pickled onions. The Mushroom Tartine sets goat cheese and sauteed mushrooms under a fried egg and grated romano, and the Bacon & Eggs Tartine runs soft scramble with chive, pickled chili and bacon. When the table wants something handheld, the Butter Croissant BLT layers tomato, leaf lettuce, bacon and herb mayo through a toasted butter croissant. The Falafel Salad — arugula, house-made falafel, feta, lentils, pickled onion, an eight-minute egg, pita crisps and za'atar — is the plant-forward sit-down.