A New Coffee Kiosk at Union Station

Toronto Urban Sketchers Union Station Pilot coffee watercolor art

The Toronto Urban Sketchers recently gathered at Union Station for a sketching session. What caught my attention was a new coffee shop kiosk called pilot, right in the middle of the space. The booth has a unique shape is reminiscent of a paper airplane. I wonder if the name was the inspiration behind the design of the space. Not that coffee has much to do with a plane, other than perhaps the fact that it's imported and may have travelled by plane. I couldn't find any information about the story behind the name on their website. Maybe the concept of the plane was the idea of the architect, Williamson Chong, or maybe it's pure coincidence. But the shape of the booth definitely got my attention, so I sketched it. There is not a lot of space for the baristas so efficiency is key. There were only 1-2 of them working behind the counter on rotation while we were sketching. Speaking of baristas, I've been wondering why this "new" term is being used for the staff working behind the counter in coffee shops. Turns out it's an Italian word for bartender. Now you know :)