C'est What stays honest to their motto 'true local flavour.' This beer bar-cum-cultural center covers the full gamut of local offerings: beer, wine, whisky, food, music, art and performance.

As Toronto’s oldest craft beer bar, they feature a draft list embracing 35 mostly local craft brews, including their own Homegrown Hemp Ale, Chocolate Ale, Coffee Porter, and traditional English ales like Mild Brown and Al's Cask. The Homegrown Hemp Ale is also available in bottles. Their regular house beers are contracted to other larger local breweries like County Durham in order to meet customer demand.

The wine list is selected exclusively from Ontario producers, whereas the extensive single malt list originates of course from Scotland. Angelo Rigitano, C’est What’s winemaker, explains how their own house wines are handcrafted in small batches from local grapes:

“Our wines are produced annually from quality grapes that I source from various growers in Niagara, and I use a tonne of grapes for each batch of wine. I employ barrel fermentation, barrel ageing, maloactic fermentation and ageing "sur lie" (on yeast, ed.), depending on the style and type of wine. Four or five wines are produced each year and the average yield per wine is 55 cases.”

The C’est What venue is at the heart of Toronto’s cultural scene, serving as a launching pad for local artists and musicians since 1988. It also serves as home of an Internet radio station, What's Next Radio, featuring independently produced recorded music as well as all the performances from the venue. According to their website, the live venue and radio station feature "fresh original pop music with an edge" from local indie artists. Notable C'est What alumni include The Tea Party, Barenaked Ladies, Rufus Wainwright, Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Harmer, and Hawksley Workman. An added bonus for the local day-job crowd is the fact that weeknight shows are guaranteed to go on within fifteen minutes of their advertised start time and end by 11:30 pm.

C'est What's 'true local flavour' also extends to the world of visual arts. The space showcases original digital, traditional and photographic art from Canadian artists.

The menu is billed as ‘ethno-clectic’ and includes a variety of organic salads, served in a restaurant that also provides a relaxed atmosphere with board games, pool tables, and separate TV and smoking rooms.

C'est What maintains its 'local flavour' even with the hemp seeds in their Homegrown Hemp Ale. Several years ago, Canada sanctioned industrial hemp to be grown as an agricultural crop. Many farmers jumped on the band wagon and today most hemp seed products sold in the US originate in Canada. Perhaps one day soon Americans will be able to drink a hemp beer brewed with 'homegrown' American hemp seeds. Check out the 'Raise Hell !' page to learn more about what you can do to support industrial hemp.