Best Restaurants: Best Cafe

First Place  >> TRANSCEND COFFEE

Transcend scours the world’s top coffee producing regions for raw beans, which it roasts locally. So, Edmontonians can discuss the delicate notes of each brew like wine experts do. On their travels, owner Poul Mark and chef Chad Moss also discovered Latin American street cuisine, and now offer tasty snacks to go with that mildly fruity cup of La Joya. Whether it’s the coxinha (Brazilian chicken dumplings) or pao de queijo (tapioca cheese buns), old cuppa Joe has a new friend. (9869 62 Ave., 780-430-9198; 8708 109 St., 780-756-8882; 10349 Jasper Ave., 780-421-7734)  —Steven Sandor

Runner-Up  >> CREDO COFFEE

Serving Intelligentsia beans for a smooth single-origin coffee, each cup is freshly ground and individually brewed using the pour-over technique, allowing baristas to customize the taste. The lack of bitterness makes sugar and cream irrelevant here, and its adherence to sustainable social and environmental growing practices is apparent in the bean quality. (10134 104 St., 780-761-3744)  —Caroline Barlott

Honourable mention >> CAFÉ HAVEN

This coffee shop, located in an unremarkable Sherwood Park strip mall, uses Stumptown Coffee Roasters to make its cappuccinos with excellent precision. It serves artisanal sandwiches and pastries, using locally sourced ingredients. The colourfully decorated cafe features local artists’ work, both visual and musical, in a cozy seating, including a renovated vault from the building’s previous life as a bank. Patio seating in the summer is at a premium, especially during weekend brunch. (9 Sioux Rd., Sherwood Park, 780-417-5523) —Omar Mouallem

• Return to Edmonton's Best Restaurants
• The 2012 list of Edmonton's 25 Best Things to Eat
• The digital version of the March 2012 Food Issue