I’d just taken a satisfying bite of my perfectly flaky, gooey buttertart in Toronto’s Understory Café (505 Church St., Toronto) when I heard a customer pause at the cash register to speak with one of the owners, Dani Gaede. They’d come all the way from Estonia and were convinced they’d be the first person from their country to stick a pin in the corkboard map hanging on the wall, a simple but charming invitation for visitors to mark where they call home. They were so surprised to see they weren’t the first Estonian to visit that they had to tell somebody. In fact, in the first two months since Understory opened, in February 2026, customers from dozens of countries had already found their way through the door, from Madagascar to Russia and beyond.
Located in the heart of Toronto’s Gay Village, around Church and Wellesley, Understory Café has quickly become a magnet for not only queer folks from near and far but for all coffee and natural wine lovers.
Visitors who walk through the door are greeted by the welcoming aroma of freshly pulled espresso. The overall feeling is one of comfort and zen, with stylish, comfy seating and earth tones throughout. A big communal wooden table from Prince Edward Island, a family heirloom belonging to Gaede’s business and life partner, Rowan Jetté Knox, anchors the middle of the room. Dark tiled floors ground it all, while one wall is draped in lush, floral wallpaper and the ceiling overhead is thick with hanging plants, a nod to the café’s name. An understory, in ecological terms, is the layer of life that flourishes beneath the forest canopy: diverse, rich, a little sheltered from the glare.
All three times I visited last spring, Understory was comfortably busy, with people working on their laptops, friends catching up and at least a couple of dates. After initially opening with just daytime hours, in mid-April they extended their schedule to expand their wine bar offerings into the evening. It’s been a very busy time for the owners, but Jetté Knox, who is also a best-selling author of the memoir Love Lives Here and One Sunny Afternoon, human rights advocate and Threads aficionado, took some time to video chat with me to discuss all things Understory.
On social media you often talk about the fact that Understory is a trans-owned, trans-created space. Why is this message so important for you?
It feels like right now is a tipping point for trans people. We’re seeing a lot of disinformation turn to misinformation, and a lot of people have the wrong idea about us. We’re othered, we’re ostracized, we’re dehumanized. It’s really hurting people. We wanted to show the trans community that we can still thrive. That we deserve to thrive. We deserve to have safe places. We deserve to have successful small businesses. We deserve to have community. We wanted to show cis people that there’s nothing to fear about us. You can walk into Understory and feel at home. There have been a ton of cisgender, hetero people who’ve walked in not knowing anything about us and have become regulars, because they really like the space, they like the coffee, they like the human connection. The fact that we’re trans isn’t really that important to them, and that’s kind of the whole point. So, on one hand, we’re very visible to the people who need to see us, and on the other hand, we’re just another mom-and-pop shop.
Do you think Understory has become a destination for trans and queer folk from around the world when they come to Toronto?
Yes, I do think it is becoming a destination. Not only are people saying they want to visit, should they ever come to Toronto, but I have people who have specifically come to Toronto just to see us. It means a lot, but it’s like, wow, I can’t believe it. We’ve had people from around the U.S., we’ve had people from the U.K., France and elsewhere. The first week, we had a trans woman from Switzerland. She came every day. One day, I asked her, “What are you here for?” She said, “My son is working in D.C. right now. I wanted to visit him, but there’s no way I’m going to the U.S. right now. So, I told him to come see me in Toronto instead, and I’ll go to Understory.” She stayed in Toronto for a week and came in every single day.
A friend of mine let me know that she was in a nearby restaurant with several trans women and that when they were done there, they would come over. Half an hour later, I look up and there’s at least 15 trans women lined up to the door and beyond. They said they had to come see us and support us. It was lovely. And there’s Dani, a trans woman, making their coffees for them. A lot of times, trans people, we go into a space, and we’re the odd one out. Going into a space as a trans person where the people meeting you at the counter are trans themselves? That feels really good. I think a lot of people in marginalized communities can probably relate to that. When you see yourself reflected in the business, it can help you feel safer. That’s why we wanted to be so visible, too. You can come here and you will be treated with respect, and you will definitely, hopefully, feel welcome.
You’re located right in the heart of the Village. How important is that for you?
Setting up shop in Toronto’s Village was our top priority. Places like the Village are incredibly important to keep as community hubs. But we also wanted to be here because there isn’t a lot of trans representation in the Village. A lot of what the Village has is centred around gay men. That’s okay, because gay men historically have had very few places where they can feel free to be themselves openly, so I love that those places exist. But we also need more places for the rest of us. Trans representation is much harder to find.
As a trans person who navigates life every day in Toronto, what would you tell a trans visitor coming to the city on vacation?
First, you’re going to see a lot of trans people. There are so many trans people around. I was shocked by the number of my community members. I don’t mean that in a passing versus not-passing way, I mean that we can usually spot each other, right? We are all over the place. We are doing all kinds of different jobs, we are having all kinds of different types of fun, and dressing how we want and being with who we want. It’s not that there aren’t issues here. I don’t want to paint Toronto as a utopia. But…it is a place where you can really just come and look around and go, wow, there’s a lot of queer people. Not just in the Village, and not just downtown. You can go to the west end, you can go to the east end, you can go up north a little bit—everywhere you go, you’ll see people like you. It’s really cool to have a trans café that is queer run, but you can go to a lot of places in Toronto and be treated well in those spaces. Because people here are exposed to so much diversity that that’s just the norm. I don’t think about it much. In Toronto, I just exist.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
