A pond-side café and yoga studio

It’s the very definition of “build it and they will come.”

Located in a windswept field in the city’s far west end, Aquatopia Water Garden Conservatory glows like a beacon. Set on 24 acres of mostly wooded land, it’s a destination venue — no neighbours for miles in every direction. And yet it’s immediately obvious that owners Nicholas Bott and Catherine Neville are onto a good thing.

What began a couple of years ago as a garden paradise designed to showcase the expertise of Bott’s company, The Pond Clinic, as well as serve as a year-round wedding venue, Aquatopia has quickly morphed into “a million businesses in one.” So says café coordinator Reshad Rezai, the man behind the sunny Aquatopia Café, a thriving coffee shop/eatery that’s open for breakfast and lunch, serving up an imaginative veg-forward menu. This page: The Aquatopia Café is anchored by a coffee bar from which staff serve drinks and pastries. The back side of the bar is home to a plant wall, a welcoming scene as visitors enter the building