Sleek & Simple “Propaganda Coffee” Now Open On East Pender St. In Chinatown

by Andrew Morrison | We’ve been looking forward to Propapanda opening up in Chinatown and now it’s here — bright, spacious, charmingly appointed, and really well served. Here’s the basic skinny:

When it opens early in the new year, Propaganda Coffee at 209 East Pender St. will seat 30 and deliver a complete coffee experience in a modern space designed by Vivian Fung. The building – located just east of Main Street – housed a restaurant in the distant past. It was most recently a Chinese health food store, but the 1700 sqft space has stayed dormant for (if recollection serves) for well over a year.

Propaganda comes to us from local coffee fanatics William Wang and Winfield Yan. These guys take their coffee seriously, with Wang boasting years of experience in the local trade. He came up through the barista ranks at Caffe Artigiano before moving to Prado Cafe on The Drive to work with Sammy Piccolo. This is their first venture together.

Their operation will be similar to Revolver’s in Gastown, only instead of focusing on international roasters they’ll be sourcing exclusively from BC roasters (think Timbertrain, Pallet, etc).

Add Elysian to that mix, too.Their Modbar “tap” espresso machine is a sight to see, and the strong wireless is a major bonus. They’ve finished their soft opening week now and are set to move to their regular hours of 9am to 5pm, seven days a week. Take a look…

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Reverence, Respect, and Realization: What The Acorn Taught Me

At 21 years old, I'm still just a kid and relatively new to working in restaurants, but I grew up umbilically tied to the hospitality industry. My father was a food writer, and my mother is a photographer. Their careers meant that most of my early years were spent in kitchens and dining rooms instead of on playgrounds and soccer fields; consequently, I learned my table manners before I could count past one hundred.