The Garden opened at 868 East Hastings in Strathcona this morning (opposite Les Amis du Fromage). It comes to the neighbourhood via first timers Anna McMillan, Rheanna Miller and Kirsten Kennedy, who took possession of the brand new space on February 1st.
I toured the space yesterday while they were busy getting it ready for today’s soft opening. For some background, here’s an excerpt from the piece I wrote about The Garden at the start of summer…
The cafe will seat between 16 and 25 people; the number depends on what the city allows them. The beans, I’m told, will be from Agro Coffee Roasters (located just a couple of blocks away on Clark Drive) and the baking (cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, cupcakes) will be done in house, supplemented by loaves from Fife. The food program will also include charcuterie and cheese plates, various toasts and special salads.
The Garden won’t, however, won’t resemble a typical cafe. It will also have a retail component offering plants, flowers, housewares, ceramics, linens, hard-to-find specialty treats (Danish licorice, quality candies, etc.) and, yes, even alcohol for sale. They’re aiming to pour beer, wine, cider and possibly even a cocktail or two.
They still don’t have their liquor license, but everything else is good to go and it looks great. Among the things I’d like to sink my teeth into are the Mushroom Bowl (shrooms, peas, wild rice, farro, black kale, pickled beets, pickled carrots, pumpkin seeds with an optional ramen egg); the Summer Salad (sweet summer squash, herb marinated tomatoes, pickled carrots, fresh chevre, spiced nuts, summer greens); and the Cubano sandwich on Fife sourdough.
I’d also like a sip of their The Turmeric smoothie (strawberry, banana, Blume turmeric blend, orange juice, coconut milk) and a scoop or two of Say Hello Sweets ice cream in a waffle cone.
Take a closer look:
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Bravo ladies! Absolutely brilliant!
I will be sure to frequent your spot next time I am in Vancouver.
Food sounds scrumptious! Will definitely drop by to savour the treats and relax on that cosy couch!
Cool let’s just open a concept store, take what we like from Old Faithful, The Birds and The Beets, and add a dash of Litchfield and lease out a space in East Van. People will come, for sure! they’ll surely spend $20 average and we’ll hope that we’ll serve 100 guests a day- maybe 200 on weekends. It’s cool we only really want to do it to keep ourselves busy, we have no interest in profit or creating a space for people to gather. The bank owns the loan and we’ll be happy to sell the hardware and furniture in two years time at fifty cents on the dollar to someone who really know’s how to create a valuable place of business.
Thank you “Seriously not”. I really, really needed that.
Absolutely love this enchanted space! A welcome addition to the neighbourhood. Looking forward to many more delicious cookies!!
Just had lunch the other day & loved it!! Beautiful space, spot on service & a relaxed vibe. Great job ladies!!!