By the time summertime rolls around, Tall Shadow Breads should be set to expand into Tall Shadow Bakery at 2474 East Hastings Street, in the Hastings Sunrise neighbourhood.
You might already be familiar with Tall Shadow from their Vancouver Farmers Markets circuit. Or perhaps you have (wittingly or not) enjoyed some iteration of their sourdough at Their There, Hundy (yes!), Burdy (damn, their eggplant parmigiana sandwiches are good), Hanai (those beautiful purple ube buns), Dachi, or Top Rope Birria. Their bread gets around!
When co-owners Cass Helps (they/them) and Dayle Kennedy (she/her) took on more wholesale partners, they found themselves outgrowing the limited space afforded by their commissary situation, and they began to think about moving into something bigger. The pair started earnestly looking for a brick-and-mortar solution last year, and when the space on East Hastings (between Kamloops and Nanaimo, across the street from It’s Okay Bar) became available, they jumped into action.
New to the world of starting a brick-and-mortar business, Helps and Kennedy turned to their customers and friends, Miki Ellis and Stephen Whiteside (Dachi, Mucker Next Door, Hanai, Elephant), for some advice. One thing led to another, and the four decided to join forces to bring the Hastings Sunrise neighbourhood a new quality cafe and bakery. Because who doesn’t love good bread?
The team picked up keys to their new home back in December 2022 and began work almost immediately, in early 2023. Previously home to Imposter Café & Provisions – and before that, Black Rooke – the space already had the right layout and was in the right neighbourhood (both Helps and Kennedy live nearby, so they are excited about laying down roots and having more opportunities to connect with the East Van community).
The plan is to divide the roughly 2000 sqft between a production area (for their in-store menu as well as expanded wholesale offerings) and a rustic-yet-modern cafe, imbued with a healthy dose of ‘East Van’ vibes. A bread wall located immediately to the left as you enter the space will give place of prominence to Tall Shadow’s almost 20 types (!!!) of bread. There will also be sweets (more on that later), as well as coffee, tea, and prepared sandwiches to enjoy at one of their no doubt highly coveted 16 seats.
If all goes smoothly, Tall Shadow Bakery will be ready to roll (cute baking pun, right?) in June of this year. In the meantime, stay tuned for news about their opening day.
From Tall Shadow Bakery:
This is so exciting!! Yay!
Can’t wait. I have dreams about their potato buns and everything bagels
This is the best thing to happen to the neighbourhood in forever! Congrats!