Oct
19
I adore cafés and coffee shops, especially independent, ecclectic ones that serve home-baked goodies, hot delicious coffee and comfort foods. The kind where you meet your friends in the morning and hang out drinking coffee and chatting ’til late in the afternoon. When I lived in the city, there was a café two blocks from my house on Granville street and I swear I almost lived there. They knew my name. My order. Where I worked. Who I was dating…
I was there alot.
I haven’t quite found a coffee shop I like as much out in the Valley…not yet anyway…but I’ve been searching. And I think I’ve found one that, so far, tops my list! Might be the location (anything close to the beach pretty much wins my heart), but I think this place has something more…
I discovered the Sunflower Café a while back after taking a walk along Crescent Beach. I fell in love. The energy was lively, the shop filled with young couples, runners, families and baby strollers. The warm scent of coffee and fresh muffins filled the air and the casual, relaxed décor made me want to curl up and stay for a very long time.
Owners Pat Balneaves and Sym Thiele have hit upon the true essence of what (I believe) a café is meant to be: great service, homey atmosphere, affordable prices and most importantly, delicious, fresh, mouth-watering, I-dream-about-it food (all of which is local and/or organic at the Sunflower.)
The Sunflower is the type of place where your chicken sandwich is actually filled with chicken (roasted on-site), your vegetable soup is hearty and chock-full of veggies (not a couple beans and sad-looking carrots floating around in over-salted broth) and your mac & cheese is hot, creamy and gooey…just the way your mom makes it at home.
It’s what a café should be.
They seat around 25-30 people inside and they also have gorgeous backyard garden seating for another 20 or so. Check them out on a lazy Saturday morning after a leasurely walk along crescent beach. It will add a little sunshine to your day!
The Sunflower Cafe
12310 Beecher St, Crescent Beach
604-541-8511
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