There is no set definition for what a café is in Vancouver it seems. Some of them look like pubs to me, others like restaurants, but there are a few that match with my definition: comfy seats, dimmer lighting, warm and cold beverages, baked goods and light meals… Bliss!

My favourites in the area are Our Town Cafe and Rhizome Café. Rhizome’s mission is to “promote the work of local artists, provide people with a space to socialize and connect with each other, and support progressive social justice work.” They hold craft socials, NGO meetings, book launches, art exhibitions, talks, music, spelling bees (!), films, board games nights and family discos, and serve a damn good “lentils are everything” stew (which is ‘pay as you feel’ a la Melbourne’s Lentil As Anything). There’s always a friendly face at the counter and it feels like you’re at friend’s house having a drink or a meal.

Then there’s Our Town Cafe - an institution in the area. It stands on Broadway and Kingsway in a triangular building (Kingsway is one of the few streets in Vancouver that doesn’t run North-South or East-West, so it’s like the building’s been cut in half on an angle). Our Town hosts local meetings, music and story slam nights, and once a month they host a ukulele circle where people bring along their ukes and play from a shared song book (cute!)

Now that I’m such a reader, Jeff and I go there once a week to have a read and a hot chocolate/tea (plus one of their tasty homemade muffins). It’s like watching a taping of Cheers where everyone knows everyone else’s name, and there’s one customer who seems to live there (I’ve seen him every single time I’ve been there with his guitar). They have beautiful comfy armchairs lined up against the window so you can spy out at the world.

That’s one very large cup of tea!

Jeff catches up on local news with free weekly The Georgia Straight

…here’s what I’m reading at the moment. Go me!