Meet & Eat: Facelift for an Oldie

I’m back! After a bit of an unplanned hiatus, I’ve come back to my passion of writing about food….well my real passion is eating food, but telling people about food is a close second! Perfect timing for a comeback, the last 2 days have been filled with foodie events that are definitely worth mentioning. Let’s begin with my first ‘Meet & Eat’ at The Baker and The Chef. This Gastown classic used to be the General Store Bakery & Café that had a lovely aged vintage look situated beside The Cambie Hostel and directly across from Revolver. The gentrification of Gastown was an enveloping wave and the owners felt it was time for a facelift in order to keep up with the quickly changing historical area.

The Cordova sandwich....are you hungry?

The visual appeal of The Baker and The Chef is brilliant. In keeping with the old vintage feel, they maintained the red brick walls inside, providing a warm cozy feel; added accent lighting that matched the space and a splash of neon green for colour. Now getting down to the food…the baker and the chef truly have a love affair going on, their food complement each other.  The joint is full of good eats but after sampling many different items such as panini’s, sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts, there are a few that really stood out and I know I will be craving them in the future.

The Baker and The Chef trademark dessert: Carrot cake

The quinoa salad was full of different flavor dimensions and textures. The crunch of the veggies, the robust punch of garlic and fresh cut herbs and the visual appeal from the bright colours made for a refreshing healthy option. One of my favorite aspects of this locale is the names of the sandwiches and panini’s, they’re named after streets of Vancouver. What better way to keep authentic by incorporating your city into your food! If you’re craving something different, grab the Cordova sandwich. It has melt in your mouth capicolla, made in-house zesty pesto, hot sauce, mozzarella and their fresh made multi-grain bread.  Something I haven’t eaten in a very long time is sausage rolls. Why? It’s felt like sausage rolls have become a generic source of food, lacking in flavor, and a temporary hunger stopper until the real meal. NOT HERE! These sausage rolls are jam-packed filled with in house made pork sausage, juicy and meaty with a light filo pastry. I think what would have escalated the flavor would have been a bit of hot mustard, but it’s not a necessity for this traditional classic. Finally, the trademark dessert, the carrot cake. It was ridiculous!!! I’m an icing person, it’s my favorite part of any dessert but it has to be distributed in proportion to the cake and that’s what they’ve done. The icing was made of cream cheese, a bit on the sweeter side rather than tart and the cake was very moist. Beautiful harmony is made from this combination of cake and icing!

Gastronomical Adventurer tasting a sausage roll and champagne.

If you're a traveller staying at The Cambie Hostel or a local wanting to try a new eatery, The Baker and The Chef have your savory and sweet for a very reasonable price. It’s worth trying some local food in one of the original spots in VanCity.