Wren Café, a collaboration of three culinary school friends, is a charming addition to Yaletown’s dining scene. Inspired by French cuisine, the café offers delectable pastries, brunch, and lunch options.Wren Café, a collaboration of three culinary school friends, is a charming addition to Yaletown’s dining scene. Inspired by French cuisine, the café offers delectable pastries, brunch, and lunch options. The bakery showcases Emma Keevers’ exceptional pastry skills, with highlights such as the hazelnut praline choux pastry and fraisier. The menu reflects Rachel Lu’s mastery of baking, with seasonal focaccia sandwiches and enticing bread selections. Natalie Choi’s creativity shines through in the brunch offerings, including an open sandwich trio and eggs benny. The café’s atmosphere is warm and inviting, drawing inspiration from the trio’s friendship and shared culinary journey. Their attention to detail extends to every aspect, from the house-made soft drinks to the garlic butter served with bread. Wren Café is an exceptional culinary destination, combining the talents of three passionate and skilled individuals. Their vision for a welcoming space where people can relax and savor delicious food is a true testament to their dedication and love for the culinary arts.
Wren Café in Yaletown represents the combined talents and passion of three young women for French-inspired casual dining and pastries
When Natalie Choi, Emma Keevers and Rachel Lu enrolled in cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa, they entered the program as strangers. Now, a few years later, the three are not only good friends, but business partners in their first restaurant, Yaletown’s new Wren Café.
Wren opened in June and is located in the spot that was previously – and briefly – Vancouver’s first Hazukido franchise.
The trio was drawn to the space because it’s in a neighborhood with lots of residents and foot traffic. Lu says they liked that Yaletown “is downtown, but not really downtown.” Their goal: to provide a welcoming space with great food, pastries and drinks that’s a “casual hangout place where people can chill,” Lu describes.
As a fantastic bonus, the venue had recently been renovated for the previous tenant, meaning that not much needed to be changed in terms of the dining room layout.
As a bakery café that was starting from scratch, the Wren team had to make some big changes in the kitchen. Most notably, they had to purchase all the necessary equipment to bake fresh pastries and breads, and prepare their menu of French-inspired brunch and lunch dishes.
How three culinary school friends became entrepreneurs
And then there was the name and logo, which cleverly reflected Choi, Keevers and Lu and their collective culinary school experience: the R, E and N in Wren stand for Rachel, Emma and Natalie, and the logo, a blue bird, is a nod to Le Cordon Bleu.
The idea for the cafe began, as these types of ventures often do, with a phone call. Lu contacted classmate Choi and suggested starting a business with Keevers.
For Choi and Lu, Vancouver is home, but Keevers is from Ireland. She returned to Ireland after graduating and worked as a pastry chef. She continued to hone her talent while the logistics of her visa were being sorted out before she could return to Canada.
Though their Cordon Bleu program lasted only a year, Choi says the classmates ended up spending an enormous amount of time together, sometimes from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., meeting up for things like sugar pulling or chocolate sculptures and wedding cake making. After they all earned their major degrees in cooking and pastry, Keevers and Lu went on to study breadmaking, also known as boulangerie.
Ultimately, their chosen paths in school have determined their roles at Wren Café. Lu heads the baking program and is responsible for overall management, Keevers is the head pastry chef, and Choi oversees the café’s menu.
Bakery and brunch menu: French influence and attention to detail
Overall, the menu at Wren reflects a strong French sensibility with some thoughtful twists based on seasonality and clientele. For example, Lu’s muffin-sized focaccia sandwiches have proven popular with locals looking for a savory grab-and-go option, while Keevers’ tiramisu is made with decaf espresso, making it a kid-friendly treat for the neighborhood’s many families.
Keevers’ vision for Wren’s pastry is to offer classics with a twist. Best-sellers to date have been the hazelnut praline choux pastry (two rings of deceptively delicate pastry with whipped cream and crunchy, sweet bits of sugary hazelnut) and the fraisier (essentially a strawberry tart).
The plan is to work with what is in season at the time and to keep offering new dishes so that it remains interesting for guests.
The French influence is also strong on the brunch menu, which Choi has spearheaded. One of the most popular options so far is the open sandwich trio (on Lu’s bread) with smoked salmon, egg salad and pear and prosciutto, the latter made with a delicious pesto yoghurt. There are options such as a pulled pork sandwich, eggs benny and
The attention to detail at Wren Cafe is evident in many dishes on the menu, from the candied garlic puree in Hollandaise sauce to the blueberry puree for the house-made soft drinks and the house-made garlic butter served with the bread alongside the restaurant’s soup of the day.
If you are lucky enough to be there on a day when Wren is serving his tomato soup, don’t hesitate to order a bowl, no matter the weather. The tomato soup is top of the line, filled with bright, ripe, fresh tomato flavor rounded out with tremendous depth; it is an incredibly satisfying and delicious bowl.
‘We are very good teammates’
The trio have big ambitions for Wren Cafe and hope to expand with more locations in Vancouver in the future.
But for now, Choi, Keevers and Lu are focused on making Wren a Yaletown staple with a welcoming atmosphere and top-notch cafe fare. They’re also growing into their new roles as business owners after being classmates and friends.
“We are very good teammates,” Choi says.
Wren Café is located at 280 Nelson St and is open Tuesday to Friday from 8am to 6:30pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 6:30pm. Follow @wren.cafe on Instagram.
Video: New French-Inspired Bakery Opens for Brunch in Vancouver
@forkingawesomevia This is Wren Cafe, a new French-inspired bakery serving casual, tasty brunch and lunch options with coffee, tea, and treats in Vancouver. @Wren Cafe is an independent cafe run by three talented friends from culinary school. PS: They make the best tonato soup I’ve ever had in a restaurant! #forkingawesome #vancouverbc ♬ Nostalgic Ghibli-style waltz – MaSssuguMusic
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