credo coffee blog

My Vancouver get-away wraps up today with a final stop at Wicked Café.  This is where it all started for me (and credo) four or five years ago.  At that time we were seriously thinking of following our dream of opening a café, but only if we could match the service, vibe and product of Vancouver’s espresso greats – JJ Bean, Artigiano and Wicked Café being the go-to cafes.  As time passed and our plans finalized, our visits to this city’s great cafes expanded to include Elysian (now with 2 locations), Crema in West Van, and 49^th Parallel in Kitsilano. 

Opening credo was never intended to be a copy/paste version of any of these cafes, but rather our attempt at emulating the way coffee could be prepared to highest standards, and still maintain the café environment that so many people enjoy. 

We have been open 4 months and I felt it was time to re-visit the cafes that, whether they know it or not, helped form what credo has become.  It was great to spend some time with Arthur Wynne – a mentor in so many ways to our young and up-coming staff.  A shot of Black Cat from Arthur is one of the best ways to re-calibrate what we are serving in our café and, after 2 fantastic shots – one at the original Hemlock and 7^th location and the other at the new Hornby location – I found this visit to be more affirming than most.  We are again re-discovering the rich intensity, syrupy sweet caramel/chocolate familiarity that drew us to this epic blend so many years ago.

My mini-tour also took me to Crema (a must-visit for anyone in West Van or on their way to the Horseshoe Bay ferries), Elysian’s new location on Broadway (the tradition continues!) and, sadly, one of the now-many Artigianos popping up Starbuck-like all around the city.  This once great franchise – which gave rise to many of the cafes mentioned here – seems to be grasping at straws (albeit, I’m sure, very lucrative straws).  Ah well…it should serve as an opportunity to, once again, thank those involved in Wicked Café (Brad Ford and Arthur) for sticking to their quality-first level of service.  It is obviously working as both locations are constantly busy, and a very good reminder to us at credo that we should (and will) not waver from striving for the highest quality we can possibly produce in every cup.

It’s exciting to confirm the goal for us is well on its way to becoming reality.  The challenge for us is to constantly test ourselves against those that inspired us in the early days.  And that can only mean we should make more visits to this fabulous city and vow to return as soon as possible!  Tough life, but we’ll take it on, if it gives us the ability to bring the best to Edmonton now and in the future.