Mother of two opens doors to kids in strollers with menu of ‘alphabetty’ soup and fruit fries
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Little Nest owner Mary Macintyre with baby Tai
LITTLE NEST
1716 Charles St., 604-251-9994, www.littlenest.ca. Open every day except Monday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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Once they discover Little Nest, parents of young children will be saying their Hail Marys.
Little Nest was opened by Mary Macintyre for parents like herself, a child-friendly cafe where runny little noses, full diapers, messy eating and even the occasional tantrum are quite all right.
“Parents were feeling quite alienated around Commercial Drive,” says Macintyre, mother of a two- and three-year-old. “They feel hostility and don’t feel welcome in most places.”
When I was there, the tots broke free of their parental chains and sped to the play kitchen area to make their own make-believe meals. There’s a lot of room around the tables to park strollers and for kids to lurch about without bumping into tables. For parents, it’s like a home away from home.
Macintyre is also a good cook. She’s worked as a cook at Lumiere restaurant, helping the pastry chef, and she’s got some delicious food on offer.
For kids, there’s pizza, toasted sandwiches, vegetable and “alphabetty” soup, fruit fries (melon strips with a blueberry ketchup dip), chicken and lettuce roll-ups, cheese plates and silver dollar pancakes on weekends.
For grown-ups, there’s a roster of sandwiches on yummy Georgian baguettes, pastas (which change), soup, salads and all-day breakfasts.
The melon, feta, basil and black pepper salad was delicious, as was a fennel soup with pancetta. Cambozola, prosciutto and fig jam baguette would have been lovely except the fig jam introduced too much sweetness. A savoury rice pudding with apricot compote was addictive.
The coffee’s delish and the desserts have tell-tale signs that Macintyre picked up a few tricks from Lumiere’s pastry chef. We ordered an almond torte but we got a chocolate brownie which was too good (there was no stopping me). A plum cake was nice and rustic and loudly plummy.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007