There aren't a lot of eating establishments in Vancouver where parents with toddlers can feast on fresh, delicious food and feel welcome and appreciated.
But a stone's throw off of Commercial Drive, Mary Macintyre and her team have been doing just that: serving up an alternative for young families who want to eat out and eat well in a joyful, child-friendly environment.
Since 2007, Macintyre has welcomed harried parents and their young charges to Little Nest, her Charles Street café crammed with vintage toys and retro décor and featuring a revolving menu of inventive brunch dishes and decadent desserts (all crafted from organic ingredients).
It's a sunlit, homey space where mothers can breastfeed their wee ones and toddlers can melt down without fear of judgment.
"I want people to feel like they're coming into my home," said Macintyre, a Dubrulle-trained pastry chef who worked at Lumiere before motherhood altered her course. "[Little Nest] has that same happy chaos you find in most homes that have young children in them."
Macintyre originally sought to fill what she considered a need for high-quality baked goods and creative breakfast dishes on Commercial Drive.
The child-friendly aspect came second, and sprung from what Macintyre — a mother to two young sons — called selfish reasons. "I needed this café to be okay with my kids, and that's what people grasped on to and really embraced," she said. "I think the fact that it became popular for that reason just goes to show the big gaping hole in the market."
This doesn't mean that Little Nest discriminates against non-parent diners. "Some of our most regular customers are people who either have grown children or no children at all," said Macintyre. These patrons tell her that they come just as much for the ambience as they do for the food, according to Macintyre. "They feel like they're in a family home."
Despite its popularity among parents and non-parents, Little Nest is losing its perch. Macintyre's landlords recently presented her with a new three-year lease in which her rent will rise by 50 per cent. "It was a clear message that they don't really want me in the building, and I couldn't sign it," she said. "I've really wanted to move [Little Nest], but unfortunately that requires finances."
Macintyre has looked into other spaces on Commercial Drive and in other neighbourhoods and has met with a couple of people who've expressed an interest in buying the Little Nest concept and making a go of it elsewhere — but as yet, nothing has panned out, and Little Nest will shutter in mid-July. "I wasn't given enough notice with this rent increase and I'm running out of time," she said.
It wont go quietly: a recently launched Save Little Nest Facebook page accumulated more than 2,000 members in its first week and its numbers are growing. Members are sharing their Little Nest memories, planning a Little Nest love-in for June 16, and evaluating the merits of a crowd-funding campaign.
