Get ready to get acquainted with the original bagel - and other Middle Eastern-inspired bread and pastries - at a new bakery cafe opening in Vancouver.
Mishmish, which has inked a deal to occupy a retail space in a new build at Fraser and 19th (Rize's Comma mixed-use development), is the venture of a trio of local industry pros: Pastry chefs Leah Christ and Marysol Lopez and business partner Dallah of Superbaba.
Guests can expect an all-day experience reflecting the intersection of a traditional Middle Eastern bakeshop cafe and a Western coffee shop. To that end, Dallah tells V.I.A., the menu will feature a familiar line-up of coffee beverages along with some options enlivened with Middle Eastern-inspired touches, like a cardamom espresso more along the lines of a Turkish coffee.
"All of the food will be based around baking that comes from Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan," describes Dallah. Think breads like a Jerusalem bagel (a long, yeasted, crusty bread ring from which New York and Montreal bagels draw roots) or pita, and pastries based on well-known Middle Eastern treats, like baklava.
Mishmish takes its name from the phonetic way of saying the Arabic term for a popular apricot jam; though specifics aren't available right now, Dallah says certainly some "mishmish" will be deployed on the bakery menu, especially since here in B.C. we can easily source great apricots from the Okanagan.
Construction is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks, and then the Mishmish team can get into the space to set it up and cut through the red tape to get the bakery-café up and running. Right now the timeline is looking like Mishmish could be ready in the fall or early winter of 2023.
When the shop does open, Dallah says the plan is to stay open into the evening a bit, in order to offer locals a gathering spot or option for a cup of tea and a sweet.
Until then, follow @mishmishbakery on Instagram for project updates.
UPDATE JUNE 5, 2024: Mishmish has shared in social media updates that the project is nearing its opening, which would put it sometime in summer 2024.
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