The third time may also prove a charm for the team behind two of Vancouver's newer most sought-after dining destinations, as their hotly-anticipated cafe concept nears the finishing line with an opening set for later this month.
Novella, located at 2650 Main St, will be an all-day venue featuring coffee, a brunch- and lunch-focused menu, pastries, and a wine program.
Announced in late 2021, Novella is in its final pre-opening stretch and anticipates welcoming guests by the end of November; an exact date has not yet been revealed. The café comes from the same people who gave Vancouver the now Michelin-starred Published on Main and Michelin-recommended Bar Susu (both have earned several other accolades).
The 3,200-square-foot space has seats for 66 and was designed to be a meeting spot for friends or colleagues or a welcoming venue for those who need a work or study space. To accommodate dining and settling in, the Establishment Interiors-designed room is split into two sections.
Food & Drink: On the menu at Novella
Coffee is a central focus at Novella, and the venue will proudly offer a program featuring North Vancouver's House of Funk, including a full coffee bar menu, including its award-winning espresso, Technicolour, rotating drip coffee options for all levels of coffee lovers, cold brew, and limited-edition coffee
concoctions. As an exciting bonus, an exclusive Novella x HoF drip is currently in the works.
When it comes to food, Novella will offer a menu of fare created by Published and Susu chefs Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson and Ash Kurtz with an emphasis on daytime eats - think modern, elevated breakfast and lunch items like savoury steel cut oats with a poached egg, wild mushrooms, and mustard greens or fully-loaded breakfast sandwiches, alongside pickled beet salads and kicked-up yogurt and granola parfaits.
Additionally, pastries will be supplied by Vancouver's delectable ButterBoom bakery, while all the bread will be baked in-house by Ward Van Donselaar, who was previously the sous chef at Bar Susu.
While coffee is the staple bev of Novella, there's plenty of room for another kind of sophisticated sip; the café will boast a wine program by 2022's BC Sommelier of the Year Jayton Paul.
Novella will ultimately also have an in-house micro-grocer section, stocked with a curated selection of local goods from familiar Vancouver brands.
“When we first dreamed up Novella, we asked ourselves what kind of neighbourhood cafe would we want to spend time in? Definitely one with delicious food and a great space," explains Cody Allmin, co-founder of Boxset Collective, which is the team behind Published on Main, Bar Susu, the upcoming Novella, Twin Sails Brewing, and Thorn & Burrow Wines in a media release.
At launch, Novella will be open Monday to Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Follow @novella_coffeebar on Instagram for updates.
