Rogue Valentine

We are pleased to host the Rogue Florist for a very special Valentine's Day drop-in. She will be bringing in artfully-arranged spring flower bouquets into the cafe on the 13th and 14th of February for purchase. She is also taking pre-orders via her web shop, to be ready for pick-up at Le Marché St. George. She is offering two sizes, priced at $30 and $60. The bouquets will consist mostly of flowering branches and spring flowers, with some garden roses, hellebores, ranunculus, and anemones sprinkled in between.

With the emergence of these spring flowers, we are hoping spring is just around the corner. :-)

Photographs: Issha Marie for Le Marché St. George

Pre-Winter Solstice Sale

The coming weekend marks the last weekend our annual Winter Shop will be open. Customers who come visit us will get 20% off their purchases on the 19th and 20th only! So if you have had your eye on a couple of things, this weekend is the weekend to get those items in your wishlist.

Our online customers get the same deal as well! Shop Atelier St. George online and type in the promo code Atelier20 and you will get 20% off of your cart.

See you all this weekend!

Le Marché St. George + Atelier St. George

Then

It feels very fitting to post these photographs from five years ago - back when we were stripping the walls and tearing down the less than desirable bits to expose the parts of the building that we loved and wanted to keep.

We celebrated five years last weekend and we are very thankful for all the support you have shown our family and our community.

Then

The Winter Shop: A Sneak Peek

A snippet of the products in store for this year's Winter Shop.

Left to right, from the first row onwards...

1) Janaki Larsen Ceramics
2) Mandula
3) Mini Mule Tumblers
4) Pomegranate Wood Utensils
5) Brass Bowls
6) Borosilicate Glass Bottles
7) Printed Wool Fringed Throw-Blankets
8) Greybelle Wool Neck Piece
9) Woodlot

See you all on the 21st!

Día de los Muertos

Halloween is a massive affair throughout our entire neighbourhood. There is an alley near John street (it can be accessed on Prince Edward Avenue) that gets transformed into a Halloween Wonderland of sorts every single year. This is all completely organized by the community,  and they put out a different theme every year. This year's theme is Día de los Muertos, complete with those iconic skulls, various ofrandas, and a mariachi band.

Adults clutch their plastic cups of alcohol and children ran amuck in clusters, stopping only to admire their growing loot of candy. The mariachi band had the most adorable little critters dancing to their tunes while their parents clapped along in laughter. It was a beautiful night, and the rain held off... until about 9 or 10 pm, when it started to pour torrential rain.

With Halloween out of the way... it's time to start thinking about the holidays! But for today, we will hold on to these pumpkin colours just a wee bit longer.

Story and Photographs: Issha Marie

Woodlot Turns One!

The team behind Woodlot - the Vancouver makers behind the very popular line of bath products and home scents - held their one-year anniversary party at our cafe and surrounding backyard. Sonia and Fouad approached Le Marché St. George a year ago, when they first released their candles to the public, and the shop became their very first wholesale clients. Since then, multiple shops and boutiques - both local and international - are now carrying Woodlot products on their shelves, and we could not be more proud of their vast growth within their first year. They are so very loved and adored by the food and lifestyle community in Vancouver, and deservingly so, because of Sonia and Fouad's open, gracious, and genuine personalities. The couple, now recently engaged, look forward to the years ahead as they continue to develop their brand and share their successes with some of their closest family and friends.

Le Marché hosted a huge group of Sonia and Fouad's closest. People of all ages attended in celebration of Woodlot's many successes in their first year of business. Babies and adults mingled and laughed over BC-made beverages and The Local Omnivore's food-truck fare. It was, all in all, a very successful turnout and the merriment lasted well into [a respectable hour of] the evening.

Congratulations, Team Woodlot! Here's to many more years and to many more delicious scents ahead!

Woodlot gift bags include bath salts, a bar of their soap, 'God's eyes' ornaments handcrafted from Palo Santo sticks (by the talented Danica Kaspar), and sweets bags with treats from Livia Sweets.

Petal to potion.

A variety of Indian sweets were laid out for guests to enjoy.

"The Dallah" caught mid-'stride by'.

The gorgeous power couple behind Woodlot: Fouad & Sonia.

Janaki and Chloee.

Sami Wall (By Broken Arrow) and her two beautiful little girls.

Danica Kaspar, macrame artist and Woodlot's studio assistant, working behind the bar.

A selection of local beverages on offer: Four Winds, Legend Naramata, Dickie's Ginger.

Backyard party!

Local children's book author, Linnie von Sky, arrives with her baby daughter, Ella.

Local food, portrait, and lifestyle photographer, Joey Armstrong, arrives with her husband, Byron.

Pascal's turn to hold baby Ella!

(1. Photo credit: Ryan Quirico, Studio 126)

These four photographs were taken by Ryan Quirico, woodworker and metal artist behind local furniture store, Studio 126. He asked to steal my camera away for a bit, partly driven by his belief that he, too, can be a photographer. He did a good job! Colour me impressed. This also freed my hands for some much-needed gin & ginger beer sipping.

1) Anna, baby Leo, Joey, Byron, and I were Ryan's first subjects. Note Joey's disbelieving laugh, Byron's playful smirk, and my incessant giggling. Anna smilingly gazes off into the distance.
2) Natalie Ferrari-Morton (East Van Jams) chats with Alison Page.
3) Gabo (Gabriel - Anna and Ryan's oldest), playing in Lola's backyard kitchen.
4) Spotted on the garage rooftop: Lauren of NUEZ Milk, Jana Nixon, and gang.

(1. Photo credit: Ryan Quirico, Studio 126)

(3. Photo credit: Ryan Quirico, Studio 126)

(4. Photo credit: Ryan Quirico, Studio 126)

The Local Omnivore truck on full swing!

Fouad.

Mikey.

Meatball sliders and Falafel sliders on offer for the guests at Woodlot's first year anniversary party.

Gabo riding off into the night...

Anna Szul (Studio 126) holds up her beautiful 6-month old daughter, Leo (also affectionately nicknamed Cardamom).

Story and Principal Photographs: Issha Marie
Supporting Photographs: Ryan Quirico (Studio 126)

Beneath The Surface: A Kinfolk Gathering

A few months ago, at the height of spring and cherry blossom weather, we hosted a Kinfolk gathering in the space above the shop through Here There Studio. This gathering's theme, Beneath the Surface, celebrates the comforts of home and how Sundays should be spent. Here There Studio divided the gathering in two parts - a classic Sunday Roast and Afternoon Tea. The entire gathering was designed, organized, and prepared by Here There Studio, Victory Gardens, and chef Annabelle Choi with help of local vendors like Celsia Florist, Lissu Linens, and Janaki Larsen Ceramics, among plenty others, who helped make this event memorable, delicious, and beautiful.

Thank you very much to Alison Page for providing us with some snaps and behind-the-scenes photographs of this event.

---

The Environment

Sunday Roast

Afternoon Tea

Photographs: Alison Page

An Evening Of...

We held a fundraiser for The Little Mountain Playground this past Saturday and the turn-out was absolutely spectacular! We thank everyone who came out to support the fundraiser; it truly was a beautiful Summer Solstice Eve.

Special thanks go out to all those who donated their time, energy, and resources to make this evening possible, and to our hardworking staff, who worked incredibly hard to make sure this evening ran smoothly.

To find out more about the playground, or to donate, visit People Power for Playgrounds.

Photographs: Kate Fearnall

When Life Hands you Lemons...

May 30, 2015: Some of the neighbourhood kids organized a lemonade stand by the sidewalk adjacent to our shop to help raise funds for the Little Mountain Playground. The lemonade was a huge hit, and in the two hours that the stand was up, the kids were able to raise just a little over $100. The price of an ice-cold glass of homemade cucumber lemonade was by donation, and it was a beautiful day for it. Passersby and customers happily sipped a glassful or two on that particularly hot Saturday afternoon.

We are also holding a fundraiser for The Little Mountain Playground in the form of an elegant evening filled with local wines, oysters, and grilled sausages. Details and a link to the tickets can be purchased here.

After about an hour, the kids ran off to play 'hospital' in lieu of watching over the stand, so the adults (including myself) took over and jokingly tried to upsell the lemonade with promises of spiking the refreshing concoction with tequila... which, of course, we eventually did --- but for ourselves, not for the customers (stand down, City of Vancouver!).

Because, hey... when the kids hand you a lemonade stand... well... you know how it goes! ;-)

Photographs: Issha Marie

An Evening of Oysters, Wine, and Grilled Sausages

Le Marché St George is hosting an evening of oysters, wine, and sausages to raise funds for the Little Mountain Playground.

All proceeds go towards building an inclusive playground for all the neighbourhood kids to enjoy. This will be an evening of beautiful food, mixed with community spirit, the perfect combination!

Click on the poster above for tickets.

Hope to see all of your lovely faces there!
- your friends at Le Marché St. George