Acme Cafe in Gastown

Did somebody say… pie? Meet Alan and Peggy Hoffman, the husband and wife team behind the latest square to be added to Gastown’s checkerboard of hot spots. For months, the duo have been working alongside Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts co-founder, Chef Walter Messiah, crafting up their good old fashioned comfort food menu and putting the finishing touches on their just-opened Acme Cafe at 51 West Hastings Street.

The moment I step into this darling little Mom ‘n Pop shop, I know it is destined to be the next go-to brunch and lunch nook in the city. Straight out of the pages of an Archie comic, it’s Pop Tate’s Chock’lit Shoppe meets American Graffiti’s Mel’s Diner. The breezy and charming space boasts 17 foot ceilings, custom tiling and other such retro stylings, where diners can choose from booths that seat up to 6 gabby gals or 4 foremen comfortably, or the u-shaped counter overlooking the open kitchen and coffee bar.Ovaltine jars, milkshake mixers and Alan’s Grandfather’s 1929 Berkel Model 7 meat slicer adorn the back countertops, sharing the space with pastry-cutting, bread-baking and Cuppa Joe bean cappuccino-whipping Acme apron-clad staff. Bottles of Pop Shoppe sodas (where have they been?) and thick and creamy milkshakes line the drink list, along with Red Truck beer and what Peggy likes to call “Wednesday wines”: inexpensive, easy sipping selections by the glass that’ll rotate based on customer feedback.What the menu lacks in diner clichés such as burgers and fries, it makes up for with classics like the flaky and bubbling Chicken Pot Pie with tender white meaty chunks in a creamy sea of vegetables and the mile-high Chicken Club with house made zippy sundried tomato garlic mayo dished up with fresh broccoli, slivered almond and dried cranberry slaw, even meatloaf and sides of mac ‘n cheese. Also on deck are the Classic Grilled Cheese and its classier city cousin, the High-Falutin’ Grilled Cheese, featuring goat, cheddar, swiss and brie with apple cranberry relish on grilled ciabatta.“Keep your fork, there’s pie,” say the Hoffmans, who ensure there’ll always be a selection of fresh out of the oven delights on offer, including such indulgences as Chocolate ganache, deep dish apple, and cherry slab pie, all hailing from Peggy’s Grandmother’s lexicon of recipes.Woodward’s building residents and Gastown grindstoners will rejoice to learn that come late April, the to-go counter will feature a pre-pay online ordering system for quick pick-up breakfasts, lunches, or dinners. And don’t forget to grab some of their coffee or freshly baked goods to go, including the particularly enticing coconut cookies that had me thanking my lucky stars I lived nowhere near the vicinity of these sure-to-expand-your-waistline perpetrators.

~ Katherine van der Gracht

Visit: www.acmecafe.ca