tomato fresh food cafe vancouver

I love ketchup. By extenstion, I also love tomatoes (read: part of the ketchup offering). BUT, I can’t say that I ‘love’ Tomato Fresh Food Café here in Vancouver.

Now before some of you Tomato Fresh Food Café die hards start throwing tomatoes at me, it’s not the restaurant I have an issue with…I am a big fan of organically inspired menus in general (see here for one Vancouver restaurant that wrote the book on it…literally!)…it’s their weekend brunch service that could ‘use some work’.

For those who aren’t aware, this particular restaurant has a bit of a cult following. After all, the original location was a weekend brunch mecca on Cambie Street for 17 years (notice the monster Tomato above the door..classic). That’s a lot of ketchup.

For reasons unbeknownst to me (the construction of the CanadaLine along Cambie Street probably had something to do with it) the Tomato Fresh Food Café relocated in June of this year. Their new location is ideal, right in the epicentre of chill - Kitsilano, just off Broadway (2486 Bayswater Street, to be exact). Where the heck is that? Well…if you remember Mark’s Fiasco next to the Mark James clothing store (see photo), you’re there. Do not pass Go and do not collect $200.

I won’t go into great detail on their brunch menu as I’m not a restaurant critic (aside: the Tomato Omelete and Blue Plate Special are must try’s) and to be honest, that’s not why I created timinganddelivery.com.

What I will tell you is what you need to know and why you need to know it. Here we go:

the new joint is swank with wide open spaces and skylights (including live trees growing through the floor…i was ‘hit’ by some falling leaves last time i was there…I survived)
there’s an army of servers, cooks, hosts, hostessess, bus boys, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers all dressed in black, busily running around (for who or what, I don’t rightly know)
they have a cool waiting area with couches (you will wait on most weekends)
food is fresh, the menu is simple, and prices are resaonable
food takes a LONG time to get to your table
your server also takes a LONG time to get to your table

So as you can likely see, I’m generally quite positive on my Tomato experience. They’ve got a significant following and have picked a great location to continue to build on their name.

If you do decide to swing open the doors at 2486 Bayswater, though, bring a good book and don’t make any immediate plans for after…you’re likely going to be a little late.