Beloved Vancouver market and neighbourhood hub reopens — with changes

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During the COVID pandemic, Aman Loodu started baking sourdough bread for his neighbours.

“We were all helping each other with groceries and feeding each other, the camaraderie of the community really shone,” said Loodu, who lives in Mount Pleasant.

“The response I got to the sourdough was incredible. I thought maybe this is something I should do, try to find a business where I could do something like that.”

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After a long search, he found it at the Union Market in Strathcona.

Located at 810 Union St. along a busy bike route, the beloved store — converted into a grocery in 1928 from the living room of a house — had long been a hub for neighbourhood residents and bike commuters drawn to its large patio out front.

But it closed last Oct. 31, when owner Gloria Bernardino decided to retire.

So Loodu leased the space.

“The patio was always full,” noted Loodu, who used to run operations at R&B Brewing in East Vancouver.

“It’s the coolest feature, and it was such a popular spot. You got greeted by the staff. It felt like a different atmosphere than you get in most places in the city, where it’s simply employees going through the motions.

“You didn’t get that here. You got a feel that it was a mom-and-pop place, because it really was.”

He’s made some changes, though.

“It was more of a grocery store before, with a bakery and coffee shop in it,” he said. “I’m just flipping that on its head, where it’s a little bit of a grocery store and more focused on fresh products.”

The fresh products include pastries like a raspberry lemon eclair that looks like a work of art.

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But he has retained one store tradition: selling pastel de natas, a Portuguese custard tart that was the Union Market’s most popular item when the Bernardino family ran it.

The old Union Market was packed with all manner of groceries, but the new Union is a lot more open, with an espresso machine and baked goods on one side and groceries on the other.

The groceries include coffee beans from Modus coffee, a local micro-roastery, and Cultivate Tea, which is also in Mt. Pleasant.

There is also pasta and staples such as eggs, butter and cream. The Portuguese influence continues in the olive oil and eight flavours of canned sardines.

“I’m a big fan of tinned fish, I think it’s the way of the future,” said Loodu.

The biggest challenge in re-opening was getting through Vancouver’s complex regulations. It took six months of negotiations before he could open, and in the end he had to make some compromises.

“I am able to bake, but my license is strictly retail,” he said. “I came in thinking I could make fresh sandwiches to order, I could make some pizzas, stuff like that. I wasn’t aware that the license restricts me from actually making things to order.

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“The permitting process can be difficult to navigate,” said Loodu. “But that said, I know city staff do their best. And they’re very nice. I’m just thankful I was able to open, period.”

Locals are thankful, too.

Strathcona residents Graham McCormick and Sydney Honsberger-Grant dropped in for some coffee and treats earlier this week, and were impressed.

“It was very good, and the coffee was delicious,” said Honsberger-Grant.

“The pastel de natas are the same,” said McCormick.

“We have a nice arrangement of corner stores around here, which is really great. (But) we missed this one because it was a great place for coffee and bits and bobs.”

One of the biggest changes in the store is that the patio seating is now on two tiers of benches, rather than at small tables.

“It was important to have a slope here so you can see over peoples’ heads and see the cyclists and people walking by,” said Loodu.

“I want people to watch life go by as you’re having coffee, to slow down. We don’t have a lot of gathering spaces in this city. I want everybody to meet their neighbours and talk.

“I don’t care if you only have one cup of coffee and sit there for three hours. Please use the patio.”

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jmackie@postmedia.com

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