A Great Meeting Place in Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - The Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Restaurant and Pub has been a work in progress ever since Kerry Williams and his partners took over the premises at the corner of Kingsway and Clarke Drive. The improvements started immediately. The Cedar Cottage management is very involved in the community and they listen to the needs and suggestions of the area residents.
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TINA LUNG and Kerry Williams of the Cedar Cottage.
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Kerry Williams, owner and manager at Cedar Cottage, is also the president of the Cedar Cottage Business Association. He said, “I have one cohesive goal, and that is cleaning up and enhancing the retail component of this area of the Kingsway.”
Speaking about the suggestions by the locals, Kerry said, “the area residents wanted a cold beer and wine store, so the Cedar Cottage applied for the licence. It took some time to get it, but we recently opened the store for business.
“There is a certain part of the demographic that likes the pub atmosphere, but there are others who would prefer to sit back and read a book or a newspaper. We thought, why not incorporate that idea into our corporate philosophy. Space became available next door to the Cedar Cottage about a year and a half ago, and although it took some time to get negotiations underway, we have now opened the Cedar Cottage Coffee House.”
Tina Lung operates the new Cedar Cottage Coffee House which now has been open for a month. Tina is well-known in the area, and loves to cook and bake. The Cedar Cottage Coffee House serves a variety of pannini sandwiches on fresh baked focaccia bread.
There is a daily soup special, all kinds of salads along with fresh baked scones. For dessert, they offer brownies and cookies and by the end of May, will also have their own homemade cheesecakes and pies.
The Cedar Cottage has the look of a cottage with colourful hanging flower baskets at the door. And outside the coffee house, comfy Cape Cod style chairs have been added so that patrons can sit outside, read a book and enjoy their lattée. In addition, just off from the restaurant and pub area is a secluded patio.
The Cedar Cottage is a great meeting place for the sports enthusiasts because of the large screen and many televisions placed strategically around the room. They also sponsor three sports teams and host a lot of fund raisers for ball and soccer teams. At the moment, Cedar Cottage is booked into July with large parties.
“The Cedar Cottage is all about community,” Kerry said, “it’s people that live in the community, play in the community and this is where they like to come and unwind, in the community.”
Just across the street from the Cedar Cottage a huge condominium complex is under construction and when finished it will bring another 1,000 people into the community. As property owners these new residents will also have an inherent interest in the area.
“The city is planning to spend about $2.7 million on street renovations in the area starting in August. This will take in two blocks east of Knight and two blocks west of Knight on Kingsway. Sidewalks, gutters and roadways are going to be replaced and in the middle of the Kingsway they will be putting in a landscaped medium down the centre. A bike lane is also planned.
“I think in every neighbourhood there’s got to be kind of a leader and I guess the Cedar Cottage has inherited that role,” said Kerry. “So, we’re going with it, and hopefully we will bring along other willing participants willing to help improve the community. With 1,000 people moving in, we’d like to get more retail stores and restaurants to open up, because the Cedar Cottage area could easily support two or three more restaurants right now.”
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The Cedar Cottage Pub and Restaurant is located at 3728 Clark Drive in Vancouver. For more information, call (604) 876-1411.
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