Sweet Thea: Serving up tasty baked goods, lunch, and more

Marco Ovies/Daily Hive

Sweet Thea has been known around the community for years now, and after visiting its new Vancouver outpost it’s easy to understand why. With a dedication to community building and using quality ingredients in everything they make, there’s no reason not to visit Sweet Thea.

Whether you want a quick coffee, a little sweet treat, or a full-on meal, Sweet Thea has got it all. Keep reading to get the inside scoop on this new bakery.

The concept

“[Opening Sweet Thea] is a lifelong dream,” shared co-owner Thea Mercer, who owns the bakery with her husband, Laurie Mercer. “We’ve been working at this for about 10 years,” Thea told us that it all started with a pop-up during the pandemic and that they received a great response from the community.

Building a community is one of the goals here at Sweet Thea. One way the bakery does this is through its wall, featuring products from different local vendors for sale. Think of things like ginger syrup from Frost Bites Syrup Co., pure maple sugar from Maples Sugar Shack, and maple sriracha pecans from The Nut Merchant, just to name a few. It was tough not to walk out with an armful of goodies.

“We’re saying these are great products, so you should try them, too,” said Thea.

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However, the one thing you won’t find at this bakery is WiFi. Instead, Sweet Thea encourages you to talk with others or to pick up one of the many books on the shelves. You can peruse through one of its many cookbooks or participate in the book exchange, which lets customers leave a book and take another one.

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The lack of WiFi is another way Sweet Thea is trying to build community.

“If you come in here on a Saturday, it’s super cool,” shared Thea. “It’s super busy. [There are] tons of people and every day is engaged. Nobody’s on their phone, everybody is looking at each other, talking to each other, and that is so special.”

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Thea also put an emphasis on the community table they have set up. “You will find six strangers all sitting with their headphones on, on their iPads, but they’re all sitting together, and all the rest of the tables will be empty, but they want to all sit together.

Unlike Sweet Thea’s previous Vancouver location, this new spot features plenty of seating for you to sit down and enjoy your baked goods.

Additionally, the bakery features an open concept with large windows that allow customers to observe the bread-making process.

The food

“I’m fairly new at sourdough,” shared Thea. “I went to the San Francisco Baking Institute and learned a lot there.” Thea said she spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos and reading, teaching herself how to make sourdough.

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“If you know anything about sourdough or heard anybody talk about their first time making sourdough, it’s usually a disaster. It’s disappointing. It’s heartbreaking, and it takes a really long time to even get a decent loaf.”

She continued, “You just have to be prepared for those awful disasters, and eventually, it’ll get better. All it is is practice over and over and over and over again.”

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And let us tell you, this practice was well worth it. Sweet Thea makes five different kinds of sourdough, like jalapeño and cheddar. This bread is used in a variety of the bakery’s new lunch menu offerings, like its grilled cheese.

Two thick slices of Sweet Thea’s sourdough are toasted with ooey-gooey cheese and caramelized onions. It comes with a side of butternut squash soup, which is perfect for dipping (if you’re not dipping your grilled cheese sandwiches into soup, then what are you doing?).

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The process of making this delicious sourdough is a labour of love that spans over multiple days.

“It’s a three-day process,” shared Thea. “You need your starter. We feed ours twice a day. You make your dough, you shape it, you put it in your basket. We ferment in the fridge for about 18 to 24 hours, depending on our schedule, and then bake it.”

This delicious bread is also used on other menu items like the caramelized mushroom toast. Arugula and mushrooms are placed onto a crispy piece of sourdough and topped with a generous helping of pecorino Romano cheese.

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While we could spend hours raving about the bread, there are more baked goods to discuss, specifically the palmiers.

These treats are a puff pastry with brown sugar and cinnamon. Thea herself said this is a must-try for anyone who visits. “The texture and the flavour are just amazing,” she said.

Similar to how a croissant is made, these pastries are layered with dough and flour. There are actually 53 layers in them, but you’d never guess it with how light and fluffy they are.

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She also took the time to mention the avocado toast. “[It] gets a lot of response as well, and to me, it’s so basic, but people are like, ‘No, this is fantastic.'”

Sweet Thea also serves classic cafe offerings like lattes and mochas. After careful consideration of different local roasters, the bakery has decided to serve Parallel 49 (you can also buy Parallel 49 beans in-store).

We also have to mention this cream puff. Do yourself a favour and order one. You can thank us later.

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Sweet Thea is currently soft-opened, but its grand opening is slated for March 16. While you can’t grab it yet, we were told a breakfast/brunch menu will be added once it’s officially open.

Sweet Thea

Address: 4789 Main Street, Vancouver

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