The Sunflower Bakery Cafe and Zephyr Cafe in Squamish

We stopped at several coffee shops while visiting Squamish. Two were beside each other on the main drag.

The Sunflower is more a bakery, featuring gluten free breads made without additives or yeast. In place of yeast the Sunflower uses something called the mother sponge, which sounds a bit like a Seinfeld episode, conjuring all kinds of images. The cakes and pies did look fabulous. Everything is made on the premises and it all looks, and tastes, wonderful.

We were tempted to have some carrot juice, though wondered about the freshly squeezed part. Isn't that rather difficult?

Next door was the Zephyr Cafe which was more typical of coffee shops; cluttered in a good way with a determined sense of the town and its folk, and the moral responsibility of a socially conscious business.

Along one wall there are bios of all the candidates running in the municipal election, along with answers to common questions posed to each. That social responsibility thing in practice.

Tip jars answered the question of the day, with all too often beating out probably not enough.

The coffees were strong. Mine, a rather thick and chocolaty espresso, and Sherry's a pumpkin spice latte, with a strange swirl on top, and filled to the brim. Not necessarily the best coffee I've tasted, but on a cold and windy day... this is great and the political vibe is okay too. Coffee shops were traditionally places where discussions took place, where people debated endlessly, and with civility. It probably won't be allowed to happen at the big chain coffee operations, but maybe... here....

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.