Urth: real coffee, real food, real conversation

By Briana Tomkinson 29 August 2009 19 Comments

I came into Urth for a coffee, and to scope out the free wifi, but ended up staying to chat for over an hour with owner Bryan Schwartz and a handful of well-caffeinated regulars who joined our conversation at the bar.

Urth isn’t just a place to get coffee. It’s a place that invites lingering to chat, and a place to meet new friends. I’ve found New West to be friendlier than most places, but it’s still unusual to go into a place and strike up a conversation with strangers. But at Urth, the intimate space and the friendly, inviting atmosphere makes it easy. It’s not like a Waves or a Starbucks where everyone cocoons in their invisible bubbles marking their personal space and avoids looking the other customers in the eyes.

Urth Coffee House. Photo: Bryan Schwartz.

In my two hours at Urth, Bryan and I started with small talk about the steep hike up 8th St. and the relative merits of various coffee brands but ended up discussing real estate, the restaurant industry, the potential we see in the influx of young professionals to New West, our wish list for the Burr Theatre, the state of the local media and more. And it wasn’t just me. During the course of the time I spent at Urth, both talking to Bryan and tapping away at my computer, it seemed that most of the customers who came through took time to chat with Bryan and others in the cafe.

Urth is a new kind of coffee shop for New West. To being with, Bryan knows coffee. Due to the sprog in my belly, I ordered mine decaf. Urth is the only place besides JJ Bean where I’ve ordered a decaf latte and half-wondered if my order got switched for the real deal. It’s a lovely change from the weak watery taste of most decaf.

Urth Coffee House. Photo: Bryan Schwartz.

In the course of our conversation I learned Bryan’s passion is the restaurant business, and it really shows in the quality of the food I sampled at Urth. It may look like typical pre-packaged coffee shop fare in the display case, but don’t be fooled. There’s seriously good stuff hiding inside that cellophane wrapping.

Take the veggie panini, for example. Pesto, artichokes and roasted red pepper on soft, fresh bread – perfectly toasted. I’m often hesitant to order coffee shop paninis for fear they’ll taste stale, but Urth’s may be one of the best sandwiches I’ve had, period. I can’t even believe I just wrote that, but it’s true! Bryan also offered me a black bean and chicken wrap to try, which was very good but not quite the level of awesomeness of the veggie panini. I also got to try an orange tangerine smoothie, which Bryan tells me is 100% real fruit (not fruit-flavoured smoothie mix) and packed full of flavour.

The atmosphere at Urth is a reflection of the ‘new’ New West. It makes the most of the great bones in the old building, lovingly highlighting its quirks: the curved wall of windows, the cement block walls, the slanted ceilings and long narrow space. The black-brown accents and cool green walls are very modern, but warm wood accents and retro font on the menu keep it from feeling cold. Work from local artists line the walls and soft indie music sets a laid-back vibe that really suits the space.

A lot of the good restaurants in New West are run by people with passion, but little restaurant industry experience. I’ve become quite forgiving of restaurants with great food but no atmosphere, or one fabulous dish and terrible coffee, or great food but terrible service … etc. Urth is one of the few new restaurants I’ve been to in New West that seems to have itself pulled together at launch. A lot of thought, care and expertise has clearly gone into this place.

We are so having the next Tweetup here. I think it’s my new favourite coffee & lunch spot in New West.

157519 Comments2009-08-29+09%3A01%3A23Briana+Tomkinson »

Graham Ballantyne said:

Good coffee and free wifi? I think I’ll have to move my working-from-home office from Waves to Urth.

# 29 August 2009 at 10:54 am

Ruth Seeley said:

Hey – loving the 10thtotheFraser redesign, regretting I didn’t get around to visiting Urth before leaving town.

# 29 August 2009 at 12:01 pm

Travis said:

The coffee is wonderful and the muffins are divine! Seriously, you have to have a muffin. My wife had a frap that was also lovely. I will be returning soon.

# 29 August 2009 at 1:37 pm

Rob J said:

I pass Urth everyday on my trek from home to New West SkyTrain station, and I’ve always made a note to go in after work, which I have yet to do. If there is a TweetUp there, I am so in! I think with Douglas College being right across the street, the target audience is pretty clear.

Also, I read an article that acoustic nights/open stage is an idea on the table for the place. I’d be in favour of that, too, with maybe a music/TweetUp cross-over?

# 29 August 2009 at 6:26 pm

Franci Louann said:

Hmmm that vegan (?) panini sounds as good as the feta & artichoke panini I love at the Liberty Bakery, Main & 21st, in Vancouver – have written poetry to that establishment & their food…it's probably still posted on their bulletin board…

What hours is Urth open. We shall all learn how to spell "Urth". (We live near The Orange Room & Coming Home.)

# 29 August 2009 at 11:48 pm

Briana Tomkinson (author) said:

I think Urth is open until 6pm during the week and 5 on Saturday. Closed on Sundays. I am not sure what time they open …

# 30 August 2009 at 8:14 am

Preston said:

I was just by there the other day and it was a nice little spot for sure. The espresso there is outstanding, they run an all manual espresso machine there so it actually takes some artistry in getting it right unlike the now fully programmable machines the larger shops use =(

I will be back for sure.

# 30 August 2009 at 6:33 pm

Ross said:

I think 'BeanAroundTheWorld' has spoiled all other cafe's for me. I typically make my own coffee at home and only buy out in Vancouver. With my own 12oz. mug, my order of choice is a tripple shot Americano (Canadiano?), not too much water. At B.A.W, this come to a whopping total of $2.30 and it's great coffee.

# 10 September 2009 at 11:48 pm

10thToTheFraser (Bri) said:

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@hayley_z really? I lurved the coffee at Urth. Strong and bold like JJ Bean. – Posted using Chat Catcher

# 15 September 2009 at 7:41 am

benjaminluk (Benjami) said:

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@hayley_z I disagree wholeheartedly. What'd you order? – Posted using Chat Catcher

# 15 September 2009 at 7:42 am

benjaminluk (Benjamin Luk) said:

Twitter Comment

Checking out Urth Coffee House in New West as a potential second home. They’re playing Cat Power and Wintersleep. Win. [link to post]

– Posted using Chat Catcher

# 15 September 2009 at 1:29 pm

hayley_z (Hayley Zalm) said:

Twitter Comment

@benjaminluk been there, bad coffee …

– Posted using Chat Catcher

# 15 September 2009 at 2:49 pm

hayley_z (Hayley Zalm) said:

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@benjaminluk just coffee, it was watery and old tasting. Maybe I got a bad pot… But it was 9 am so I should have been fresh…

– Posted using Chat Catcher

# 15 September 2009 at 5:47 pm

Rob J said:

I finally checked out Urth today, on a day off. Really great coffee and a tasty roast beef panini. I also had a chance to speak with Bryan, who is truly passionate about coffee, and in improving his business to suit to the surrounding clientele. It was a great chat. I hope he starts a blog – the guy seems to know everything there is to know about coffee. I'd read it! Bryan told me that the new website's been launched – urthcoffeehouse.com. Send your link love.

# 14 October 2009 at 6:00 am

Tenth to the Fraser Best of 2009 | Tenth To The Fraser said:

[...] in our top five is my review of Urth Coffee House, which has become my favourite cafe in New [...]

# 29 December 2009 at 2:42 pm

Emma said:

A Sad Update:
Urth is Officially up for a “sub-lease”. It’s really too bad! It was a GREAT little spot.

# 3 March 2010 at 11:59 am

dr said:

As good as the coffee may or may not have been it’s closed now. Does anyone know what happened? I thought it was a good spot, well interior designed with a passionate owner.

Dr

# 5 April 2010 at 6:27 pm

Briana Tomkinson (author) said:

Hey dr, it is indeed very sad that Urth has closed. It was a great little place. I believe the downfall was the Tim Hortons that opened up inside Douglas College … but I’m sure it wasn’t just one factor that led to the closure.

# 5 April 2010 at 6:36 pm

Julie said:

Hi everyone,

Briana, dr, I believe the closing down of Urth was rather a personal reason, rather than Douglas College’s Tim Hortons (which doesn’t take anything other than cash, anyway).

I was in there before Christmas time, and I had overheard that the owner was going on holiday/taking a break over Christmas, and would be back in the New Year.

So this is what leads me to believe it was a personal thing, as it appeared the owner inteneded to re-open after the holidays. I had asked him a few months piror and he said that business had actually been doing pretty well. You wouldn’t know within 2 months (as the store was closed for a few months before the Sub-Lease signs went out) that business was bad enough to close.

Anyway, living in the downtown NW, the signs have come down and it appears some sort of work is being done on the inside (painting, it seems like). Should be interesting to see what it resurrects into!

# 23 April 2010 at 3:52 pm

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