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New bakery set to open in Port Alberni’s Uptown

Wildflower Bakery and Café will be located next to Brie and Barrel on Argyle Street
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The Wildflower Bakery and Café is poised to open on Argyle Street mid-July. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

TERESA BIRD

ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS

The Wildflower Bakery and Café is poised to open on Argyle Street in Port Alberni mid-July. The new business is located in the newly renovated building next to Brie & Barrel.

The business is the collaboration of friends who have worked together on the West Coast. Joel Ashmore and partner Katrina Sungquist, along with Dylan Ashwood and partner Allie Lee, have pooled resources and skills to create a bakery and café that will offer “fast, casual food” for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The focus will be on local, fresh food. They will offer coffees, fresh juices, bread, pastries, salads, sandwiches, grilled entrees and pizza. Vegan and gluten-free options will also be available. Wildflower has a liquor license and will offer wine, beer and cocktails.

Ashmore is a red seal chef specializing in baking and pastry. He worked at the Wickaninnish and Wolf in the Fog in Tofino for several years before he and Sungquist bought a home in Port Alberni. Ashwood hails from the Gold Coast in Australia and is a chef who spent seven years in Tofino, where he worked at the Black Rock and met Ashmore when he also went to work at Wolf in the Fog. He and Lee met while working in the same restaurant in Vancouver.

“We have been in the trenches, working together,” says Ashmore. They have hired another baker and cook from Wolf in the Fog and two servers to work the front with Lee.

While the inside space is limited, especially with social distancing protocols due to the pandemic, the patio will expand their space for the summer. The garden on the patio will also provide some of the herbs and produce that will be used in the cooking and the cocktails. Find Wildflower Bakery and Café on Facebook for updates on their opening date.

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The Alberni Valley NEWS is making the news this summer as we move our offices.

Yes, after years of telling our readers we are not located at the AV Times newspaper office on Napier Street, the Alberni Valley NEWS is moving into that very office on Sept. 1.

The building is owned by Black Press and, except for the space leased by Houle Printing, has been vacant since the daily newspaper, AV Times, closed in 2015.

After some extensive renovations this summer, the building will be ready to once again be the home of the Alberni Valley’s local newspaper. Houle Printing will continue to operate in the building through the door on Fourth Avenue, while the Alberni Valley NEWS will occupy the office space at the main entrance on Napier Street.

Included in the renovation is an upgrade to the front of the building, thanks in part to a grant from the Business Façade Improvement program through the City of Port Alberni and Community Futures. www.albernivalleynews.com.

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The Frances Barkley will start welcoming passengers aboard again starting July 2. The ship will sail to Bamfield and waypoints only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

COVID-19 protocols will be in place. All passengers must bring a face covering and wear it if physical distancing is not possible.

Reservations are recommended. Call 250-723-8313 to book or check availability.

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The Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce held their annual general meeting and board elections via Zoom at the end of May. Guest speaker was MP Gord Johns. The new board of directors is as follows:

Sarah Jones - Walk the Coast/Coast Orthodics - President

Carol-Anne Phillips - Steampunk Cafe - Vice President

Terry Deakin - INEO Employment - 2nd Vice President

Dave Heinrichs - Alberni District Co-op - Treasurer

Peter Wienold - The Graphics Factory/Portal Players Dramatic Society - Secretary

Crystal Knudsen - Scotiabank - Director

Gail Horvath - Port Posh Wash - Director

Daniel Savard - Swept Away Inn - Director

Teresa Bird - AV News - Director

Lori Kerr - Coastal Community Credit Union - Director

Michael Moore - IT Specialist - Director

Krista McKitrick - Belles Hair Care - Director

For more information on the chamber and its programs, visit www.albernichamber.ca or call CEO Bill Collette at 250-724-6535.