Cream Pony profile

Good morning,

I have a love-hate relationship with donuts.

Up until a few years ago, I couldn't walk past a shop without buying one. Then, in a fit of what can only be described as pure gluttony, I ate so many that I was nauseous for an entire day. Ever since then, I rarely buy them, except for the odd trip to Mello.

Now there’s a new spot in my neighbourhood tempting me on my walk to Mount Pleasant Community Centre. I haven’t yet visited, but after today’s story, I might have to, especially for a potential review in our food newsletter.

Let’s dive in.

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor and founder

P.S. — I was so excited for the holidays, I forgot to mention we wouldn’t be publishing this past Monday. Apologies!

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WEATHER

Wednesday: 11 🌡️ 6 | ☀️

Thursday: 14 🌡️ 6 | ☀️

Friday: 16 🌡️ 6 | ☀️

By Maddi Dellplain. Read the story online.

The glowing “Cartems” sign that once hung in front of the beloved donuterie at Main and East 6th has found a new home in Cream Pony, a family-owned donut and Southern fried chicken shop that recently moved into town. 

The sign still shines bright, but now its letters hang inside against the freshly-painted white and baby blue walls — letters that could, somewhat serendipitously, be rearranged to spell the word “Cream.” 

“We loved Cartems, and we wanted to preserve a few things from the shop,” said Alix Finn, the daughter-half of the mother-daughter duo that launched the new Mount Pleasant location in March. 

“It’s just funny how these things happen … there aren’t that many letters in ‘Cartems,’ and we were able to use five of them.” 

Though it may only be the latest donut shop to take up residence at 2190 Main Street, Cream Pony is more than prepared to fill the large shoes left by its predecessor.

It offers a wide selection of cream-filled, classic jam, glazed, and frosted donuts, including options with a personal touch, such as lemon curd-filled donuts made with Finn’s grandmother’s recipe. “We really wanted to prioritize simple, fun, traditional donut flavours… We don’t overcomplicate things.”

Cream Pony also serves up several savoury treats. Their menu includes a variety of Southern fried chicken sandwiches, as well as a new breakfast sandwich for early birds launching later this week. 

In a culinary world full of “beautiful, curated trends,” Finn said they wanted to focus on making quality, classic food, “no muss, no fuss.”

The neighbourhood has certainly taken notice. On a rainy weekday afternoon, the bell on Cream Pony’s front door is in a near-constant state of ringing from patrons entering and exiting the busy establishment.  

For those seeking apple turnovers or their namesake “Cream Pony” donut (their take on a Boston Cream), Finn cautioned it’s best to come early to avoid missing out. 

Cream Pony’s flagship location in North Vancouver was unexpectedly born out of an early pandemic pastime. Finn’s mother, Erin Smith, began making donuts for friends and family while home from her day job running community centre programs for seniors. 

What started as a lockdown hobby quickly escalated into a full-fledged business idea. “She’s just a really creative person,” said Finn. “But my mom’s not a pastry chef, she’s not even really the family cook in our household… I don’t think me or my siblings took it too seriously [when she said] that she wanted to open a donut shop.” 

But within just a few months, Cream Pony was off to the races. “She basically went full steam ahead with a large business operation that grew very, very quickly.”

Finn got involved in the business after a cancelled flight derailed her Hawaiian honeymoon in December 2022. “They told us something's happened with the airplane. We're not taking off, and I came home crying.” But, as fate would have it, this freed Finn up to help out her mother at Cream Pony’s grand opening in North Vancouver the very next day. 

“The rest was truly history,” she said. Finn quickly became immersed in Cream Pony's daily operations, enjoying it so much that she eventually left her job as a kindergarten teacher to work full-time as her mother’s business partner. 

Chun-Yi Fan, a career pastry chef and now the official third partner in the business, joined the team just four months into the opening of Cream Pony’s first location. Fan was so instrumental to Cream Pony’s early success that he helped inspire their expansion goals.

“We didn't really ever want to run our business without him, because of how well we all work together,” she said. “When it became clear [we wanted] to have Chun join our business as a partner, we had to dream a little bigger. You don’t need three owners for a little shop in North Van.” 

The rapid success of their flagship location in North Vancouver set the stage for their expansion to Mount Pleasant, the neighbourhood Finn has called home for nearly a decade. But she said that getting the more than 110-year-old building ready for opening was “the biggest hurdle” by far for the team. 

Built between 1912 and 1913, the Ashnola Apartments, home to several businesses on the ground level, is registered as a heritage building with the city, meaning building codes and requirements are exceptionally strict. Finn said that as soon as they changed one thing in the space, it would trigger a cascade of additional requirements. 

While it may seem like opening a donut shop in place of another would be a seamless transition, Cartems did not bake its donuts on-site. “We spent a year building out the entire kitchen that would support making all of our fried chicken and donuts in-house,” Finn explained. 

After a year of hard work, Cream Pony is officially up and running. Between the two locations, they have over 40 employees, including a few of Finn’s younger siblings who have also joined in on the family business. “It’s honestly been incredible.” 

Finn said she is proud to open their second location in a neighbourhood she loves so much – and as a mom expecting her second child in August, she’s been happy to see families and people of all ages enjoy the space. 

“We’re so proud to be a family business, and there’s more to that than just the food. I think people really connect with who we are and who we work with,” she added. “It brings a really inviting, fun community that people want to join in on.”

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$1 billion

The expected cost to taxpayers for hosting 13 FIFA World Cup matches in Vancouver and Toronto. Read more. [CBC]

What happened: A snowpack for water supply areas of 55 per cent below normal as of April 1 has politicians warning about water usage this summer, according to the Vancouver Sun. It’s also expected to be a drier summer this year. 

What’s next: Stage 1 water restrictions will begin in May, meaning people can water their lawns only once per week until Oct. 15, while shrubs can only be watered by hand. Higher usage in the region could mean increased water restrictions in the summer. The full restrictions can be found here.

🤔 While council recently approved a dedicated fund for festivals in Vancouver, the city also brought in increased permit fees for events throughout the year. For example, a medium-sized event could cost up to $2,500, compared to $250 previously. The city says the increase is, in part, to compensate for the “undue burden” on businesses and residents when a neighbourhood hosts an event. Read more. [CityNews]

🎉 The Vancouver Vaisakhi Parade, a Sikh celebration, is happening on Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm, with hundreds of thousands of attendees expected in South Vancouver. Road closures include East 57th Avenue between Main and Ross streets, Main and Fraser between 49th and 57th, and Ross from 57th to Marine Drive. Read more. [Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver, Urbanized]

🚫 Frustrating news for Gastown residents, Nesters Market has no timeline for re-opening. The supermarket, which was damaged by arson, is the only one in the neighbourhood. Read more. [CityNews]

♨️ SRO owners are receiving $1.4 million in city funding to upgrade units and add cooling and heating retrofits across multiple buildings. Some rooms can reach 40 degrees Celsius during the summer, according to researchers. Read more. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🚍 The Kingsway Corridor is set to become faster for public buses due to the reconfiguration of stops and the addition of more curbside lanes, which will especially improve service on the 19 route between Stanley Park and Metrotown. Read more. [Urbanized]

😵‍💫 Vancouver drivers, on average, travel 23 kilometres during their commute, which is the third highest in the country after Ottawa and Toronto. Read more. [Urbanized]

💃 Congrats to the Dance Centre, which has purchased its longtime home in Yaletown for $6 million. It’s a big deal given how precarious B.C.'s and Vancouver’s art industries are these days. In addition to fundraising themselves, the purchase was made possibly through support from all three levels of government. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🧹 A new contractor hired by TransLink is not maintaining proper sanitation and safety, according to the union representing SkyTrain cleaners. They say Dexterra Group isn’t providing workers with the basic necessities needed to complete tasks. Read more. [CTV]

📱 Do you need more apps in your life? Vancouver seems to think so, as the city announced it will be using another app for street parking in addition to the current PayByPhone system. HotSpot will use the same five-digit code as PayByPhone. Read more. [Urbanized]

Since our story is about a place in Mount Pleasant, let’s head over there for our home of the week.

Okay, I’ll note right away, this place is small. At 474 square feet, it’s downright tiny. But before you freak out, I’m including it for one big reason — the patio is to die for. It’s fully enclosed on the ground floor and is a perfect way to spend a summer. It also has parking and a modern kitchen.

But is it worth it at this price? 

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To purchase tickets, or not to purchase tickets… It’s not really a question, because you’ll want to see the annual Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival from Jun. 9 to Sept. 19, featuring The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth, Antigone and Goblin:Oedipus. Tickets go on sale today! 

Shakespeare in Love is on at the Metro Theatre until Apr. 25, a witty, fast-paced celebration of mischief and love.

 I Use My Haida Eyes: The History Robes features 50 “history robes” from artist Jut-ke-Nay–Hazel Wilson, exploring Haida history, at the Museum of Anthropology starting May 14.

Head out to Surrey to catch In the Shadow of the Pavilions at the Surrey Art Gallery, which showcases photos from Expo 86. On from Apr. 18 to June 7.

North Shore Jazz Festival is back from June 19-28 with eight shows at Waterfront Park and BlueShore at CapU. It’s part of the Vancouver Jazz Festival. 

Those looking for a unique show should check out the throat singing duo PIQSIQ, performing on Apr. 12 at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts.

The Rio has an eclectic mix of movies this week, including NOFX: 40 Years of Fuckin’ Up, They Live, No Other Choice and Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie. 

A few movies caught my eye at VIFF this week, including The Art of Adventure, a story about artist Robert Bateman and an ecologist who drove from Africa to Australia in 1957, Kensington Market: Heart of the City, an oral history of the famous Toronto neighbourhood and Sook-Yin Lee’s Paying for It.

Submit your event and it could appear here and reach 28,000+ Vancouver locals.

Today’s Wordle was mentioned in Maddi’s story today. Can you work out what it is?

You’ll have to excuse us for indulging in one more cherry blossom photo before the popular trees turn green for the summer 🌸