There is a croissant the size of a carry-on suitcase sitting in a Robson Street window, and dozens more hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier!
Bisou Bakehouse recently opened its new Robson Street location on July 18 in the old corner Waves Coffee unit at Robson and Bute.
It is the French bakery’s third Metro Vancouver shop, joining its West End cafe on Bidwell Street and its North Shore roots.
The room is sleek and modern, the same dark, minimal look as the West End location, with pastries lined up along a wide counter display.
Croissants, baguettes, danishes, macarons, and cakes fill the case, backed by a wall of croissants stacked behind the counter.
But the spectacle here is no doubt the HUGE croissant sculpture by the window.
It’s kinda a photo stop for anyone walking Robson, and a bit of theatre for anyone sitting inside.
This is not Bisou’s first run downtown.
The brand opened inside Telus Garden on Georgia Street in late 2023, but that location closed within about a year.
Robson and Bute is a very different bet.
Where Telus Garden sat among office towers, Robson is one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, a livelier retail strip that changes the downtown foot-traffic math.
The bakery itself goes back to 2006, when five friends opened a 400 square foot shop in West Vancouver.
The founders have described those early days as five close friends chasing one shared dream, which is a long way from a flagship corner on Robson.
It has since grown across the North Shore and into the city, and it supplies its baking well beyond its own counters, including Fairmont hotels and several international airlines.
The Waves Coffee that used to anchor this corner is its own small goodbye, another downtown cafe unit turning over.
But the trade this time is a coffee chain out, a French bakery with a croissant chandelier in.
Bisou Bakehouse Robson now joins other recently opened Vancouver food spots like Krave Kulture at the Coal Harbour marina, Lagman at Robson Public Market, and Bloom Bakery and Cafe downtown.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: 1201 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6E 1C3