The corner of Robson and Seymour lost a 20-year Blenz not long ago.
It just got something that will soon never close.
Bloom Bakery and Cafe has soft opened in the old Blenz unit at 776 Seymour Street, and after its grand opening it plans to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The soft opening runs July 18 through August 15, daily from 8 AM to 6 PM, with 20 percent off all drinks in the meantime.
We covered the space when the coming-soon signage first went up.
Now the doors are open.
What makes this one worth stopping for is who built it.
Bloom is the project of Shayesta Azizi, a 22-year-old in the final year of a criminology degree, who immigrated to Canada from Afghanistan.
“I immigrated to Canada from a country where girls are denied access to education, so every step I take here carries a deeper meaning,” she told Noms Magazine.
When she signed the lease, she had saved about $20,000, and she paused a semester of school to work, save, and put everything into it.
The idea came from a plain frustration.
“Bloom Bakery and Cafe was born from a simple frustration that my sister and I knew all too well,” Shayesta said.
After long shifts in Coquitlam, the two of them would drive around looking for a quiet, comfortable place to study, and most nights every cafe was already packed or closing.
So she built the opposite: a warm space open at any hour, filled with greenery, flowers, and soft light.
The inclusivity is a real part of the pitch, with a menu that runs halal, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free, and alternative milks offered at no extra charge, which is uncommon for a downtown cafe.
The bakes cover cheesecakes, cookies, muffins, donuts, croissants, cinnamon rolls, shortcakes, tiramisu, and sandwiches on sourdough focaccia.
The drinks lean on premium Arabica coffee and Japanese matcha alongside the usual cafe lineup.
The room is small, about 780 square feet with roughly 20 seats, and the interior carries floral elements and greenery throughout.
A 24/7 cafe on this stretch is genuinely uncommon.
“I want people to feel seen,” Shayesta said, describing a space built for students, shift workers, and families as much as the morning rush.
Bloom Bakery and Cafe joins other recently opened Vancouver food spots like Ramen Danbo on Main Street, Menya Tsuzuki at Robson Public Market, and Buttercrumbs at Bentall Centre.
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: 776 Seymour Street, Vancouver BC