There are foods that inspire like a tower of strawberry, pistachio, and toasted coconut macaroons or a top-heavy pizza that makes your mouth water. This is the stuff of Michelin starred cooking blogs or what the rest of us probably call our Instagram feeds (holler, #cheatday). Then there are foods less inspiring like oats or sprouts hanging out the edge of my sandwich like they’re better than the rest of the fillings, which I can’t respect. Finally, there are foods that are making a comeback like Tina Turner in 1984 with her solo studio album, “Private Dancer”; I’m talking about brussel sprouts’ coupling with Greek yogurt sauce and kale’s newfound bad self in those delicious detoxifying smoothies. Speaking of comebacks, a recent stumbling of mine upon a gem on Fraser Street revealed yet another: gluten-free food.
Probably not what you were expecting me to say, right?
All furrowed brows aside, Float On Bakeshop and Café, named after the freewheeling feel-good jam by indie rock band, Modest Mouse, will change your perception of gluten-free food, demonstrating through lunchy and brunchy meals with a side of Elysian coffee and a Ginger Sparkle cookie how wonderful it can taste. Not that gluten-free food has anything to prove. Just that the confines of such a diet begets frustration in the face of less fluffier breads or seeds and nuts in their natural, unprocessed form, surely the forgotten for anyone who hashtags “foodgasm” or curates many a Pinterest food board (question: where is all this time coming from to first, make the food and then to second, snap seemingly professional photos of it? Can I get me a piece? Like some chump, I’m over here rushing my iPod out of my laptop’s USB socket only before quickly inhaling a jaggedly cut piece of cheese. Such is life).
Breads for sale by Shael Faber
Thus, it would be remiss of me not to touch on how Float On came to be, for it was born not out of frustration, but love and a husband and wife’s interminable knack to “float on, good news is on the way.”
Shael, always passionate about food and baking, turned her mind to the feat of making creative, delicious, and tasty gluten-free food when she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This particular ambition afoot and the needle stopped at “Float On” by Modest Mouse on the record chronicling the soundtrack of her life, Shael along with her husband who breathes coffee, Tobin, set up shop. “The opportunity arose for us to open a café and bakeshop that also served premium coffee, the first of its kind in Vancouver. Because of our children, we also wanted to have a certain level of whimsy and playfulness in both the food and the aesthetics,” Shael says. Regarding the song, “the lyrics have a personal meaning to my husband and I,” Shael holds happily. “The theme of “floating” away from the stresses of life when things get a bit too heavy fits well with what we are trying to achieve with Float On as a place to escape and be taken away.”
Sweet potato pies with maple mascarpone by Shael Faber
Float On – or in the early days, “Out There” by Dinosaur Jr. as suggested by Tobin, which Shael hurriedly dismissed – satisfies the sweet and savoury teeth of those relegated to gluten-free diets and the rest. Shael and Tobin’s kids, like most, bear sweet teeth and enjoy their mom’s cinnamon buns, donuts, brownies, and cookies. Also to choose from are fluffy breads (apparently notwithstanding the above remark; hey, what the heck do I know?) and flatbread pizzas. Upon asking if she has any personal favourites, Shael responds, “yes! The sugar-free vegan scone, our franginpani, and crepes.”
With a hint of espresso by Shael Faber
So if laughing it off and good news is your jam, then on the hop. Better still, the goodies prominently displayed at Float On are also available at Timbertrain Coffee, Café Brixton, the Wilder Snail, and the Nosherie.
