The rebranding of Take 5 Cafe

I have been a fan of Take 5 Cafe for a long, long time. My good friend Lisa Thomas-Tench and I often used to meet there before teaching our Economics and Marketing college-level courses and discuss our teaching strategy. Good times.

I recently found out that Take 5 Cafe had rebranded and expanded, which actually makes me really happy. Take 5 Cafe is one of those local companies that I love and have really provided me with that “safe haven” when I’ve needed to hide and just write (I did just that recently at their Coal Harbour location right after I landed back from Salt Spring Island, having just covered Chefs Across The Water).

Founded by long-time restaurateurs and brothers Dean and Steve Punzo, Take Five Café is also expanding, having opened a café kiosk at Richmond Centre in January and opening a ninth location at the Brewery District re-development in New Westminster this fall.Take Five Café offers fresh Italian-inspired food and coffee. With the first downtown Granville Street location opening in 2003, Take Five Café is expanding to nine locations this year in Metro Vancouver. The European-style coffee houses evolved from the Punzo family’s original business, the fine dining Caffé dé Medici restaurant on Robson Street, a recipient of the Distinguished Restaurants of North America as well as several Wine Spectator Awards. Dean and Steve started working at Caffé de Medici in the early 1980s and took over the business in 1995 when their father retired. Executive Chef at Take Five Café is Aron Zipursky, who was also chef at Caffé dé Medici for the Punzo family

I was also recently sent a basket of goodies from their menu (nom nom nom) that included a bag of Mediterranean coffee, and the following items:

Morning Glory Muffin: low fat muffin with carrots, apples, coconuts and raisins
Cheese Scone: Basic scone recipe with cheddar cheese, chives, onion flakes and fresh red peppers
Italians Only: foccacia bread, sun dried tomato mayonnaise, mixed greens, capicolla, ham, salami, red peppers and Asiago cheese
Chicken Fajita Wrap: salsa wrap, garlic mayonnaise, chicken, mango chutney, sour cream, green onion, cheddar, and romaine lettuce
Chorizo Farfalle: farfalle pasta with Italian sausage, mushroom,, spinach and parmesan cheese tossed in a tomato basil sauce
Pesto Penne with Chicken: Roasted chicken breast, penne pasta and parmesan cheese tossed in a fresh pesto sauce

I’m glad that Take 5 Cafe rebranded with the vibrant red and white contrasting. It’s a really good cafe (if only they opened after 6pm and on weekends!) and you can tell that the staff really absorbs the philosophy of “take 5″. As in, “take 5 minutes of your day and just enjoy your coffee“. I do that frequently. I take the Canada Line to Waterfront, exit through Granville and just sit down and have a coffee and a muffin combo ($3.50). And then I take 5 for myself.

Disclosure: I was sent a bag of goodies and a gift card to sample the Take 5 offerings, some of which I hadn’t sampled before in my visits. This gift basket in no way does influence my views, as I have liked Take 5 (and written about them already) and always pay on my dime whenever I visit. As always, I retain full editorial control of anything I publish on my site.

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