Thomasina's Cafe, Bistro and Bakery, Princeton, BC

I love Thomasina's Cafe in Princeton.  Laura and I found it first last year and looked forward to returning.  Great coffee ,great meals, great service, and great atmosphere.  We sat outside on the street with Gilbert watching the world of Princeton pass by.  The picturesque bridge leading to Tulameen a lovely view.

The coffee shop idea was made famous by Starbucks and Blenz but I remember the first one I encountered was in Marin County California. No doubt they developed in a lot of places in the late 70’s and 80’s. They were a distinct creation akin to the development of the English pub.

The Turkish coffee shop went back to the 1700’s but was really a place for men to smoke and drink. I loved the ones I visited in Istanbul.This western coffee shop idea was distinctive in it’s feminine elegance.  Thomasina’s decor is light and thoughtful.

The unique western coffeeshop often family owned, certainly has none of the factory efficiency of marvellous McDonald’s with it’s excellent McCafe coffee. Thomasina's had a much more refined ambience.

The trucker diner coffee was more about the meals and cowboys.   The coffee was at times questionable. The English tea house was all about the fine Wedgewood china and exotic teas. Living in London I did enjoy these.  In Victoria the Empress Hotel still has a fine high tea service. The western coffeehouse seemed to take off from this with an emphasis on coffee. In Amsterdam the coffeeshop was all about marijuana. It was hard to write at my laptop with all the second hand smoke.

Thomasina's Cafe not only serves a variety of coffees including the cappucino’s we enjoyed daily but also has fresh baked baquettes and muffins.  Locals came and went each day we were there clutching to their hearts loaves of fresh baked bread and pastries.  It was like a little sliver of Paris. The bread we had was utterly delicious.  They have a gelato and ice cream bar too.

They also sold local hand poured soy candles. We bought a sage grass one and burned it all week in our Riverside Cabin enjoying the rich fragrance it gave our room each night.  But candles and hand made pottery mugs are consistent with the western feminine coffeehouse theme.   I don’t believe these coffeehouses could had developed before the 60’s. They’re faintly reminiscent of times when girls wore flowers in their hair.  Then they really took off with computers and iPhones.

Thomasina's had the added bistro with quiche we loved and other sandwiches and light repastes. 

I remember the very first one of these coffeehouses that migrated to  Bombai.  It took a decade in an era when a decade was what it took for a meme to move around the world. Today given the internet and almost universal television the time is sometimes only days or weeks.   All the other cafe’s and restaurants in  the city now called Mumbai  were distinctly Indian yet here was this one cafe with white walls, flowers, special coffees and a touch of Marin elegance.  There were beautiful educated young ladies in colourful saris chatting safely. It was the mid 80’s. I think they served chai tea but I remember the espresso. With sufficient hot water this powerful brew was called an Americano. 

 It wasn’t long before the Starbuck’s chain became part of the Jetsetter routine.   Sitting in Thomsina I could be anywhere in the world and those sitting there with me might have flown in from any first world destination. Only the middle and upper classes would pay the price of designer coffees knowing they were paying as much for peace and atmosphere. Where the Starbucks has lost much of it’s original panache, the small family based coffee shops catering to local needs and to passing tourists have excelled.

I love these places for connecting to the internet.  The internet cafe’s were dominated by the digital geek while Thomasina retains the centrality of coffee, conversation and a light meal.  It’s omelettes were simple and unsurpassed.

In Winnipeg the first of these elegant third spaces developed in Osborne Village.  I remember leaving a week of medical call, emergency and obstetrics, to enjoy a light lunch in the Village.  It was such a reprieve from the hustle.  Sometimes the cafe’s have had the international papers. They’re 20th and 21st century creations, the best of the best.  

Thomasina’s made Laura and my stay in Princeton all that much better, especially being able to sit outside on the patio with our little dog reminiscing about our patio dining in Rome.  There vespas drove by us whereas in Princeton it was Harley's.