How This Pastry Chef Became The Big Cheese On Commercial Drive
There was a moment where the dream fluttered before her eyes and nearly felt extinguished.
Claire Lassam had always wanted to open a cafe since she was a young girl of 8 years old. It was the dream; the singular goal of her life, she’ll tell you. In pursuit of that dream, Claire spent the first 15 years of her career in restaurants. But hospitality has an established reputation as a grueling industry. After so many years hustling and learning, putting hour after hour on the line, there came a moment, like with many dreams, where the imperious candlelight of destiny began to splutter, knocked astride by prevailing winds of thankless adversity. Claire had reached a tipping point. Feeling disenchanted with her work and ill-suited to the environment around her, she had to get out. So Claire left the industry altogether.
That was several years ago.
Today on the sunny corner of Kitchener St along Vancouver’s Commercial Drive sits a pleasant cafe with clean white walls. A glassy facade reveals a comfortable and eye-catching interior, while a small welcoming patio invites guests to sip and snack while people-watching on one of Vancouver’s busiest streets. Around the corner, a small take away window allows guests to quickly grab a pastry or loaf of bread without jostling anyone in the intimate interior. It all feels very intentional and very inviting. This is Livia.
Livia is taken from Claire Lassam’s middle name. On the bustling Drive, among countless bars, restaurants, shopfronts and more, it’s fittingly an ode to the sometimes hidden yet always present. But it’s also the name of Claire’s beloved nonna who both Claire and her husband Jordan adored and brought so much happiness to those around her. Ostensibly, the cafe is named after her.
To those in the know, and the community who operate up and down the Drive, Livia is distinctly a neighborhood favourite. Packed most mornings, Livia has more than a couple specialties that bring people back again and again.
The bread and pastry program are the timeless roots - the inspiration behind the cafe’s beginnings - which pair excellently with a coffee, the quality of which Claire has precisely curated. However, it’s got to be the epic breakfast carbonara that is Livia’s hero dish. In addition to being Claire’s personal favourite, it’s also one that several hospitality insiders cite as their favourite brunch in the city. Add to the fact that this is a spot that’s open six days a week (Tuesday-Sunday), it makes sense that the best selling item is in fact the breakfast sandwich, a delicious and reasonably priced treat featuring beautifully scrambled eggs, scamorza and pickled onion.
You can’t go wrong with any of these. What guests would be surprised to learn is that on top of all that, Livia has a refined cocktail program led by Claire’s husband Jordan.
The husband-wife duo who are equal parts of Livia, are a dynamic team. When we filmed our episode of Mates on Crates with Claire she was bubbly, charming, with an easy and sincere laugh. Everything about her featured the hallmarks of someone who could masterfully operate front of house anywhere in the world. Here at Livia she does the opposite. Here she is the flour-covered-hands maestro working behind the scenes to maintain the immensely high quality of Livia’s bread, pastry and food programs. In turn, Jordan, using the patter and subtle arts of a master bartender, manages to dexterously operate the front of house as well as Livia’s highly-rated bar program. It’s a poorly kept secret that the negronis at Livia are some of the best on Vancouver’s famous Italian street.
So how did Claire Lassam, who trained as a pastry chef, become the BIG CHEESE on Commercial Drive?
As alluded earlier, it started with stepping away from the industry she had given so much for 15 years. It was immersing in simplicity that restarted her hospitality journey. Supported by Jordan who continued to work as a bartender, Claire began contributing to local Farmer’s Markets.
For five years Claire became a regular at places like Trout Lake where she contributed the most nostalgic and endearing of market fare: pastries. The name for her brand was aptly, Livia Sweets (which remains the Instagram handle for the cafe many years later).
Livia Sweets was an immediate hit and it didn’t take long before Claire was invited to start making bread for the market. Even today Claire is bemused recalling the memory of accepting the invitation “I was like, ‘I made bread in restaurants’ like a dozen a day. Nothing. And I, for some reason, had the confidence to say yes to this, which was like a glorious and life-changing thing, because it threw me into bread in a wild way.”
With limited experience Claire was faced with a plateful of challenges; ovens that didn’t work, tiny mixers, “it was nutty for a while” she laughs. Despite those early obstacles, she thrived.
The farmer’s markets were an environment for her personality to shine and it was there that Claire made a profound reputation for herself. Claire lives her brand. Today you can check the Livia Instagram and you’ll see Claire herself regularly announcing updates, highlighting menu items and just checking in on the community. A recent reel, features a cover reading “support local businesses that also support local businesses,” which epitomizes her passion for engaging local partners in the community. Her authenticity and willingness to be a part of a wider tapestry allows her to dive into community making, creating friends and connections everywhere. She’s the kind of person who has a compliment for everyone, and you can tell everyone has a compliment about her.
While it wasn’t an immediate transformation, the time spent curating her pastries and breads at the Farmer Markets as Livia Sweets created strong foundations for the cafe that was still to come. Over those years discovering her entrepreneurship sensibilities and redefining her hospitality chops, Claire had never lost hope in fulfilling her childhood dream of opening a cafe.
Livia has been open for nearly six years now. You cannot make a reservation, it’s walk-in only. Claire and Jordan took their time in finding the right spot, but when the opportunity came they pounced. Not for the first time, it proved a bigger challenge than anticipated. “It was bananas,” Claire recalls. “It was like three restaurants opening out of it at once. It was rainbow-colored walls. It was like a wild time.” That was six years ago and things have gone exceedingly well.
When we launched her episode of Mates on Crates it quickly became, and remains, our most viewed episode, with over forty-five thousand views. Hundreds of comments flooded in featuring hearts and endearing shoutouts. It was indicative of the personal standing she’s built. Whether for breads, sandwiches, or a breakfast carbonara and cheeky negroni, Livia is a surefire hit; but it’s the way that Claire built her reputation through the farmer’s markets, contributing sincerely and earnestly across the lower mainland, accepting invitations perhaps against better judgement, which has given her a platform for expanded success on Commercial Drive. Everyone knows Livia and Claire herself has sincerely earned her reputation not just as big cheese at Livia but across all of Commercial Drive.
Claire’s story is an inspiring one. It’s packed of hard work, hope, and being bold in the pursuit of your dreams - something we can all learn from. While there’s no doubt amazing things still to come from Claire, Jordan and Livia, achieving some dreams is all you could want. Asked about her plans for future expansion, Claire demurs, “I don’t want another, one is enough.”
At our Mates on Crates session we had the opportunity to ask Claire a few more questions in addition to those about her story and local favourites. Check them out here.
What is your favourite bread to make?
Claire: The cinnamon currant, which is our Sunday specialty loaf, because I feel like a block away you can smell the steam from the cinnamon. It’s like it permeates into your pores and it's the best way to start a Sunday.
Tell us about your coffee program
Claire: I'm very protective about my coffee, and I basically only have coffee here. I really do not like most people's coffee. We use Agro Roasters (beans), but they roast them specially for us, and they're like a very dark roast. But you can buy our beans!
What is your favourite seafood?
Claire: Probably side stripe shrimp. I really love a side stripe shrimp. But I grew up going to the East Coast every summer, and so just, like, all I want is just shrimp with butter and Old Bay seasoning.
What's AN ingredient that you're most fired up?
Claire: Well, because it was such a tragic year for fruit and stone fruit, I'm just most excited to have, like, pears, which seems like a really boring answer, but when you haven't had peaches or plums or apricots, pears are pretty exciting. But everyone has [had] bad pears - and so you think they're mushy and awful or they're hard and disgusting, but a good pear, it's a revolution.
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