WHO IS ZEPHYR CAFE: THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BUSINESS

Zephyr Café, Co-Owner – Adrian Blachut 

Written by Stacy Thomas

 

If Squamish had a flagship store, it could arguably be said to be Zephyr Café. 

In the twelve years since it was opened by Colleen Myers and Kristin Furtney in 2008, the bustling café has gone from humble beginnings where 2ChillGelato is located now, to a spacious hub of activity smack at the midpoint of Cleveland Street. 

Take a seat in the corner at Zephyr on any given day and you will be treated to a nonstop parade of climbers, bikers, skiers, hikers and kiteboarders from near and far grabbing an aprés or avant hot chocolate or meal on the go. Or local freelancers intent over their laptops or even a holidaying celebrity might stop in to check out the local colour and buzz. You never know who might walk through the door. 

But if current owner Adrian Blachut has anything to do with it, there will always be someone who you know.

For the Vancouver-Point Grey native who moved to Squamish in 2013, from the very start, the main goal has been to create welcoming spaces for people to meet, a familiar place for all the characters who wind up here to come and find a friendly face. 

“We want to be the place that you walk into, and you look around and you see people you recognize, and as this city grows bigger and there are more people around, we can be a form of a community centre,” Blachut says. “That’s our key, it’s more around community than anything else. It’s more around trying to be reliable and open and there, and then we just do our very best with what we’ve got.”

With a commerce degree with a focus on hospitality, Blachut managed a brewpub in South Surrey before a hike up to Elfin Lakes with his parents, and a trip into town after, made him see Squamish with new eyes. He made a plan to move up the Sea to Sky within five years, and a year and half later he was cruising the internet when he saw that Myers and Furtney had listed Zephyr Café as for sale. With a recent family inheritance and a loan from his parents, Blachut jumped for it.

He didn’t know a single person, and he spent his first month living in the Chieftain Hotel. But on his first night there it just happened to be the night of a community Easter potluck in the Chieftain Bar (now The Goat). It was his first taste of the community he had moved into. 

“It was one of those feelings like, okay, this is a small community, everybody knows everybody, this is kind of fun, kind of cool. And from there the adventure began,” Blachut says.

The “adventure” was jumping feet first into an already thriving restaurant in a small, bustling space, and within three years, he struck a deal with the owners of Carina Gelato two doors down, and moved Zephyr into the larger space, revamping Carina into the current 2Chill Gelato in its present space.

You could say he’s been a busy guy. On top of moving Zephyr into a bigger space with a kitchen four times as large, and opening a gelato shop to boot, he also started the Adventure Inn & Hostel (now sold to a partner) and Ground Up Climbing Centre with Lauren Watson – all spaces with people at their centre, because he has a passion for bringing them together. 

“My main goal has always been to create spaces where people can hang out together, where people can meet up before going to do their thing. That’s why a café was the perfect place to start, and then I moved on to the climbing gym, the hostel, the ice cream shop, all these spaces that cater to coming, being happy, meeting your friends.”

Eight years is not a long time, but in Squamish, the last eight years have been huge. Just in the time since Blachut took ownership of Zephyr, the influx of new people and growth has been followed (and led) by a new crop of restaurants that are constantly expanding what Squamish has to offer. Far from seeing the new additions as competition, Blachut sees every new face on the scene as a new way to bring new business to everybody. It’s all a part of building a thriving community, he says. 

“I think there’s enough business for everybody, so long as we are positive and pushing forward. I feel like every day is a little bit of a struggle, but we push forward and I’m so happy when I hear that people enjoy themselves here – pretty much I’m just happy when someone walks through the door. We’re lucky that the community has supported us this far and we’ll see what happens. We’ve kept the ball rolling for this long, and we’ll keep it rolling, downhill I hope.”