Pane From Heaven Bakery Cafe

Vonn Lath, co-owner and baker extraordinaire at the Pane from Heaven Bakery & Café, begins work at 1:00 a.m. every day the café is open. "He makes the croissants and scones fresh every single day," explains his wife and business partner, Ranu Lath. "Everything is fresh—the marinated chicken for the paninis, the soups, the stews—he makes it all fresh, every day."

Freshness is very important to Vonn and Ranu. "You can't sell day-old scones,” insists Ranu. “We give the leftovers away."

Pane from Heaven opened its doors in Vancouver’s trendy Kitsilano neighbourhood in 2001. "For the first three or four years, we made artisan breads," recalls Ranu. "Then the Atkins Diet became popular and, being in a health conscious neighbourhood close to the gym, bread fell out of favour." The resourceful couple moved instead to concentrate on sandwiches, soups, stews and salads. "Lunch is our busiest time and our paninis are very healthy and very popular," she says.

The bakery and café also offer catering services. "We cater meetings and lunches for various businesses in the area," Ranu explains. "Our panini platters, soups and stews are very popular for catering. Basically, whatever we make at the store for retail, we can make wholesale."