RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT

TRUE CONFECTIONS
The West End Has A Sweet Tooth

For more than thirty years True Confections on Denman at Haro has been a serious temptation to locals and passers-by alike. 

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Operations Manager Niamh O’Brien (right) and Sarah O’Connor help you “celebrate with cake” in the best and freshest way possible.
(click photos to enlarge)

It was 1986 when Alanna Pollock and Nadine Junelle met. The two bonded over their shared regret that there were no great places in Vancouver to have fabulous desserts. Two years later, they decided that the time was right to pool their meagre savings to create Vancouver’s first “desserts only” restaurant.

People told them they were crazy, but they hoped — if they stayed true to their mission — customers would love their desserts as much as they did. That mission was to serve the largest selection of ‘made from scratch’ desserts in Canada, using only fresh ingredients.

Alanna’s grandmother used to make delicious Devil’s Food Cake for special occasions, and Nadine’s grandmother made equally special cheesecakes. Armed with little more than chocolate-stained family recipe books, the duo spent two years testing recipes in their home kitchens. In 1989, the founders opened the doors of their first True Confections location, and their foot-high layer cakes and Montreal-style cheesecakes have been winning awards ever since.

Six years ago, Alanna and Nadine hearkened to the call of retirement and a less hectic (and kitchen-bound) life. Enter Lin and Calvin Ma, who purchased True Confections from its founders, which by then had a second location on West Broadway. About four years ago, recent Irish immigrant Niamh O’Brien was hired on as a cake decorator, and six months later was promoted to operations manager for both locations.

A lot has changed in the world over the years, but what hasn’t is those great desserts being baked daily, with love, in the spirit of Alanna and Nadine’s grandmothers.

“We still bake everything for both stores fresh and from scratch here on Denman “ Niamh says.

A few months after True Confections opened in 1989 the Vancouver Courier’s restaurant columnist Kevin Dale McKeown (now the excellent editor of this publication) wrote: “I hate to say it in front of hundreds of thousands of people, but I think Mom has met her match. The cakes and tarts and pies and goodies are rich and wonderful and fresh like Sara Lee wouldn’t know from …” 

And that certainly hasn’t changed.

Visit the True Confections website here for more information on products, treats, and special offers.