Take Five

The name says what it intends. Take Five is a cafe built around the idea of a pause, and it is an independently run coffee room in Port Coquitlam. Pauses are built into this city's rhythms: it is a place where shift workers and commuters have always needed somewhere to sit with a cup, and where the old railway town habits of early starts and short breaks still shape the commercial streets. Metro Vancouver's soft grey weather, hanging around through much of the year, gives the habit a steady supply of excuses.

Rooms like this tend to keep things simple and do them properly. Coffee and espresso drinks run through the day, tea is on the menu, and the counter usually holds whatever baked or light fare the kitchen turns out. Some independent cafes draw a steady breakfast crowd; others become the afternoon stopping point for people between errands. Which one a room becomes usually comes down to its hours and its regulars, and both versions have their value.

No street address is on file for Take Five at this time, so confirming the location is the sensible first move. The cafe sits within a city threaded by the Traboulay PoCo Trail, the roughly 25-kilometre loop along riverbanks and greenbelts, and a coffee stop pairs naturally with a walk on any of its quieter sections. Find the room, order slowly, and take the five.