Cream Pony, the North Vancouver doughnut and fried chicken shop, has a new home on Main Street in Vancouver.
The universe works in wondrous ways. When Cartems, the beloved Vancouver doughnut chain, announced they were suddenly closing, Vancouverites with sweet teeth lamented. However, Cream Pony seized the opportunity. The Cream Pony team had spent over a year scoping out potential second locations. In fact, Erin Smith and Ali Finn, the mother-daughter team at the helm of Cream Pony, were about to throw in the towel and give up hope.
As Luck Would Have It
Opening a doughnut shop was a dream Erin Smith brought to life with Cream Pony’s first North Vancouver location. As the family business grew, so did the number of family members involved, and Smith’s daughter came aboard fulltime. With Cream Pony’s recent growth and success, they started looking for location number two.
Smith and Finn knew they wanted somewhere like their North Vancouver space — in a historical building, maybe next door to a brewery. They’d looked in Kits and Point Grey, as well as in Mount Pleasant, where Finn lives. She describes the hunt for new location as “a grind of a year.” They went so far as to have designs drawn up for spaces that didn’t work out. When they headed out once again to look at available spaces, Smith said, “This is the last time I want to do this thing.” Then Finn saw a notification on her phone. “I look up at my mom and say, ‘Cartems is closing.’”
Unexpected Gifts
Cream Pony’s logo is a horseshoe, and their luck has been very good so far. “The right thing always happens,” says Finn. The business itself was a kind of well-timed gift. It was Smith’s dream to open a doughnut shop, and during the pandemic, she was trying to find a space. However, she was immediately hit with the cost of North Vancouver. In the meantime, another doughnut shop opened in her dream Lonsdale location. It was called Cream Pony, and it served doughnuts, as well as fried chicken. That Cream Pony was only open for a few weeks before the owners decided to close. Then, with the luckiest timing, Smith happened to catch a real estate posting. She recognised Cream Pony immediately and acted fast. The owners were happy to be able to pass their business along to someone with similarly sweet goals. Smith, however, hadn’t planned on having fried chicken on her menu.
“She had completed the whole brand and business plan, and fried chicken was not part of the initial plan,” explains her daughter. While it was someone else’s passion, it also offered an opportunity for a new product. It was, as Finn describes, “a very serendipitous moment.”
“We’re from a family of foodies,” shares Finn. Once they all tried the chicken, they knew it was staying on the menu: “It’s an amazing product, we agreed, this is really special.”
Sweet Treats and Savoury Eats at Cream Pony
I enjoy a good doughnut, and Cream Pony’s are excellent and include daily features. However, as someone who often opts for a cheese plate over dessert, I love that they have savoury menu options like the fried chicken as well. Sweet and salty is a winning combination, especially when it comes together in one delicious handful. Yes, at Cream Pony, you can not only get a fried chicken sandwich on a soft steamed potato bun, but you can also get it on a glazed doughnut. The Glazer comes with chicken of any spice level, which ranges from OG to Cajun to Hot Nash. In fact, you can get a sandwich made with any Cream Pony doughnut.
You can, of course, also get the fried chicken on its own in two, four, or eight-piece packs. In terms of savoury sides, Cream Pony serves tots, cornbread, and a Cowboy Caesar. The salad of romaine and shredded cabbage comes with deep-fried capers, pickled onions, and a tangy Caesar dressing.
There is magnificent continuity to Cream Pony taking over the Cartems space. Ashes to ashes and doughnut to doughnut. However, Cartems did all their baking off-site. That’s why, although Cream Pony has possession (you’ll see their hoarding on the windows), they won’t be open until October. “It’s a huge project,” explains Finn. They’re building a brand new kitchen and updating the interior. The space will “look and feel like the North Van location,” assures Finn.
As you await the opening of the new Mount Pleasant location, you can always visit the original Cream Pony in North Vancouver in the alleyway at B2 111 1st Street East, Lolo Ln.
