Peace and Culture Coffee: a hidden café in Strathcona

 CoffeThere is no sign on the street for Peace and Culture Coffee. To find it, you walk into the Assembly building in Strathcona and follow the courtyard to a small café where the menu is projected onto the wall. The people who make it that far usually came on purpose, which suits the owner, Jun Min, just fine: a crowd that arrives curious is a crowd ready to try something unusual in the cup.

A shared vision, two kinds of craft

The founder’s road to Vancouver began behind the counter of a small café in Melbourne and ran through Seoul, eight years in which he moved from barista to supervisor to operations manager, competed in barista events and collected several latte art throwdown wins along the way. His arrival in Vancouver was meant to be temporary, and he has stayed ever since.

He also watched the city’s coffee community change. Before the pandemic, Vancouver had one of the most passionate and inclusive coffee scenes he had known, and he wanted to help preserve that spirit. He began roasting on the side and organizing non-profit coffee events to bring people back together. As the gatherings grew, opening a café of his own became the more sustainable way to keep the community going.

The pieces fell into place quickly. A landlord had a space tucked inside an artistic building and wanted a coffee shop there. Most operators had passed on it for lack of a storefront, which suited the founder: he wanted to test the idea, convinced that a good product and the right atmosphere would bring people in on their own. He also found people who shared his vision for Peace and Culture Coffee. Edvinas, who came from ten years behind cocktail bars, joined as manager and co-designer of the drinks, and TG General Contracting Ltd. took on the build-out.

Peace and Culture Coffee: A name that invites you to slow down

The name grew out of a turbulent time in the world. The founder wanted a place that adds a little peace and a little culture to people’s days, starting with the simple calm of sharing a cup of coffee with friends. Culture, as he sees it, covers coffee culture and drink culture alike, and the café is meant as a pause in the day: somewhere to slow down, relax over a good drink and reconnect with the people at your table.

Its hidden location means guests arrive with specific expectations, which leaves room for more adventurous drinks. The courtyard doubles as a patio, covered from the rain and shaded in summer, with concrete benches to settle into.

Inside, the design takes its cues from the small independent coffee shops of Mexico City. Concrete and stainless steel keep the palette neutral, so the lighting and the vessels set the mood. The benches are made of kaya wood, chosen for its scent and its softness. Peace and Culture’s décor stays minimal on purpose, so the attention goes to the drinks, to the people you came with and, for a moment, to yourself.

Coffee that borrows from the bar and the pastry kitchen

The menu at Peace and Culture Coffee runs on two tracks. One side covers the classics done with competition-level precision: pour-over, Americano, flat white, espresso drinks and teas. The other side is a list of signature drinks inspired by cocktails and desserts, designed to make specialty coffee more approachable for people who don’t yet drink it. A few pastries round out the offer, though coffee remains the star of the counter. The manager’s years behind cocktail bars push the team to approach coffee in ways few cafés would try, borrowing techniques usually reserved for mixology. The founder, who went to pastry school, looks to desserts instead, and a dish tasted at a restaurant can end up reworked as a drink.

The Mango Sticky Rice Matcha is a good example of that dessert thinking, layering mango purée, coconut sticky rice, milk and matcha over ice. The founder’s own morning drink, Can’t Be It, takes the milk punch technique used in cocktail bars: milk and sheep’s milk yogurt are split with an acid solution, as in cheesemaking, then filtered. The result is a clarified latte, almost crystal clear, with the texture and sweetness of milk and the fruitiness of the coffee pushed forward. With a fruity coffee on the grinder, it can taste like liquid cherry.

The signature list changes often, sometimes before regulars have had time to order their favourite twice. The team sees each disappearance as an invitation to try the next creation, and something equally interesting is always waiting on the menu.

Peace and Culture Coffee: An ethos that runs deep

The founder brought more than bar techniques home from Australia. As is the norm there, every member of the team is paid a living wage, and tipping has no place in the café’s way of doing things. Ordering is quicker and simpler as a result, and a visit to Peace and Culture Coffee stays focused on what matters here: the coffee, a good time with friends and a moment of peace.

The bar workflow follows the same Australian logic, built so that a single barista can handle a remarkable amount on their own, and orders move quickly even when the line reaches the courtyard. What the founder asks of guests in return is an open mind: come ready to taste something new, and the team will take care of the rest.

Written by Marie-Françoise Malo
Photography by Anthony

Updated on October 14, 2026

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