Take THE Cake takes New West by storm

If you visit chef Lalit Pant at Take THE Cake in Queensborough, come hungry. 

My first encounter with chef Pant was over a moment of sampling: many, many months ago, he’d been baking in the kitchen when he came out and suddenly started to hand out bite-sized biscotti. I still remember eating the biscuit: it wasn’t dry, it didn’t hurt my teeth, and pairing the flavour and the aroma with a friendly conversation with Pant was lovely.

This visit is no different: 30 seconds after I sat down, he insists I have some masala chai and a savoury scone. Not long after that, he gets up again — and asks me if I like fruit tarts or lemon tarts. “Oh, uh, fruit!” I stutter.

I’m not a breakfast person, let alone a scone person, but I bite into the scone … and I’m pretty sure I’ve been converted. This fluffy, savoury baked good has broken a 25-year scone drought . When I was a kid, I was diagnosed with Norwalk, and the only things I could eat for two weeks were dry, mass-produced apple scones. Hence, I haven’t touched a scone since, but Pant’s scone was nothing like the ones I remember.

So what’s Pant’s secret? 

“It’s good because we are making it with love, we are making it fresh,” says Pant, who explains that baking starts no later than 5 am every day. “We started with very popular cakes. French tarts. When the French tarts were very popular, all the tarts became popular. After that, breakfast pastry.”

As I hold up what’s left of the scone to ask about the origins of the recipe, he tells me he used to bake 400 to 500 of them each day while working at a five-star hotel in England. His boss loved them so much, they stayed on the menu. While he enjoyed the gastronomical experiences created through his travels—count Dubai and China among the places he’s baked—he eventually decided to settle down with his wife, Anita, and their two children. 

“I love New West. I love Queensborough – I live in Queensborough.” 

Pant initially planned to open Take THE Cake in Vancouver—somewhere along Granville—but it was the children and families in the Royal City that did him in. A few weeks ago, he donated about 500 cookies for people to decorate during the Queensborough Children’s Festival. 

Pant says the community’s feedback is priceless.

“Everybody was happy. They’d come over, they’d say, ‘Thank you so much, uncle!’ ‘Thank you so much, chef!’ ” 

Pant says it’s a little sad right now, since the kids are out of school for the summer; he enjoys their visits to his bakery. 

“I’m always in with the community. Money is the second thing for me. First thing is quality, and making people happy.”

This is probably why he’s been able to introduce new goodies and take on new Take THE Cake-related projects. As of Friday, July 8, he’ll be serving up some new desserts, including ice cream, ice cream-based shakes, and a creation he is incredibly excited about: the cheesecake shake. While you'll soon be able to get his treats through Door Dash or Skip the Dishes, he'd love for you to come visit. 

“We’re going to have five kinds: salted caramel cheesecake, double chocolate cheesecake, white chocolate, mango, and mixed berry,” Pant says. 

Once the new desserts have launched, he’ll turn his attention to opening another location, this time in the Metrotown area. Pant says they’re looking for a location along Kingsway. 

“[It’ll] just be 1,000 square feet, just ice cream and cakes. I’ll be baking—we’re planning a central kitchen—so I’ll bake everything [there], and then we can distribute it that way.” 

Pant says he’d also like to open locations in other municipalities, like White Rock or Langley. 

If you’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Take THE Cake, Pant recommends the red velvet cake. 

“People like my red velvet chocolate truffle, because it’s a chocolate from Belgium; pure Belgium chocolate,” he says. The second most popular is the fresh fruit. 

While Pant didn’t mention it, we at the Anchor highly recommend his gulab jamun cheesecake.

“I’m very confident in my cake. Nothing is compromised,”says Pant, adding he ultimately just wants to bring joy through his food.

“My staff knows. There is no 99%. Only 100%”