Downtown Victoria café hopes to become community hub under new ownership

The sky is the limit for downtown Victoria’s Nor. Coffee after new owners have taken over and hope to make the space a hub for the local community. 

Nor. Coffee has been around since 2023, located on the northwest corner of Johnson Street and Quadra Avenue. 

It was being run by Yan Huang, who was also an artist, graphic designer and Swedish coffee enthusiast. However, Huang wanted to pursue a new path and put the business up for sale. 

Recently, on July 28th, new owners Ryan Bessett and Serena Burton bought the business and have taken it over. 

Bessett and Burton are partners in life and business. The two made the move from the Fraser Valley region to Victoria in order to explore a new place and seek new opportunities. 

“The whole café part we didn’t anticipate, that wasn’t part of the plan,” Bessett told Victoria Buzz. 

“With us both being from the restaurant industry, and us meeting at a restaurant… we always wanted something for ourselves, but having worked in the industry for so long, we didn’t really want to go that route.”

Bessett noted that while working as a sous chef, he saw the hours that his head chefs put in and he wanted to create more of a work-life balance for himself and Burton. 

“We also didn’t want all this knowledge and experience to go to waste so we thought, what about a café,” he added. 

It was then that Bessett and Burton found the posting for Nor. Coffee on a realty website and after checking out the space, they knew they wanted to create something special of their own there for their new community. 

The new owners have big plans for the space, and have already started implementing some small changes in an effort to make the space amenable to what is needed by their customers and community members. 

The space features vaulted commercial ceilings and is large enough to accommodate around 50 people. 

“We saw this space and we thought this has so much more potential than just a café,” said Burton. 

“It’s a shame that it closes at four o’clock, it would be really great if we could host events in the evening, like live music, wine and paint night, even do yoga in the mornings, stand-up comedy.”

Burton added that with all this programming envisioned, they decided to reach out to the community to see what could be possible. 

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Since introducing themselves to the community and asking for ideas, the duo said they have received an overwhelming amount of feedback and collaboration opportunities, and they are open to anything. 

While the space is quite minimalist by design at the moment, which was an attractive quality to its new owners, Burton and Bessett have plans to slowly begin introducing new cozy furniture, making it easier to access power outlets for those seeking a place to work, creating a performance nook for future live music and more. 

As far as the food goes, Bessett hopes to make some changes to the small kitchen corner to increase the amount of unique snacks and menu items that can be made entirely in house. 

The first step in this process was introducing some new snacks, as well as panini sandwiches to the menu. They now offer a breakfast sandwich, a grilled cheese and either a ham or turkey sandwich daily. 

For coffee, Bessett and Burton have kept the signature Drop Coffee on the menu for pour overs, espresso and retail, which is from a Swedish coffee roaster, and have also teamed up with Fernwood Coffee for drip and to have another option for customers looking for beans. 

They have also brought in a variety of coffee syrups to sweeten up the coffee and allow for more feature drinks, and they have made a point to not charge customers extra for milk, cream or milk alternatives. 

Another initiative the duo just launched is a morning happy hour, which brings coffee prices down to just $2 for a drip coffee, $3 for an espresso or americano and $4 for a latte. 

Bessett and Burton plan to begin the process of applying for a liquor license too, which they hope will allow them to expand options for those wanting to come in and connect or enjoy an event. 

Perhaps the biggest change for the café will be its name and the branding. 

“We will eventually rebrand,” Bessett said. “We have some names in mind, but I don’t think we’re ready to share at this time—we’re still working on the aesthetic and are working the kinks out.”

When they are ready, they will be rebranding the space, but want people to know it is still them running the show, whatever the name may be. 

Though the duo evidently have a lot of changes in mind, they said they will be taking it slow, changing their hours over time and introducing new ideas as they go. 

Thus far, Bessett and Burton say they have received a warm welcome from their customers and from the community surrounding them. 

Their goal in this endeavour is to connect with the community and garner an atmosphere of positivity in the space that goes beyond selling snacks and cups of coffee. 

“You can serve customers, but it’s also about creating an experience, the magic of it,” said Bessett. 

“Genuinely making connections, not because it’s good for business, but because it’s been a lot of fun getting to know everybody—seeing what they’re doing, what they’re up to, why they decided to come in—that’s one of the core values for us.”

Pop by and check out Nor. Coffee the next time you need a place to have a cup of coffee, work on a laptop, sit and read or just to try something new.