Something exciting is unfurling behind the paper at 2207 Oak Bay Avenue, the former home of Hide + Seek.

There’s a new cafe going in called Blue House, and the opening is planned for this September.

The owner, Michael Zhou, doesn’t come from coffee. He was an engineer by training, and after university he built an e-commerce business that he ran, mostly solo, for years before selling it. Now, he wants to build a place for people to gather offline.

"If you look at a coffee shop it's like a mini community centre," he told me. "It's a social hub. That's the concept behind this cafe."

The thing that struck me most when talking to Michael is how obsessive he is about the details. He's doing a big chunk of the renovation himself. He's been doing multi round blind taste tests with friends to decide which matcha, milks, and coffee brewing methods to use. He’s buying beans a full grade or two above what most shops use and workshopping syrup recipes with chef friends.

He spent several minutes explaining to me the exact measurements and extraction times used to achieve different flavour profiles from the same coffee beans.

And he's been talking to locals. Before he'd told anyone what he was doing, he spent a month sitting in Victoria cafes, chatting to whoever was around about what they liked and what they wanted.

One of those conversations was with an older woman who was sad about Hide + Seek closing. He asked what her favourite thing about it was. Her answer was quick: the $2 drip coffee. She told him if he ever opened a coffee shop, he had to have $2 drip coffee.

The conversation stuck with him. It was one of a few that led him away from the fancier, “Instagrammable” original concept, and towards affordability and community instead. As an homage to her, he’ll be serving $2 drip coffee for seniors.

Expect a familiar feeling when you walk in. The bones of the old cafe space will remain, with a few important upgrades. New wall panels, new flooring, new benches and tables. A new bar, built lower and more open. New equipment throughout, and a new sound system. Warmer, cleaner, cosier.

"It will feel like your neighbourhood coffee shop, just refreshed," he said.

The four pillars

Blue House is organized around four things: coffee, matcha, pastry, service.

The coffee is roasted in-house, which gives Michael an unusual amount of control over how it's dialled in.

The matcha is from Paragon Tea Room, the Vancouver matcha specialists, and this is where Michael gets most animated. Matcha in Oak Bay is currently underserved and he knows it. This is also the first time Paragon’s matcha will ever be served on the island.

The pastries come from Le Croissant Chaud, the French bakery downtown, whose owners arrived from France about six months ago. Michael tried basically every bakery in town before landing on them, and he's clear that the deciding factor was as much the people as the product. They'll start with classic offerings done well, and move into rotating seasonal items later.

They're planning rotating specialty drinks built around whatever's in season, and will be opening with pistachio, mango, and strawberry matcha lattes. Syrups made in-house, not brought in.

Affordability

This is the part that will land hardest in Oak Bay, and it's clearly the thing Michael is proudest of. They’ll be offering $2 drip coffee for seniors, 10% off for first responders, 50 cents off for bringing your own cup, and no extra charge for alternative milks.

Pulling that off while buying good beans and good milk means running lean everywhere else, which is a big part of why the build-out is so restrained.

They're hiring

If you or someone you know is interested in working as a barista or manager in Oak Bay, check out the job postings here.

Blue House plans to open at 2207 Oak Bay Avenue this September. I'll see you in line.