Yavis Club Cheesecake Café

Taking its name from an acronym used in the 1964 book by William Schofield, Psychotherapy: The Purchase of Friendship, the Yavis Club Cheesecake Café aims to provide a place for friends to gather in the evening to enjoy coffee and dessert. Schofield used the acronym YAVIS as shorthand for Young, Attractive, Verbal, Intelligent, and Successful—claiming that someone with these attributes was a psychotherapist's ideal patient.

But how does that relate to a cheesecake café? "Well, we just liked it," laughs owner Patrick Xu. "We wanted a name that was unique and had character." The café is certainly unique, offering the widest selection of cheesecakes in the Lower Mainland. "We picked cheesecake because it's very popular," Patrick explains, "and you can be very creative in making cheesecake by trying different ingredients and finding different flavours."

With almost 30 flavours in three styles, the café offers something to appeal to just about everyone's tastes. "One of our most popular lines is the Glacier Cheesecake," says Patrick. "It is a frozen cheesecake that tastes like ice cream but isn't." If the glacier flavours of green tea, ginger, mango or wild berry don't appeal to you, there is always the classic New York Cheesecake style or a mousse-style cake.

"We cater to the later-evening, after-dinner, dessert crowd," adds Patrick. "That's why we picked this location. We wanted a place that was convenient to get to, but situated where there is some nightlife. Our busiest time is later in the evening."