The Abbey Café closes, leaves a hole in the vegan community

The window seat at the Abbey Café looks out over Queen St. and Officer’s Square. (Credit: The Gate/ W. Andrew Powell)

On Sept. 6, the Abbey Cafe closed its doors to the public after nine and a half years of delighting customers with vegan options and offering local artists opportunities to display their art onsite.

For Tabatha Smith, the Abbey Cafe owner, the decision to close the only vegan restaurant in Fredericton was “bittersweet.”

“It will be good to lower my stress levels,” she said. “But knowing that the gap for the plant-based eaters has been created by the closure is nothing I'm celebrating.”

She said that having a plant-based cafe was popular and “it was not for lack of business that we closed.”

Staff shortages led Smith to this decision. 

She emphasized that many people in the restaurant industry are facing issues keeping their businesses afloat.

“I had become a designated employer last year in order to attract newcomers,” said Smith. 

In Canada, the Atlantic Immigration Program allows designated employers to hire foreign workers for jobs they haven't been able to fill locally. 

In turn, the designated employer supports the foreign worker's application for permanent residency in one of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador.

“New Brunswick needed to focus on health care this year and so they kind of removed all the roads to permanent residency for cooks in New Brunswick,” said Smith. “My night cook, in order to remain in Canada, had to basically quit the restaurant to go find a job in health care.”

Smith said that the lack of available cooks in New Brunswick adds pressure to the industry because they operate evening hours and weekends. 

Economical factors, such as increased rent and grocery prices, also don’t allow people to have a “disposable income with which to spend in restaurants,” even though Smith tried to keep the Abbey’s prices affordable.

“You could go spend $15 on a fast food meal or $15 at the Abbey, but at the Abbey, at least you knew you were eating real food,” said Smith.

For Emily Chase, a regular customer and local artist, the news was devastating. 

“I found out because they had one of my paintings on display and they sent me an email saying, ‘you have to go pick up the painting,’” she said.

It was “heartbreaking” for Chase and her family because it was the only place in town where they could all eat and celebrate special moments without worrying about the menu.

“We're a tough bunch to feed. My boyfriend's vegetarian. I'm dairy-free. My daughter cannot have eggs at all,” she said. “It was so special, primarily with my daughter, because she's so allergic to eggs that she can't even tolerate small amounts of it.” 

Even though Issac's Way, the sister restaurant to the Abbey Cafe, continues in business and will offer some of the Abbey’s options, this is not the best for Chase.

“My partner and I could go, but I'm not comfortable taking [my daughter] because it's not a certified vegan restaurant, so there's cross-contamination happening.”

Jeremy Fowler, a regular customer, felt a little “choked up” when he heard the news. 

“It was such a safe space for me, right?” he said. “I've been a vegetarian for 25 plus years, and it was really the only spot in Fredericton where I can go and order everything on the menu.”

Despite the loss of this special place, Fowler is “grateful that they were here for almost 10 years.”

The community has expressed support for the Abbey Cafe, demonstrating how much they cherished the welcoming place, the unique food and the warm atmosphere. 

Meanwhile, those like Fowler and Chase will continue to be on the hunt for a new go-to spot. 

“You know, [it’s a] challenge to the Fredericton Cafe scene,” said Fowler. “I think that Fredericton is definitely a place that would be able to sustain a vegan cafe.”