New cafe in Birch Bay offering more than lattes and baked goods

Birch Bay residents looking to walk along the berm with a blueberry scone and latte in hand are in luck.

Rooted by the Bay, the community’s newest cafe, has been offering everything from coffee, breakfast pastries and local crafts since the second week of January. The cafe is located at 7826 Birch Bay Drive in the Worldmark building.

Right now, the cafe is selling Up Custer Creek tumblers and wooden earrings, pottery from Ferndale’s Lyons Pottery and decorated cookies from Lynden’s @RoyalandDoughCookieCo, among other local products.

Owner Joy Silva said she wanted to start her first cafe after moving to Whatcom County last year. Silva said her former work as a grocery store manager for the U.S. Air Force and in the restaurant industry prepared her to open her first business.

“I wanted a small, local place where people could get something to walk along the berm,” she said. “It’s so beautiful out here. I also wanted retail space to showcase local, handmade goods.”

Silva said it was important to her to open a storefront for artists who rely on farmer’s markets during part of the year to sell their goods.

The cafe’s hours are currently from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Silva said she hopes to expand the hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days per week, but needs to find more employees first. She’s planning a grand opening for late March.