Tiramisu Bistro (Best Family Restaurant ’23) has come a long way from its origins as a lifestyle restaurant with a kids’ playroom and a backroom for yoga and pilates. That’s where the “Lift Me Up” brand began — both a nod to the word tiramisu’s Italian translation and a feel-good ethos. Over the years, the yoga studio evolved into a private dining room and then finally Lift Me Up Market in 2020 (now Lift Me Up Bakery). With its rustic breads, sweet tarts, pillowy cinnamon buns and shelves of specialty pantry items, the bakery is worth a visit.
Now, the team has added a third location: Lift Me Up Sandwich Bar, a breakfast-and-lunch sandwich bar that transforms into a wine and cheese bar by night.
The room is intimate, and feels more like a wine bar than a cafe, with brick walls, arched niches and shelves of antique curios. From the open kitchen, I watched them assemble what would become Il Sogno (“The Dream”): a sandwich of juicy pulled chicken, a smoky top layer of gouda (torched at the bar top) and an apricot spread that perfectly hit the sweet-savoury-tangy target. It was all served on soft, house-made focaccia from the bakery.
Next was the Oro Fresco, a vegetarian option built around smoky grilled eggplant, juicy baby tomatoes, fresh arugula and stracciatella cream cheese. It was creamy and hearty, with a satisfying heft that held everything together.
These sandwiches are easily big enough to split with a friend.
Of course, I couldn’t leave without a cinnamon roll with crushed pistachios over the smooth icing and a plush, doughy bun. Though displayed at the sandwich bar, the pastry was summoned through the bakery and bistro to reach me. Together these three spaces now form a full-on ecosystem taking up half the block and lifting up the neighbourhood, one dish at a time.
Lift Me Up Sandwiches
Westmount | 12407 108 Ave NW, Edmonton | 780.452.3393 | tiramisubistro.ca/sandwich-bar
