It’s always a good feeling to visit a relatively new shop that is succeeding in a challenging neighborhood – one that’s seen more disinvestment than new investment over the past couple of decades.  And so it is with Pieper on SE Foster just past Holgate.  The owners have gleaned the essential elements needed to make a shop feel homey, regardless of location:  a variety of seating options, (Pieper has booths, basic tables, and a couple of soft chairs;) good lighting and above average window space; enough space to not feel cramped or rushed; local art on the walls; and smiling baristas.

This was our first outing in several weeks due to folks being out of town and/or under the weather, so it felt like we had a lot to talk catch up on, and were all bubbly re the following topics:  yesterday’s successful science march downtown, D’s high recommendation for OMSI’s Legos exhibit to which he took 2 grandkids; the type of slow drying buy ultimately impenetrable glue that Lego artist Nathan Sawaya uses; the display of vaginas that G took in at a Brooklyn museum when he was back there for his granddaughter’s first birthday; the machinations M was dealing with on possible modifications to his current solar panel system; and H’s report on his 11 days in New Orleans and seeing 16 musical performances, even without a festival occurring at that time.

6504 SE Foster          piepercafe.com