Portland Coffee Hangouts

The owners of the recently opened Waves of Grain operated a bakery in Astoria for seven years before beginning their Portland venture this spring.  With good lighting, stylish clean lines, an inviting counter made of re-used wood, and attractive pastry, the bakery hits the mark in terms of a welcoming decor.   However, like almost every other bakery in town, its seating options are limited, thereby limiting its attractiveness as a hang-out spot.

Despite that, today’s twosome spent over an hour trying to solve family and community issues.  Among them are our young adult children who have different ways -than ours – of getting ready for an extended vacation or choosing a career; major upcoming changes to the roadway and bikepath  on N. Williams, its two year planning process, and the difficulty balancing diverse interests; and advocacy efforts in Cully aimed at helping local residents on the job front, in order to minimize future displacement.   2250 E. Burnside    http://www.wavesofgrainbakery.com

KOLACHES are the order of the day at the Happy Sparrow.   They originated as a semi-sweet wedding dessert in Czeckoslovakia and central Europe.  Over time they were brought over to the US, becoming popular – and enhanced – in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Wisconsin where local kolache festivals are celebrated.  Eventually an Asian couple raised in Texas, opened the Happy Sparrow Cafe in Portland where the only pastry served is sweet and savory kolaches.

Possibly because of the uniqueness of the kolache, and the friendliness of the owners, most customers we saw came in with big smiles on their faces.  And this carries over to their conversations.  There is a limitation to hanging out, though, and that is the cafe’s limited size.  Otherwise, the shop’s tables, games, and reading material all communicate a welcoming atmosphere.

Today’s conversation focused mostly on family histories and dysfunctions, overcoming personal hurdles, relatives who are struggling, and those who are doing well.   3001 SE Belmont   http://www.happysparrowcafe.com

Portland’s bagel lovers have been distraught ever since Kettleman’s Bagels were acquired by Einsteins.   Henry Higgins is one of the valiant upstart efforts of former Kettleman workers to produce high quality bagels, which we greatly appreciate.   However, since hanging out solving our own and the world’s problems is such a high priority for our Sunday outings, as long as their retail facility is a weekend pop-up with limited seating, it’ll be hard for us to frequent it other than to get their tasty bagels to go.

Topics today focused primarily on each others’ recent travels, and what was upcoming, new ventures we were aware of outside of traditional business models, and the upcoming Big Float.   537 SE Ash     http://www.hhboiledbagels.com

World Cup action again coaxed us to a shop showing today’s 9:00 game – The Netherlands vs. Mexico – and today we visited St. Honore’s relatively new Division store.  Our three riders/soccer enthusiasts were very pleased at how much better it was for hanging out than the NW store with its limited seating.

Our experience is that it takes a concerted effort to make a newly constructed shop as homey and comfortable for hanging out in, as an older building that communicates its history.  The Division shop succeeds in achieving it due to having great lighting, 3 different areas in which to eat (though there’s not much variety in seating,) a bird’s eye view of the wood oven baker doing his/her craft, and a menu – with alcohol – that goes beyond it being just a standard bakery and leads it into being a community meeting spot.

Soccer-wise, the Netherlands was lucky to win 2-1 in an evenly matched, well-played contest.   3333 SE Division    http://sainthonorebakery.com/division.php