Portland Coffee Hangouts

Two weeks ago we visited the brand new Queue Coffee at 21st/Quimby in the Slabtown development of the former Consolidated Freightways site; today our destination is one block away at 21st/Raleigh, essentially in the new Eldon James building in sight of the Queue.

Visually the shop has lots of windows looking bringing in light from outside and the interior of the building.  Its lines are clean and full of plants, and the counter looks like it was put together by craftspeople.  But the only seats in the shop are stools and the music is blaring, two challenges for patrons wanting to connect with each other on a deeper level for 45 minutes or more.  We typically stay at shops for 45-60 minutes so chose to go out of the tables in the the lobby to talk.

Discussion-wise M told us how J and he – who are moving from their home of 34 years – are taking apart their raised beds and moving the soil and borders to their new home, motivated by all their years they’ve spent making the dirt productive.  G then shared how he’s been involved with a couple of different Shimbala (Buddhist) Centers for more than 45 years, and the current disclosures of sexual harassment by its leaders undercuts a lot of the positives he’s received over these decades;  we then wondered why powerful men give way to abusive behavior whether it occur in religion, Hollywood, athletics or politics.   H reported that an acquaintance of his has started a similar biking to coffee shops routine and blog for their Thursday outings.   Leaving the shop and being in the midst of two new blocks of development without seeing any real greenspace, seemed a bit surreal. 

2175 NW Raleigh                                                http://www.goodforus.com

Following last week’s chilled-finger ride to Sterling Roasters on NW 21st, we chose another NW 21st destination for another brisk ride, though today it was an iota warmer.  And this time we detoured to visit G’s inner NE starter home from 25 years ago, which thankfully was saved from demolition by two cultural/historic non-profits who purchased+moved it to a vacant lot 125 feet to the east. G wondered if its paranormal aura had something to do with its extended life.

Queue Coffee at the corner of NW Quimby and 21st stands apart, we believe, from other new construction shops both in its number of soft-chair+ couch options, and how well it is integrated with the adjoining residential lobby via a regular doorway plus a lifting drop-down garage-type separator.   The result is that the space feels much larger and visually interesting with the separator up,  and the lobby seat options simply make it more comfortable for hanging out, which is our reason d’etre.  We believe that too many of the new construction/rehab sites feel a bit institutional with seats/tables in tight rows as the owners prefer quick table turnovers.  Queue feel like it its design hit a home run.

The jumping off point for today’s discussion was a recent Dave Leonhardt piece which asserts that the view of most Americans being socially liberal and fiscally conservative was actually backwards.   Leonhardt did acknowledge that how a surveyor asked the question was instrumental in the answer he/she received, ….. and he still believes that a majority of Americans  prayed daily, approved of abortions only in limited circumstances, and were very concerned with illegal immigration.  Topics we then covered included: how does one define praying daily and whether the Buddhist regimens that two members follow qualify; why are we seeing in the activist non-profits that we belong to mostly boomers and a smattering of 20-somethings, but almost no millennials; how millennials seem to be overly burdened by school debt and whether that might limit their involvement;  how President Trump may be a dumb ass in most aspects of his presidency, but is a genius with regard to the media as his head is still above water despite myriad snafus; and speaking of geniuses, how cinematically masterful  Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma is.

2118 NW Quimby                                                         http://www.queuecoffee.com

Thankfully though our fingers got pretty chilled, it was another dry, scintillating bikeride over the Broadway Bridge into NW.   Sterling Roasters has a long history in NW Portland, having started roasting and opening the NW Coffeehouse on Burnside 10-15 years ago, and then adding a kiosk next to Trader Joe’s, and more recently a tiny upscale shop with just 8 seats and cloth tablecloths.  Then they sold the Burnside shop, and last year relocated the tiny shop into this larger space also on 21st.

Despite the narrowness of this new space and lack of natural light,  they’ve made it feel feel stylish through their attention to lighting and skylights, plants, wall treatments, counter design, and welcoming baristas.  However, for groups who want to hang out there is only one table for six with two-seat tables dominating the space.  Thus, we four were scrunched in a makeshift corner next to the front door.

With the Fertile Ground Festival going full steam and H seeing 12 new works in 11 days, theatrical reviews is where our discussion started out.  DS raved about Portland Playhouse’s performance of No Candy re the Srbenica genocide, H was overjoyed in seeing 2 wacky comedies by members of the LineStorm Playrights Collective, and DM was very happy with the screening of Allelujah! by National Theatre Live.  M, meanwhile, was mired in the sorting/packing/giving away/grieving regimen that’s required when a family is leaving its home of 34 years; adding to the stress are style differences – he’s on the  sentimental meticulousness side of the spectrum, his partner’s more on the hard love side.

518 NW 21st                                                               http://www.sterling.coffee