Image Courtesy chow.com
We stopped into Second Stop Cafe this morning for the first time for a cup of coffee and a bite and had a quick conversation with one of the owners. We were really impressed.
The space is on the site of the owner’s grandfather’s 1920s grocery store – it’s been completely renovated, but it’s retained a sort of anachronistic old-timey vibe which actually works well and doesn’t seem too forced, even in a neighborhood full of places straining to feel quirkily antique (we won’t name any names). Actual antiques – including a few from the building itself – help a lot. The thin-slat wood floors are from the ’20s – one of the owners pointed out to me the worn indentation in the floor where the shopkeeper stood behind the counter for decades – but the tin ceiling, beams, and new (vintage?) counter are all the product of the last six months of renovation.
It goes without saying that Stumptown coffee is fantastic, but it’s worth mentioning that here it was well-prepared, hot and strong – look at the length of this review, for Pete’s sake. Alden had a cup of each of the two varieties of drip they had today – an Ethiopian Wondo (outstanding – big and rich) and their Nicaragua Finca La Amistad (also great, but not my type of roast – citrusy, bright). Genevieve had the cappuccino, which was similarly delicious.
Their selection of pastries and eats were also really impressive. Bagels from Bagelsmith – can’t go wrong there – and a huge number of vegan and non-vegan, house-made (!!) pastries, brownies and cookies.
On that note – there are a lot of places in this neighborhood (you know who you are) who advertise vegan selections on the menu, but they’re Vegan Treats cookies and stuff from that place in Pennsylvania. Which is fine, but as non-vegans we’ll admit they don’t get us all that excited anymore. Not the case here. All their pastries and cookies are made by their in house chef – who apparently is trained in French technique and has spent a lot of time in the last few months getting amazing flavors out of her vegan desserts and pastries. And based on what we tried – a pecan brownie and a vegan carrot-ginger cake – they are fresh, delicious and awesome. We didn’t try the peanut butter cookies or the donut muffin (!), but they’re certainly on our list for next time (tomorrow?). Vegan selections included some muffins, lemon pound cake and a delicious looking juice-sweetened tofu cheesecake with some sort of fruit topping. The owner mentioned that he’s had a hard time selling the vegan stuff so far, and we told him not to give up: once the word gets out that there are delicious, homemade vegan goodies there – that are really delicious regardless of their veganity (not really a word, I know) – we think he’s going to sell the crap out of that stuff.
Service was helpful, enthusiastic and appropriately chatty. Lots of seating space, free wi-fi, plenty of outlets, small and huge bags of beans and good music. The owner mentioned planning to put a turntable in the room so that people could play their selections from a stack of the cafe’s records, which we have to admit is an exciting prospect. Strangely we had just been talking about how awesome and natural it would be, although we’ve never seen it, to have a jukebox in a coffee shop. I think a turntable is even cooler, if they can rely on people being nice to it.
We’re excited for this place, and thankful we happen to live right around the corner. We’ll be in here a lot.
Confidential to vegans: Don’t lose hope for good vegan stuff in this hood! The vegan treats here are delicious and stopping in to buy something here will help ensure that they continue making and serving it. It would be a shame if they stopped making such a great selection of stuff because they don’t think the demand exists.
We like to eat. 