I am finding some gorgeous coffee shops in the Portland area since I started this site. Sweet Thing Bakehouse and Coffee Bar on the corner of MLK and Alberta continues the trend. It is another reminder of why I do this site. Sweet Thing has been open for seven months and sadly, I didn’t notice them until last Saturday because now I am always keeping my eyes open for new places. We get stuck into routines and miss out on some great things.
When you walk in you see the high ceilings, open space and lush decorations that set the tone for the quality of product you will find. You will notice that their name is Bakehouse and then Coffee Bar, and that the picture above shows their gorgeous pastries which this is just a small sampling.
Their menu is spectacular; scones, breads, muffins, biscotti, cinnamon rolls, custards, cobblers, cakes, cooks, bars. These include Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Sugar-Free products that actually taste good which can be rare.
And their coffee is part of the Cafe Femenino Project that I mentioned recently.
Today, the Café Femenino Coffee Project is a social program for women coffee producers in rural communities around the world. More than 1,500 women in Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru are active in the project to achieve empowerment, build social and support networks, and earn incomes through the production and sale of the Café Femenino Coffee. The success of the Project initiated the creation of The Café Femenino Foundation, which provides grants to select programs and projects that enhance the lives of women and their families in coffee growing communities around the world.
Meet the owners: Shawna Marshall and Kindra Davison
Sweet Thing is Shawna’s brainchild. Her passion for baked goods has enabled her to develop a repertoire of “home-style” pastries and desserts which have directed Sweet Thing’s evolution to its current place of comfortable perfection. She has baked for weddings, birthday parties, winery open houses, and many other catered events for the past few years. Her wares have elicited everything from simple oohs and ahhs to marriage proposals.
As co-owner, Kindra has been given the task of overseeing perfection in each cup of Sweet Thing’s coffee. Her initial experience as a barista came at the hands of the scourge of the coffee industry: Starbucks. She does not resent her coffee upbringing, though, for the experience taught her many things that assure Sweet Thing’s coffee is far superior to a cup of Charbucks crud. She also has official barista training from a non-Starbucks entity which, combined with her Starbucks training, allows her to have a unique vision for Sweet Thing’s coffee division.
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503-282-1422
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