We crossed one of Portland's many bridges...
The Sellwood Bridge is one of twelve bridges that cross the Willamette River in Portland; it is the area's southernmost bridge. This span is actually new. The original bridge (steel truss type) opened in 1925 and was Portland's first fixed span bridge and the busiest two lane bridge for years. Over the decades, the bridge deteriorated to the point of being unsafe. There was a plan to replace the bridge as a two lane steel deck arch bridge, wide enough for both cars, pedestrians (the original had no sidewalks) and bicycle lanes. Planning began in 2012; the bridge was completed and opened in February 2016.
The Sellwood neighborhood, while far from the hustle and bustle of downtown, is undergoing a revitalization of sorts. In 2012, we were in the neighborhood for our visit to Oaks Amusement Park. Actually the last photo in my old post has the OLD bridge
(photo from the Oaks Amusement Park link above, 2012) - The view heading back to the SW side of Portland
One thing about being early is the everything is so quiet and peaceful....
I liked that the water line covers featured roses, since one of Portland's many nicknames includes "The Rose City". See them trusty boots? Worn every day. Them rainy days tho'
The coffee shop is pretty small, with only three tables inside. There are no outlets either, so no plugging in your laptops or phones here, which is refreshing. They are a multi-roaster shop and feature particular local roasters on a daily basis and some on a guest basis.
What drew me to Either/Or were their unique drinks, particularly the "mocktails" and their flights. I chose a beverage flight which included sparkling water, and two double espresso shots, one served neat and the other with milk (I chose a cortado as the preparation) along with a taste pairing. I also ordered the Coffee Flip mocktail, which included cold brew, chai, and a raw egg shaken and strained and served with fresh grated nutmeg and an orange peel.
Their beverage flight was $9, a bit more than the $5.75 flight from Sterling Coffee yesterday. I liked that they had THREE different kinds - coffee, chai and soda. One of the co-owners is also the owners of Tanglewood Chai, which they serve here.
The taste pairing was a housemade blackberry thumbprint cookie. I was hoping for something more...substantial, but it was still nice to have something small to nibble on. Bert's drink was the macchiato (with the demitasse spoon).
Reppin' Dark Horse Coffee (I love this t-shirt design which is based on a classic Van Halen logo).
Their drinks were so smooth and well made. The young men working here were really nice and chill.
The Coffee Flip is their version of an "egg flip". Normally, I would gross out because I knew the froth was from raw egg but this was surprisingly...not bad. The egg added a creaminess to the drink. See, the things I do for blog research. You're welcome. Sadly, the orange peel was submerged and I didn't see it until I was halfway done with the drink. The nutmeg flavor was really subtle and went well with the drink.
There was another mocktail, the Salty Russian. It is has no alcohol in it and has a half rim of coffee/cinnamon/chocolate salt. Wish I could have gotten that but I already had ordered two items!
A note about the name of this place - One of TC's friends saw her Story on IG in which she tagged the coffee shop. She commented, "OMG, that is the most hipster name for a coffee shop ever". I didn't "get it" until later...it turned out to be a Kierkegaard reference.
When researching the name for this place, I saw that the owners named it after "Either/Or", the third album by late Portland songwriter Elliott Smith. Written and recorded in Portland, the album was released in February 1997, "Either/Or" had three songs incorporated into the "Good Will Hunting" soundtrack. The album's title comes from a Kierkegaard book of the same name (click the link to find out, since I can't even explain it). Now, I would not have gotten that reference, but TC's friend, quite the intellectual did. She's an English lit prodigy and is a big fan of Danish philopospher Soren Kierkegaard. Me, uh, I is dum. Haha. But yeah, that was what she meant. I had to look that shit up to figure out the reference.
Sadly, the popularity Smith earned after the movie was up for an Oscar that year, including Best Song, led him into an uneasy feeling of being thrust into the spotlight, along with bouts of depression, drug addiction, and eventually death by suicide in 2003.
Articles:
"Portland: Either/Or Cafe makes Sellwood less sleepy" Sprudge
"A look at Either/Or's serious Sellwood charm offensive"M Eater PDX, July 23, 2014 (the article mentions that co-owner, Ro Tam, is from San Diego; where her parents owned a Chinese restaurant. Wish I knew the name, but it wasn't mentioned)
"Coffee Guide - Either/Or Coffee" Portland Food and Drink, Aug. 4, 2016
plus news on their latest expansion:
"Sellwood's Either/Or expands to N. Williams" PDXMonthly, Feb 19, 2018
Info on Sellwood Bridge:
PortlandBridges/sellwood-bridge
Either/Or Coffee
82365 SE 13th Ave
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 235-3474
fb page + reviews from you know where
We would be going back across the bridge to check out a hidden garden that many Portlanders don't know about...
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