Sprudge.com breaks the news thatย Wille Yli-Luoma, founder of Heart Coffee Roasters, has signed lease papers for a second cafe location at SW 12th and Alder, directly adjacent to noted “cozy alpine” ChefsTable restaurant Grรผner. The 750 square foot will showcase the brand’s meticulously roasted line of seasonal coffees, and will occupy part of the main floor of a building designed by Portland’s Skylab Architecture, whose principal architect, Jeff Kovel, maintains a private residence above the space.

 

If you’re playing along at home, Heart’s new space at 12th and Alder puts them directly across the street from Tasty n Alder, an Eater HeatMap regular since its opening in late 2012, and places them squarely within one of the city’s hippest shopping districts, with nearby tenants like Canoe, Kask, and The English Department. Mr. Kovel and Skybox are responsible for several Portland Modern restoration and original design projects, including the Doug Fir, the Jupiter Hotel, and Blackbox.

advert but first coffee cookbook now available

 

The building is home to Cask, Gruner, and the future Heart.
SE 12th and Alder, home to Kask, Gruner, and the future Heart.

Sprudge spoke to Heart owner Wille Yli-Luoma, who confirmed an opening date of early August. “This space is perfect for Heart. This feels like a natural step – there’s nothing forced about it. The space is around 750 square feet, so that gives us enough space for seating, and the focus is mainly still coffee, but we will have a little bit of a wider selection of food items.”

On from whence said food would be sourced, Wille told us, “Food will be brought in from outside – our focus is to still have trained baristas and to have the space be as good as possible on the coffee end. We’ll be working Pixie Retreat for vegan food and salad items, as well more sandwich options – it’s still open who the main suppliers are going to be. Pixie is what people want these days – it’s healthy.” On the topic of healthy options, Wille confides, “Cafes always have bagels, muffins, and cookies, but people are starting to want something else – something that’s a little more healthy but tasty still. You don’t have to have so much sugar to be delicious.

On the timing of the build-out, Wille says, “We’re looking at finishing the build-out this summer, and having quite a lot of practice time in it before we open. By the beginning of August I would say that we’ll be open for certain.”

exterior-the-new-heartt

The original Heart Roasters is located at 2211 E. Burnside. Website here.

Previous Heart Roasters coverage on Sprudge.

banner advertising the book new rules of coffee