Santana loves his hometown of L.A., but Portland comes in a close second. “It has all the best thinking around city planning in one space,” he says. “It’s very accessible. You could be in your late forties or your twenties and be comfortable there. It has a real creative energy to it—kind of like if Silver Lake grew up to be its own city. My 21-year-old daughter is a barista at this wonderful place called Nuvrei. They take coffee very seriously.” Here are a few suggestions for getting your caffeine on, Portlandia style:
Clive Coffee: At this top-notch microroaster and coffee aficionado’s wonderland, you can peruse a selection of shiny espresso machines and high-end coffee mills while waiting for your single-origin cup.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters: The local roaster has five locations across the city (and one in downtown L.A.). Go to the Annex for free public tastings and tours of Stumptown’s headquarters.
Coava Coffee Roasters: Direct-trade cocanu mochas and house-made Madagascar vanilla add buzz to the rotating menu of coffees and espressos.
Nuvrei: The patisserie and café brews beans from Heart, another local roaster, and serves tea from the city’s Foxfire Tea. Enjoy a cup with a sesame- thyme croissant or macaron.
Profile photograph courtesy cao.lacity.org
This story is part of Los Angeles magazine’s March 2015 Great Getaways package
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