VEGAN – QUALITY – ORGANIC – DELISH

Sweetpea Baking Company – its cookies, cupcakes and cheesecakes long a staple for vegan and non-vegan Portlanders alike – has now opened a café and bakery at 1205 SE Stark (next door to Herbivore Clothing Company and Food Fight! Vegan Grocery).

Recently for breakfast, I munched on a Kettleman bagel slathered with strawberry “cream cheese,” a rich slice of zucchini bread (one of their most popular items), and – my favorite – a monster-sized, gooey cinnamon roll. All vegan, all goodness, and all washed down with a cup of Stumptown coffee. Soon, savory breakfast and lunch items will also be offered.

Owner and master baker Lisa Higgins uses organic ingredients, and she is expanding into gluten-free and wheat-free baked goods.

If wedding bells are in your future, I highly recommend talking to Lisa about baking your wedding cake. My husband and I chose two-tier chocolate for ours, decorated with edible flowers and blueberries. The guests didn’t know it was vegan – and I doubt they would have cared!
-Laura Ford