Green Salmon

2210 Highway 101 N, Yachats, OR - (541) 547-3077

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Posted By Michael Stern on July 31, 2008 8:23 AM

The Pacific Northwest offers countless opportunities to ingest caffeine, from drive-in espresso stands with funny names (The Human Bean) to the august coffee houses of Seattle (Caffe Umbria) and Portland (Ristretto Roasters). One of the best I've come across is the Green Salmon of Yachats, Oregon, where organic, fair-trade coffee and espresso are only the beginnings of the story.

How about a Cafe Oregonian with hazelnut milk, a Cafe Mexico with pepper, brown sugar, and cocoa, or a Kopi Jahe, which is a double-strength brew infused with the sparkle of ginger and sweetness of cane sugar?

Enticing as the coffees are, it's the eats that won my allegiance. I came by mid-summer, the height of berry season, when the menu offered a stunningly beautiful breakfast called triple berry toast: crunch-textured whole wheat spread with creamy Italian mascarpone, topped with freshly picked blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, each at the peak of their natural, sunny fruitiness, and finally drizzled with honey and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Unbelievably delicious … although it became a tumbling tower of red and blue berries as soon as a slice was hefted off the plate. Also pretty wonderful was the croissant frosted with a thick glaze of maple; and among the items I did not get to taste but yearn to are the fresh blueberry crisp and the marion berry bear claw.

Crowded and sociable, the Green Salmon is festooned with signs demonstrating a bright green social conscience. Rainwater is collected from the roof to wash floors and water flowers; paper products are recycled; 9 watt light bulbs are used in the seating areas. And service definitely is not instantaneous. Partly, this is because everything is made to order; but also it is because the place is infused with the life-savoring rhythms of the slow food movement … despite all the caffeine consumed on premises.

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