Unique Woodstock coffee shop adds breakfast and lunch

Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 27, 2024

For years it was known as “First Cup Coffee”, in the small strip mall at the corner of S.E. 41st Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard. In 2021 the business was bought by Katherine Harris who remodeled the space and renamed the shop the Woodstock Café.

Then last winter Harris sold the shop to the local nonprofit organization “CymaSpace”. The name Woodstock Café has been retained – but since re-opening last spring the shop now is also known as the “Sign Language Café”, because it accommodates Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. The café is itself now nonprofit, but certainly open for business to all.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers are specially accommodated – there are baristas who sign. For hearing customers, there is a speech-to-text screen on the counter that changes speech into written words for baristas to use if needed. So the café’s unique trait is that all customers who are without such needs are always equally and warmly welcomed!

In addition to a variety of Stumptown coffee choices, teas and cold drinks are also available, and now the café is forging ahead with a breakfast and lunch menu, and weekly events. There are tables both inside and outside on the deck to allow for sitting solo or socializing while drinking and eating; and four picnic tables, two of them with umbrellas, have been added in front.

The new breakfast and lunch menus include such taste treats as Panini with Bacon Cheddar, Maple Chicken, or Savory Mushroom on focaccia bread. Lunch choices are Roasted Chicken or Bacon Spinach Tomato on focaccia. Also available are Sweet Potato Brussels, or Sausage Kale Frittata.

Café owner Myles de Bastion is Board President and Founder of the nonprofit “CymaSpace”, which promotes arts and technology for Deaf and hard-of- hearing people. He told THE BEE: “We’re slowly getting together a website – http://www.woodstock.cafe – and there are events posted on it.

“For example, ASL [American Sign Language] Game Night is on the last Thursday of each month, and I host an ‘ASL for Beginners’ class on the last Saturday of each month. All events are free, and any level of Sign Language is welcome.”

And, de Bastion added, “We are still fundraising for needed electrical upgrades, and a remodel with more accessibility and comfort features for our community. We are also exploring opportunities to expand into the Woodstock Square building – in order to establish a Disability Culture Center, which will offer a wider range of services for our community – job training, accessibility coordination, and more.”

CymaSpace is dependent on donations and volunteering to offer services to the community. The CymaSpace mission was recently updated: “CymaSpace creates cultural equity for our communities by advocating for accessible and inclusive Art, STEM, Education, and Workforce Development.” You can donate to it online, if you like – https://bit.ly/aslcafe