Content created for Here Is Oregon
Growing up in a small town, AJ Gravatt was given a choice one summer: find a job or be grounded until the school year started. Still a teenager, Gravatt didn’t know that her time working at a local burger joint would spark a decades-long career in the food and beverage industry. Today, she brings creativity, playfulness, and a sprinkle of nostalgia to her role as the food and beverage manager of the Literary Arts café nestled inside the bookstore and new headquarters of the local non-profit.
“This love, passion, and connection has followed me through every job, whether in a different state, at a different age, or in a new chapter of life. I have found solace and comfort in the food service industry and the people who comprise it. As the industry is ever-changing, each day heightens my critical thinking skills with a new puzzle to solve and constantly keeps me on my toes,” she reflected.
Literary Arts celebrated a new chapter in its 40-year history with the opening of its new headquarters in a historic 1904 building on Southeast Grand Avenue last winter. With space for writing workshops and events, the crowning jewel of this multipurpose space is a beautiful café and bookstore with bespoke offerings of more than 14,000 titles and handcrafted bites and drinks. During the Pacific Northwest’s drizzly winter days, the space is the ideal place to get cozy, find a book, or spark conversation over a steaming mug or plate of food—a vision turned reality for Literary Arts. “Creating an inclusive and welcoming center for our community, where people can gather to tell and hear stories and exchange ideas freely, has long been our dream,” explained Andrew Proctor, executive director of Literary Arts. “This is an extension of 40 years of mission-driven work to bring the community together around books and stories.”
A menu full of memories
Gravatt hopes readers and writers visiting the café will connect with the sweet family memories that inform the café’s delicious offerings. “For many people there is a sense that can make them feel nostalgic: the smell of their mother’s perfume or sleeping in their childhood bedroom, maybe the song their sibling kept on repeat for the better part of middle school. For me, it is my father’s ‘fancy grilled cheese,’” said Gravatt. Pressed between bread from locally owned Good Dough bakery right around the corner from the café, the fancy grilled cheese is not-to-be-missed with fig jam, brie, and prosciutto that Gravatt said “…was always one constant” from her childhood. Also on the menu is Gravatt’s grandmother’s chicken salad sandwich, as she explained, “The chicken salad sandwich is something I watched my grandmother make on the Oregon coast when she came to visit one summer, claiming ‘the key is to add as many apples and capers as your taste buds can take’ and showing me how simple ingredients can come together to make something incredible.”
The care and attention with which Gravatt develops the menu at Literary Arts extends to the choice of vendors as well. The café often showcases local, BIPOC or minority-owned businesses that put quality and fairness first, like local favorites women-owned Upper Left Roasters, or BIPOC-owned Tanglewood Chai. Gravatt also loves to source dishware from local thrift shops “…to give each plate a unique feel and experience for our customers,” she explained. “We are incredibly intentional about how we source all ingredients and are committed to staying as local, small, and thoughtful as possible.” Handcrafted syrups from Assistant Food and Beverage Manager Miah Meyers bring in repeat customers for her seasonal lattes featuring flavors like sweet potato pie, lemon thyme, and ube blackberry.
Click here to view the full menu.
A space for community and connection
As part of their mission to serve the readers and writers in the community, Literary Arts hosts a variety of programs and events at their new space, including classes for writers, reading seminars, slam-poetry nights, and more. With the changing events and seasons, the café menu offers specials to pair with the different flavors of literature too. For the spooky “Murder in the Bookstore” event, Gravatt served a warming mulled wine and non-alcoholic cranberry sips. “There will almost always be something new for you to try when you come to the café; some may even only be available for a single evening,” she commented.
Centrally located in Portland’s culturally rich Central Eastside district, the new space was intentionally designed for good conversation, community, and connection. “I realized that sharing a meal with someone creates a similar experience to sharing a book. Food may not be written communication, but there is history and culture imbued in each ingredient,” Gravatt concluded. “The menu Miah and I have created is made of the moments of our childhood, friendships, and love that has led us to Literary Arts.”
Currently, the café opens daily at 7:00 AM and closes at 8:00 PM all days except Sunday (when it closes at 7:00 PM). Beginning in January, weekday hours will be 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM; on Saturdays the café will open at 9:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM, and on Sundays the hours will be from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
