The Menu Mysteries of Cafe Pedlar, Revealed

Lemon zest and olive oil cake at Cafe Pedlar, made with Frankies Olive Oil photo: Tejal Rao

Lesser coffee shops looking to sell snacks would pave a fleet of cupcakes with a demure cream cheese frosting and adorn the space around the register with a silent army of gluten. The new “Frankies” establishment, Cafe Pedlar, follows no such bake sale aesthetic. Bundt seems to be the word of the day: lemony olive oil cakes ($3) are mini bundt-doughnuts, and banana spelt bread slices are cut from a bundt crown. Coffee and cappuccino, from Stumptown, take time, and even more if you distract the baristas working a digital timer and a tamper. As mentioned previously, “the Franks” have refashioned the old tessellated Margaret Palca Bakes space into some kind of Viennese coffee shop. The coffee is not rushed, and if one of the 10 or so seats is available, take it, and take your time. The symmetrical steamed milk designs that grace the top of your drink are the new inkblots, and the coffee is good.

Still, mysteries abound at Pedlar: The state-mandated alcoholic beverage sign that warns against drinking during pregnancy hangs inside, despite no beer on premise. Then there are the sandwiches—a photographer from Metromix had an easy time ordering one, but just a few hours later a Metromix writer had a much harder time getting the shop to admit that sandwiches are sometimes even sold at the place. Yesterday, sandwiches at Cafe Pedlar weren’t available in the morning, but by late afternoon were stacked high in waxed paper wrappers by the Linzer torte. A wooden box under the pastry display cabinet holds apples and oranges that are also for sale. Full sample Cafe Pedlar menu—it changes daily; mysteries aside—below.