Kure Superfood Cafe

Smoothies and cold-pressed juice run the counter

The blender does more work here than the espresso machine. Kure builds its counter on smoothies and juice, freshly made and cold-pressed, with coffee kept as a supporting order rather than the reason to stop. The smoothie list is named rather than numbered: Lush Life, Little Wing, Kid Kyoto, Extra Mile, Lady of the Day, Berried Alive, Queen Green and P.B. & Awesome. The house description of the food is whole, nutrient-rich ingredients and no junk, and the drinks are the clearest expression of it, built to do the work of a meal rather than to sit beside one. The stated reason the group exists is to make eating well easy on days that make it hard, which is a fair summary of what the counter sells.

A Pearl District branch of a Portland group

Kure has been running superfood cafes in Portland since 2011, and the Pearl District room sits alongside branches in Lake Oswego, Hawthorne and Cedar Hills. Food carries as much weight as the drinks: grain bowls anchor the menu, with small plates and vegetarian, vegan-friendly and gluten-free-friendly choices around them, which is what makes it a lunch stop and not only a juice bar. The format is counter service with seating and Wi-Fi, so it works for a collection on the way past or a sit-down half hour, and ordering ahead, takeout and delivery are all part of how the branch gets used. Gift cards, a rewards programme and shelf goods such as snack bars run quietly behind it.

Order a smoothie, then a grain bowl

Start with a smoothie, since that is where the identity is clearest and where the recipes have names: Lush Life, Queen Green, Berried Alive and P.B. & Awesome among them. A cold-pressed juice is the lighter version of the same idea, and a freshly made juice sits between the two. Then add a grain bowl if the visit is standing in for lunch, because the food side is what stops this being a drinks counter. Coffee is there if someone in the group wants it, but it is not the thing to judge the place on. A smoothie and a bowl is the order that shows the whole concept in one sitting.