Ellen Damaschino – Montavilla News

On Tuesday, June 3rd, Stone Soup PDX Cafe opened at 7400 NE Glisan Street, marking the culinary training nonprofit’s return to direct customer sales after closing its downtown storefront at the start of the pandemic. The cafe will serve breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Starting in July, Stone Soup’s operators expect students to begin staffing the cafe as they learn food service skills in a 12-week program geared toward individuals who have recently experienced housing insecurity.

Group of individuals holding a red ribbon during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Stone Soup PDX's cafe opening, with storefront in background. — *_{Cafe ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 2nd}*

Stone Soup PDX’s Executive Director, Ellen Damaschino, thanked the supporters of the cafe during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 2nd. Her appreciation extended to a collection of project supporters, including local business Montavilla Station, located blocks away off SE Stark Street and 80th Avenue. After brief remarks and a certificate presentation by the East Portland Chamber of Commerce, Damaschino welcomed guests into the corner storefront for samples of some of the caffeinated drinks and pastries on the shop’s menu. The counter-service cafe offers several tables for dine-in customers, or they can take their coffee and food outside, where they can enjoy limited outdoor sidewalk seating. This relaunch of cafe dining is a significant step for the organization, which was forced to cut its customer-facing program due to nationwide challenges. Serving customers in the cafe is in the nonprofit’s roots — sustaining people through both sides of the food service industry.

A sign displaying 'Thank You To Our Supporters!' with logos from various sponsors, located outside Stone Soup PDX's cafe.

Stone Soup PDX opened in its original location on NW Everett and Broadway in 2019. They operated primarily as a cafe and training kitchen until COVID-19 forced a shift in the group’s operations. “So it slowed down a lot during the pandemic, and that is when we really kicked up the Community Meals program,” recalled Damaschino. “We make about 1,500 meals a week for the community. Those are for places like shelters, mental health facilities, and transitional housing. So exactly the places that our participants come from.” That shift enabled the organization to establish a production kitchen on SE Powell Boulevard, where program participants spend four weeks preparing meals that volunteer drivers deliver to Portland locations.

Interior view of Stone Soup PDX cafe featuring a menu board with drinks and food options, a barista serving a customer at the counter, and display cases with pastries.

A year ago, the organization closed its Downtown location, and in late 2024, they began working from the Beacon at Glisan Landing building on the corner of NE 74th Avenue and Glisan Street, starting with educational programs. In that work, participants receive basic instruction and engage in weekly “check-ins” with the support services coordinators, who work to ensure students have the necessary supplies to succeed in the program. With the cafe now serving customers, students will soon have the option to train in either the NE Glisan Street commercial kitchen or the SE Powell Boulevard location for a four-week segment. This bifurcated path allows students to choose which skills they intend to strengthen. The cafe work will provide students seeking restaurant employment with hands-on experience in a functioning commercial kitchen serving walk-in customers, complete with associated expectations and workflow but guided by the support of instructors.

Stone Soup PDX plans to introduce a new role within the organization that will focus on supporting students as they transition out of the program and enhancing connections between individuals and employment opportunities. That position will also help alums as they find their post-training position in the workforce and begin to secure economic stability, sustaining permanent housing and self-confidence. Through a continued relationship with the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, links from the association’s site will bring potential employers to a directory of Stone Soup graduates, showing the job seeker’s relevant skills. Program operators believe this will become a significant enhancement for students progressing through the program, improving their chances of securing employment and applying the newly acquired culinary skills.

A view of the kitchen at Stone Soup PDX cafe, showcasing stainless steel appliances, cooking equipment, and various kitchen supplies. — *_{Stone Soup PDX culinary training kitchen}*

The nonprofit encourages people to support Stone Soup by visiting the cafe as part of their morning routine or grabbing some of the shop’s soups and sandwiches for a quick lunch. They also expect the pastries to become a welcomed pleasure throughout the day for those looking for a sweet treat outside of mealtimes. All proceeds support the workforce training program.

Correction: A previous version of this article listed the operating days as Tuesday through Thursday. They are open Tuesday through Friday. Montavilla News regrets this error.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.

The culinary training organization Stone Soup PDX recently relocated its operations from downtown Portland to the Beacon at Glisan Landing building on the corner of NE 74th Avenue and Glisan Street. Educational programs are currently underway inside the storefront space, and their publicly accessible cafe will open in March 2025, when they expect residents to move into the apartments above the shop. This location will provide people facing employment barriers with critical job skills through a 12-week program.

Stone Soup occupies three adjacent storefronts in the newly constructed NE Glisan Street building. The corner cafe will operate as a community-facing space, selling morning coffee, pastries, and cookies. Throughout the weekdays, they intend to have a more extensive menu in the cafe, offering soup and other meals prepared in the training kitchen next door or from the group’s production kitchen on SE Powell Boulevard.

The third Montavilla storefront serves as Stone Soup’s classroom. In the space, program participants receive basic instruction and engage in weekly “check-ins” with the support services coordinators who work to ensure students have the supplies needed to succeed in the program. According to Ellen Damaschino, Executive Director at the nonprofit, this can include help with transit, work-appropriate clothing, or USB cables needed to keep their phones charged. Damaschino explained that culinary skills are the central curriculum in the program. However, the instructors also teach workplace success tactics to help people find jobs and stay employed in various fields. “Some of our participants are also interested in using the skills we teach in resume building, getting to work on time, and working with others to maybe enter other fields, which is OK with us. Culinary is [just one] way for us to get people into work,” said Damaschino.

Stone Soup PDX opened in its original location on NW Everett and Broadway in 2019. They operated primarily as a cafe and training kitchen until COVID-19 forced a shift in the group’s operations. “So it slowed down a lot during the pandemic, and that is when we really kicked up the Community Meals program,” recalled Damaschino. “We make about 1,500 meals a week for the community. Those are for places like shelters, mental health facilities, and transitional housing. So exactly the places that our participants come from.” That shift allowed the organization to open a production kitchen on SE Powell Boulevard, where program participants spend their final four weeks cooking meals that volunteer drivers transport to Portland locations.

When Stone Soup backed away from serving walk-in customers downtown in favor of providing delivery meals, they expanded training operations wherever they could. However, that downtown space was not ideal for the growing program. “It was originally opened as a restaurant and a cafe, and they were making the basement downstairs into a school. So when Catholic Charities approached us about this space [on NE Glisan] that would have an externally facing cafe again, a brand new kitchen, and a classroom space, it was very enticing to take that space and jettison our old space, which wasn’t really working for us,” said Damaschino.

*_{Classroom kitchen on NE Glisan courtesy Stone Soup PDX (Julia Granet)}*

The Beacon at Glisan Landing offers 41 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units above the ground-floor storefronts. Damaschino sees an opportunity for a symbiotic relationship with the building’s residents and the families living in the adjacent affordable housing complex. They want to create programs teaching home cooking to their neighbors and work to assist those around them with access to healthy foods. PSH program operators may also guide some residents into the program. “We mostly have a referral in program, you can join just by signing up, but we have found that it is better if people are in some kind of housing, whether it’s transitional or shelter. We have found that people who are housed have had better success in the program,” explained Damaschino.

Many students are recently houseless and need help finding employment that can secure stable housing. However, Stone Soup designed programs for anyone with employment barriers, including young people without any work experience, people who recently transitioned back into the workforce, or those looking to switch jobs but have limited resources. “We recently had a graduate in his 60s who wanted a career change. [He was] on a fixed income and felt worried about retirement. Now, he’s working at a retirement community as a chef. So that’s a success story for us,” remarked Damaschino. Program instructors segment the classes into three tiers, each lasting four weeks. All tiers currently have eight people learning culinary and workplace skills. Damaschino explained that they intend to grow the program’s 24-person capacity to 30 with this new location. The organization often has around 35 to 45 people waiting for a place in the program, providing a sustainable flow of participants.

The menu taught to students changes with each class and the season. “Our community meals vary in what we make. We also try to engage the participants and meet them where they’re at. In the first and second tiers, we ask what they want to learn, matching them with skills that are also going to get them jobs. Often, in the community kitchen, we’ll make lasagna or enchiladas. We always have salads, and we [make] nice soups and stews in the winter,” said Damaschino. “We tend to make meals that shelters respond to. We want to make things that kids are going to eat, and the parents are going to eat in the shelter. We want them to be nutritious and we follow the county’s guidelines, so we have a dietitian that we work with.”

As Stone Soup transitions into this new space, they hope to build the same level of community integration they developed in their years downtown. “We partner with our community. So, if we had too many onions, we would offer them to other nonprofits in the area. People were giving us food, and we were giving them food. We want to make ourselves visible and useful,” explained Damaschino. The group works to avoid food waste and shares practice meals when they have a surplus by allowing participants to take food back home to their communities.

In addition to a core group of instructors who came to the program from culinary or social services professions, Stone Soup relies on ten to 20 volunteers per week who distribute prepared meals to the customer organizations. Damaschino explained that they intend to keep growing their educational offering, filling the gaps in Portland’s food-related employment sector. “We want to see Stone Soup as the premier workforce training program. All the culinary schools are gone from the area,” remarked Damaschino. She feels Portland has a significant need for what this organization can offer the community. People can already see weekday activity in the storefront now and should expect to see the cafe open in March.

Jacob Loeb