my first dose of "dose"

i finally wandered into dose on murphy road (neé portland brew) and was absolutely delighted.

the intense aroma of coffee ... the rustic wood tables ... the locally baked italian confections ... the lively conversation ... it was a lovely respite from the starbucks-dominated landscape.

i ordered a small cup of sumatra mandheling and it was divine. the flavors of the coffee were rich and layered and provided a much-needed jolt of caffeine.

i could not resist getting a triangle of the brown sugar shortbread - ridiculously good, by the way - which was baked by italian baker Joy Ramirez of marmellata bakery. Read about her here.

she happened to be tutoring a local student in italian when i stopped in. she's the one in white.

Her blog is here.

looking forward to many more visits to dose.