COLLABORATION,
COFFEE AND
COMMUNITY
Perk keeps it hyperlocal
BY STACEY M. HOLLIS
OWNER AARON CHESTER AND BARISTA OKON UDOSENATA
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
I
f you’re looking for a coffee shop that’s intricately
woven into the local community, check out Perk Coffee
and Espresso on Willamette Street. “Everything that we
have in our shop that I can control is all local, usually
from the smallest businesses I can fi nd,” says owner
Aaron Chester, who started the shop just over a year
ago.
After working at different coffee shops around Eugene,
including managing Sweet Life Patisserie, Chester was
ready to start his own. “I like the community that we build,”
he says. And that community includes the network of small
businesses he works with that take advantage of these
nearby resources and use them to their potential, he says.
“It’s a lot of work,” Chester says, “but I think that we have
an availability of food and ingredients used that is amazing
in this area of the country.”
And they work with some really great people, Chester
says, like local wood-roasted coffee proprietor Eric Pierce
at Caffé Pacori. “Eric’s out there splitting wood, doing
everything in the mornings,” Chester says. “It’s kind of neat
that there’s someone here in town who does that.”
Perk’s other local partners include Knead Freaks Bakery,
Chains and Grains (makers of pretzels and bread), Humble
Bagel, LMF Tea Traders and Blue Lotus Chai. Chester’s
standing order with Karen Nunley at Holy Donuts is
“whatever she feels like making,” and he’s rewarded with
specialty peach-raspberry and berry-plum pies.
Chester and crew make Perk’s own chocolate with
a nondairy base, and they make most of the syrups, like
lavender, rosemary, caramelized sugar and butter-based
caramel. Rosemary syrup in an iced coffee adds a savory
twist, and the coconut milk iced coffee is light and
refreshing. But Chester has another suggestion: “When I go
in and order a drink, I just say, ‘Make me what you want to
make me today.’” He says his baristas are all top-notch right
now, and they’ll know what’s pulling best that day.
Chester focuses on house-made and local sourcing
because he knows the struggles smaller businesses face.
“They are forced to try harder,” he says. “The bigger names
can automatically can get away with whatever they want,
but the little person has to show up and really put the effort
in and go that that extra step.” It’s the extra step from these
small businesses that is meaningful to him: “It shows in the
quality and consistency and the attention to detail,” he says.
Chester names Zachariah Swan from Eugene Handbuilt,
a local baked goods seller, as an example. He will bring in
a sample of something new he’s found, a product that might
be of better quality, Chester says, so everyone can taste and
decide whether it’s worth the expense. “He really goes the
extra mile, and it’s great to see.”
And not only are Perk’s products thanks to local
collaboration, the furniture in the quirky little shop is
too. “Everything made in here was made with recycled
materials,” Chester says. “We don’t buy new equipment.”
Much of interior was built using materials from BRING
recycling. ■
Perk is located at 1351 Willamette St., 636-3255.
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Tues-Fr
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CATERING Sat 2-10p
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chow.eugeneweekly.com
CHOW! Fall 2012 7