Simply Coffee: An Italian Cafe Has Opened in Gresham

Coffee at Simply Coffee. — Photo credit: Simply Coffee.

The other day Instagram’s algorithm served me this video from Simply Coffee, a relatively new cafe in Gresham. I was really charmed by the narrator, who I learned later is owner Andra Stanescu (her husband Jonathan, is the other owner). Plus she uttered the magic word, “cornetti.” I wanted to learn more.

So, we chatted on the phone, talked about Simply Coffee and her work in the coffee/cafe sphere, and I’m happy to pass on some of what we talked about.

Simply Coffee History

I asked Andra to share with me Simply Coffee’s story. “We started as a coffee catering company almost three years ago,” she explained. “We do catering, like fresh espresso on the spot for weddings, for corporate events—literally anything, because it’s just a table that folds up and we can take it everywhere with us.”

She continued, “And then in late August 2025, we found this place that used to be Hope’s Café. She ran it for many years, and eventually put it up for sale. Everything worked out [with the sale], and we decided to open our first brick and mortar there.”

They opened the cafe in January, and still continue to do catering on the weekends. But they love to share their love of and skill with coffee at the cafe with the greater public.

Andra’s Background

Andra comes from a Romanian family, but grew up in Italy. She and her parents emigrated from Romania to Italy in 2002. They had family there already, which made it easier to head there and settle down into an Italian life.

“My parents are Romanian, but I lived in Italy—Rome, actually.” Her time there inspired her to create her Italian coffee catering and coffee shop in Gresham.

I asked her, “How was growing up in Rome?” She replied, “It was amazing!” But she also recognizes that it’s not perfect there. “Of course, you know, living in Italy has its own struggles. But the culture and everything is much more slowed down.”

She continued, “People do take their time, and that’s exactly what we want to reflect in our coffee shop.” On the other hand, she does recognize the interest in grab-and-go items and can accommodate that, too. But at the cafe, she wants to create a space that prioritizes comfort in a way that makes you feel like you can sit there for hours—whether it’s doing your work or coming by while on a date.

Andra immigrated to Oregon with her parents and sister in 2018, and has remained in Gresham ever since.

Relationships

One way to encourage people to slow down is to cultivate relationships with Simply Coffee’s guests. Andra loves to be surrounded by people and conversations. The cafe sees a lot of families come in—Sunday is a big day, with plenty of folks arriving after church. “They come in, they grab their coffee, and they stay and talk for a long time,” she said.

Andra continued, “For us, it’s not just a transactional coffee shop, but it’s also about getting to know them; we’ve become friends with our customers. It’s just so great to get to know them personally, hear their stories and make friends.”

Simply Coffee: What’s in a Name?

Of course I had to ask why they named it Simply Coffee. “This is actually a simple story in a way,” remarked Andra. “When we opened our coffee cart, we did not know what to name it.”

She continued, “We were going through so many ideas and nothing new would stick out. Me and my husband were looking at names and then he’s like, ‘Why don’t you call it Simply Coffee? Your whole coffee concept is being simple, not exaggerated, Italian coffee—it’s simply, coffee.’ And it really stuck with us.”

Their aim is to offer a warm, cozy, welcoming, space that feels like home. “And we do have great coffee!” exclaimed Andra.

That Great Coffee

The use beans from Caffe Umbria, and it’s the kind of coffee that Andra found met her standards and preferences. “When I moved to to the States, it was really hard for me to find a good coffee spot,” she said. “Portland has a good coffee, but it’s not European. European coffee … it’s more about being strong, and kind of darker. Portland coffee is more about being floral. It’s more acidic.”

She continued,”I randomly found Caffe Umbria, and I went into the location. And this was years ago. I sat down and grabbed a cappuccino and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I feel like I’m back in Rome!”

And when she opened her coffee shop years later, she knew exactly that they were going to use Caffee Umbria’s coffee. Specifically, she uses the Gusto Crema blend. “They’re my favorite blend that they have. It’s a medium roast, and they have notes of chocolate and dried fig.”

Food and Drink History

Before she opened Simply Coffee, Andra had worked in a few coffee shops in Portland. She did this to see if opening her own coffee catering (and later cafe) business was what she really wanted to do. And, turns out it was indeed—she fell in love with it from the start. And she gained a reputation for excellence in preparing and serving coffee.

“I’ve had people tell me, ‘I only like it when you make my coffee.’ It’s not just following a recipe, but it’s the passion you put into it. And I’ve always had that. After we started catering, I knew I was like, ‘Yeah, I definitely want a shop, as well, one day.'”

Cart To Cafe

I asked her what it was like going from the cart to a brick and mortar. “With coffee catering, you can choose the events that you want to do unless people don’t reach out to you,” she explained. “But you can always deny an event.”

She continued, “But with a brick and mortar, you have no choice. You have to be there every day, which I don’t mind at all.” She also pointed out that have a cafe involves a lot more cleaning and physical labor, too.

One of the things she particularly likes about running the coffee shop is the level of interaction she can have with people. “Usually when we do catering we’ll have like three 300 people in line at once, and we have to go through the drinks very fast. We don’t have time to talk, of course. They don’t want to wait, either.”

She added, “With the shop, we can actually talk a little bit. We can serve them at the table. They can stay and enjoy the environment. So that’s definitely a difference that I do like about it.”

The Simply Coffee Location and Space

As for this location, finding their way there was not planned. “We weren’t looking for a coffee shop yet,” Andra explained. “We thought maybe in the next three years, honestly, but we weren’t ready to jump into a space. But then we saw the ad online, and on the spot … I don’t know, I just had had a feeling—I had a feeling I had to go and see what this is about. So I came in, I looked at the place and it instantly felt like home.

“After that, I told my husband about it. We had a trip to Italy planned to go visit my family. And we’re like, OK, we’re going to think about it, pray about it. We came back from Italy and the place was still for sale. So we thought, ‘Let’s just go see one more time, just to make sure we actually like it.’ And we did.

“We loved it, and everything worked out. We ended up purchasing it and then opening our doors a month and a half after that.”

Fortunately for them, there was a lot they could repurpose from what was already there, like the counters and flooring. They didn’t have to modify anything in the structure, either (AKA no buildout needed). They added fresh paint in colors they wanted to enhance the vibe. They also got new chairs and tables.

“It’s a much brighter with a lot of warm tones, which makes it feel very welcoming. And we loved the floors so much. It was very European-inspired.” I actually thought perhaps they had added the floors themselves, which really seem to fit the look she was after.

The Cornetti

I first heard about cornetti when I studied the Italian language in grad school (harpsichordists really need at least basic knowledge of French and Italian). My teacher talked about the delicious cornetti, which some describe as a kind of “Italian croissant.” They are different, though—for one, cornetti are usually made with eggs.

They do not make the actual cornetti themselves, but get them from a local bakery, who delivers them every morning. “They smell so good!” exclaimed Andra. But they fill them there at the cafe with three different fillings: pistachio, Nutella, and hazelnut, all of which are imported from Italy.

Other Baked Goods

Aside from the cornetti, they offer coffee cake and fruit tarts, which she says are becoming very popular. “They’re not super sweet, so it’s a really refreshing treat,” said Andra. They also have chocolate chip cookies, blueberry danishes, affogati, and pizza from Angolo.

“The owner Francesca, she makes the most delicious slices, so she provides them for us fresh as well,” explained Andra. They are delivered daily and crisped up in the air fryer when a customer orders a slice. She says it’s a superior method to the microwave.

They also sell arancini, a kind of fried risotto ball popular in Sicily, that come with different fillings. They are made by La Signora, a Sicilian street food vendor in Vancouver and Portland.

On the drinking side, aside from coffee, you’ll also find matcha, chai, hot chocolate, and tea, as well as Italian sodas, made there with sparkling water and syrups. “We have Italian sodas for the kids, especially now we’ve got the warm weather,” said Andra. “They like a cold drink, too.” They would like to offer some Italian sodas (meaning, sodas made in Italy), as well.

Canned Coffee Drinks

At Simply Coffee they sell canned coffee, chai, and matcha drinks—which they can there on-site with a machine. The vessel is high-quality plastic, and the lid is metal with a stay-on-tab format. I’ve never seen this done before at a local cafe. Andra told me how it came about:

“So we started offering it for catering, for those who didn’t want a full service coffee bar. So they could have it whenever they wanted. And when I opened the shop, I thought, “Why not bring it here?'”

“We get a lot of nursing students, and nurses themselves, that want coffee for the night or they want it for the next day and they don’t have time to come in. So they grab it and they like it commercially sealed. “We have a canning machine in house. We can also make any flavor you want.”

As time goes on, they plan to add things to the menu, but it will be in a strategic way. “Everything that we do, even if it’s not too much, we want to do well.”