Portland clearly has a passion for food carts, and a passion for coffee, so it was no surprise that a local decided to combine the two concepts. Tony “Tonx” Konecny tipped me off to Andrea Spella’s trailer near the Ace Hotel, saying the owner produced his favorite shot of espresso from the past year on his manual machine. The idea of a coffee trailer is a romantic notion, so I was probably predisposed to like Spella Caffe. Still, he did manage to deliver carefully crafted espresso and macchiato using “hand roasted” coffee beans.

Spella Caffe‘s trailer has occupied the Southeast corner of a food cart village since 2006. Spella roasts his coffee beans off-site.

A small blackboard touted a compact menu of “Hand Roasted” espresso drinks, plus tea and Italian soda.

Spella pulled a lever to extract a shot of espresso ($1.75) with rich color, healthy crema and a nice finish. Was this the best shot of espresso I’ve had in the past year? No, but it certainly exceeded most coffeehouse experiences.

Spella’s macchiato ($2) featured exactly the right amount of milk and foam.

After our short visit to Spella, it was clear that he has a passion for coffee. It also left me wondering what other treasures could be found in the food cart village. Also, why doesn’t L.A. have a food cart village?