New Cascadia: dedicated gluten-free, and the labeled vegan Morning Glory muffin

We have been using New Cascadia Traditional as a gluten-free landmark on Division for years, and we FINALLY went back with a vegan assignment instead of pretending the whole pastry case was plant-based! This is Chris Gumke and Teresa Atkins’s dedicated gluten-free bakery at 2502 Southeast Division. They started at the Portland Farmers Market in spring 2007 after Chris’s severe gluten intolerance and a city that did not have exceptional GF baked goods. The facility is dedicated gluten-free. Suppliers are vetted. THAT is the shop. Vegan is a labeled slice of it, not the banner.

HERE is what the pastry page itself calls vegan. Vegan Morning Glory Muffins. Cupcakes on the collection page actually print the word: vegan chocolate with chocolate frosting, vegan chocolate with vanilla, vegan vanilla with chocolate, vegan vanilla with vanilla, sold in sixes. If it does not say vegan, we do not say vegan. Boston cream doughnut, maple bars, cardamom bun, savory hand pie, bourbon apple fritter, coffee cake muffins, blueberry muffins, blueberry lemon scone, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chunk cookies, brownies — those are on the pastry list WITHOUT a vegan label, and we leave them alone.

Bread is the part we are not going to fake. The FAQ says they offer dairy- and egg-free options and that the majority of the breads are vegan. We are not naming Farmhouse, baguette, or any other loaf as vegan until they print it on a live bread menu. Honey is a problem flavor in gluten-free bakeries forever. If you need a specific loaf to be vegan, call (503) 546-4901 and make them say it.

Hours: Monday through Wednesday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hot food until 1:30 p.m. Pastries are walk-in and same-day phone only, first come first served from 8 a.m., pay when you call. Online orders are future-date pickup. Same-day is walk-in or call-ahead with prepayment. Special orders right now are bread, bagel, and cupcakes only, 96-hour notice. They are not offering wedding cakes on that special-order list. Closed New Year’s Day, the Fourth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after, Christmas, the day after. Street parking on Division and in the residential blocks. No lot.

We keep coming back because a dedicated gluten-free bakery that will also sell you a labeled vegan muffin is useful, and a directory that pretends the cinnamon roll is vegan is not. Take the vegan Morning Glory muffin if it is labeled. Take the vegan cupcakes if you are ordering six. Then get out before you tell your group chat the whole case is vegan and make Division’s most careful bakery sound like a shop it is NOT!

More on the place page: New Cascadia Traditional