The Italian Way, All Day

Portland is not an all-day cafe town. Great coffee shops? Sure. Places to grab a quick bite for lunch? Absolutely. But, it’s rare to stay in one place from dawn till dusk.

That’s what was so special about The Stazione, Buckman’s newest Italian cafe and wine bar. The concept is based on owner Graham Markel’s time spent growing up in Italy. There, life revolved around small-town train stations and their corresponding cafes. Stazione translates to “station” in Italian — a nod to both his history and the cafe’s location being one block up from Portland’s own train tracks.

“The idea of communal, everyday gathering spaces really stayed with me,” he says.

Markel also has a wine label, Buona Notte, based in Cascade Locks. He previously operated an appointment-only tasting room, Appartamento, on the floor above where The Stazione is now. He liked sharing his wines in this way, but yearned for a larger area to host in. As luck would have it, a sizable room on the ground floor of the same building came available—the exact one he’d secretly been pining for.

This move wasn’t just about a bigger footprint; it was about expansion in all ways. “More community, more music, more wine, more flowers and more porchetta sandwiches,” laughs The Stazione’s manager, Mareka Tsongas. Now, all under one roof.

“We felt there was a gap in Portland for places where you could have a truly great lunch and glass of wine at the same time in a relaxed way,” Tsongas says. “There are incredible lunch spots in the city, but fewer spaces blur the line between cafe, wine bar and neighborhood restaurant.”

The Stazione is just that—a room you want to stay in from morning espresso through lunch meetings and into evening glasses of wine. Coffee service is followed by snacky fare, with an Italian spirit. Think soft cheeses served with sugar snap peas, thinly sliced purple radishes, and a literal spoonful of jam. Fresh focaccia is plated alongside mortadella, chopped pistachios, and a fluffy dollop of ricotta. And, of course, porchetta sandwiches made with meat that’s sliced to order on a cherry red Berkel. But the veggie sandwich is equally as satisfying, swapping pork for roasted eggplant, harissa and bright arugula. There’s a rotating selection of seasonal specials and sweets, too. Some weeks it might be a whole roasted artichoke served with aioli. Others, first-of-the-season fava beans with cubed goat cheese and basil. Or, to finish, a dense, semisweet olive oil cake topped with cream that Tsongas hand-whipped herself. Once, when the cream split, she turned it into butter to serve with the bread.

“We love how the energy evolves,” Tsongas says. “We want the room to move through those rhythms naturally. Ideally, it becomes somewhere people can return to multiple times a week for entirely different reasons.”

The team’s large selection of vinyl helps with this tonal shift. Tsongas’ own father donated a bunch of records that she’s now sifting through. This family tie feels fitting since they designed the space to mimic the feeling of walking into someone’s home.

“We wanted it to feel layered and lived in, not overly designed,” Tsongas says. “Organic and personal, rather than themed or sterile.”

There’s a warmth to the restaurant that feels collected, not curated. The dining chairs are colorful and mismatched, vintage Italian posters hang on the walls. Almost all of the art, furniture, fixtures and ceramics were sourced over time, built by Markel himself or by friends of theirs. The space feels European, but in a way that feels rooted, rather than gimmicky. The open kitchen is the heartbeat in the center of the space. Guests saddle up on bright blue barstools, chatting brightly with the team while they plate things. It has a similar ease to leaning across a friend’s countertop and gossiping while they cook.

“We want guests to feel a part of the room—hearing the kitchen, watching dishes come together, interacting with the team up close.” Tsongas says.

Another element that’s new to this space is the in-house floral studio, North Star Flower Co. Annie Beust creates arrangements for the restaurant that look so organic you’d believe her if she said they’d been plucked straight out of a garden. She also sells bouquets to go, hoping guests stop in after work for flowers and wine on their way home.

“Flowers bring softness and movement in a way that feels emotional and alive,” Tsongas notes. “They change weekly, reflect seasonality, and make the room feel cared for.”

Tsongas and Markel draw a lot of inspiration from Buckman, too; they wanted the space to integrate into the existing rhythm of the neighborhood rather than becoming a destination spot.

“It feels incredibly industrious and community-driven,” she says. “There are so many people here quietly making beautiful food, wine, art, design, clothing or music without pretension.”

The Stazione fits the same bill—purposeful and pretty, yet decidedly laid back.

“You don’t need a special reason to come in,” Tsongas says. “We designed this to be a part of people’s routines. We hope it feels familiar, comfortable, inspiring and deeply lived in, no matter what time of day you walk through the door.”

GO: The Stazione, 133 Salmon St., Suite B, thestazione.com. 11:30 am–9 pm Wednesday–Thursday, 11:30 am–10 pm Friday–Saturday.