The Internet Locusts Descend on Ristretto Roasters

Camila worked for Ristretto Roasters, my husband Din’s coffee roasting company in Portland, Oregon, for five years. She received regular promotions and by 2016 was earning a mid-five figure salary. In October of last year, Camila resigned. The end.

Or, the end until last month, when she sent an email to more than two dozen former and current Ristretto Roasters employees, alerting them to the YouTube series, #MeNeither Show, that fellow journalist Leah McSweeney and I launched in December 2018. In three half-hour episodes, we had discussed, among other topics, celebrities who have exploited the #MeToo movement, and the difference between sexual predators and those swept-up in the excesses of the current moment. The show’s “about” page reads, “#MeNeither is an almost-weekly conversation about the cultural issues of the day, and an attempt to create a space where people can find ways to think out loud through uncomfortable topics.”

In her email to Ristretto employees, Camila described our show as “vile, dangerous, and extremely misguided” and announced her intention to “take this information to [local newspapers] Willamette Week and The [Portland] Mercury.” She went on to explain that, “it could be really powerful to have a formal letter singed [sic] off by as many RR employees as possible so that the community at large knows that the people who actually keep RR running do not stand for this.”

We believe it is a business owner’s responsibility to create a safe and supportive working environment for their employees. Invalidating assault survivors throws into question the safety of Ristretto Roasters as a workplace and has the potential to create a demoralizing and hostile environment for employees and customers alike. This cannot be tolerated.

The comments are entertaining. Someone posted this story concerning a different business “getting the works” , (my term) , this time though, Risretto Roasters was part,of the mob.

What goes around, comes around. Controversial Colonial-Themed Restaurant Loses Its Coffee Purveyor

Following a recent protest at Saffron Colonial, Ristretto Roasters cafes will not longer sell its baked goods
Mattie John BammanMar 23, 2016, 4:07pm PDT

Saffron Colonial softly opened in early March, and it has been embroiled in controversy ever since. The bakery and restaurant opened on N Williams Avenue in an historically African American neighborhood in North Portland where gentrification has been heavily criticized, and when it announced that it would serve globally inspired food from the height of the British Empire, many Portlanders countered on social media that colonialism shouldn't be glorified. (Britannica.com defines Western Colonialism as "a political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored, conquered, settled, and exploited large areas of the world.")

A protest called Stop Romanticizing Colonialism! involving an estimated 75 people took place at Saffron Colonial on Saturday, March 19, and the protesters wrote an open letter to bakery-owner Sally Krantz. Among its demands, it lists an apology from Krantz and for Krantz to rename the bakery and restaurant. So far, Krantz has not changed the name, and WWeek reports Krantz earlier this week commented, "I haven't made an active decision on anything regarding the name...If Expatriate wasn't taken I might consider that!"

Following the controversy, Ristretto Roasters, a local roaster with three locations, has severed ties with Saffron Colonial Bakery. According to WWeek, Ristretto Roasters will no longer sell baked goods from Saffron Colonial Bakery, and Ryan Cross, Director of Wholesale for Ristretto, said, "Since they released their colonial branding, we've been in the process of dealing with the repercussions of it."

Fwiw, this is Camila Coddou, the coffee roaster employee.

concrned lesbian

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