Just before the holidays your Salem culture seismograph might have trembled a little when a pillar of the Broadway Coffeehouse announced his departure.
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| Jesse at the brand-new pour-over station, October 2010 |
This is Jesse. He's heading up the coffee half of Archive. @JesseyHayes pic.twitter.com/DNjWFx9cae
— archivesalem (@archivesalem) December 3, 2013
The bar is going into one of the bays on the Liberty side of the McGilchrist building, whose renovation is due to wrap this next year. |
| McGilchrist Block in better times, circa early 1950s Salem Library Historic Photos |
Late night cocktail break. pic.twitter.com/ONZUYTRmH5
— archivesalem (@archivesalem) December 4, 2013
That's some real vermouth they got there!It will be a great addition to the scene already set by Ventis, La Capitale, Amadeus, Maven, and the others.
What feels significant about this, though, is the way it could indicate a generational shift in downtown nightlife - not the 40 or 50-somethings, or even 30-somethings, but the 20-somethings. Hopefully it will be additive, and not merely cannibalize business from other businesses.
It's also feels like a much more up-to-date retro nod, very different from the aesthetic and market demographic at the Brick or Copperjohn's, which are also in historic buildings, or the stripped-down basics at The Bureau, Santiam's new taphouse in the Reed.
Archive, of course, hasn't even opened yet, and drawing real conclusions is mighty premature. Opening a restaurant is hard work and the outcome never certain. But from here Archive, and indeed the whole Roth and McGilchrist block renovation, looks like the kind of thing that could represent a tipping point, something we appeal to in a decade as "the moment" in a narrative about when things started to change for real downtown. (What do you think of it all?)
This is great news and it will be so very exciting to follow.
Update, December 6th, 2014
The grand opening was last night!
Yup it's official Archive Coffee and Bar is open in downtown Salem pic.twitter.com/F5e3OSHqa4
— Victor Panichkul (@TasteofOregon) December 4, 2014
(And this one's even better!)
Hello, Salem. It's nice to meet you. So thankful that you all come out for opening weekend! Excited to be here. pic.twitter.com/JzIwumI4qZ
— archivesalem (@archivesalem) December 9, 2014
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