PORTLAND MONTHLY - What’s a Botanical Bakeshop? Visit Portland’s Newest

Woodstock is now home to its very own hybrid bakery and plant shop from a pair of Filipina entrepreneurs who crowdfunded their launch. Half the space of Botanical Bakeshop will be devoted to Daphne’s Botanicals, which specializes in houseplants and gifts, and half to Shop Halo Halo, a Filipino bakery that got its start as a pop-up. The grand opening is Saturday, July 15, from 1 to 5 p.m.

Pastry chef Geleen Abenoja previously ran Shop Halo Halo as an occasional pop-up, and had expanded to include weekly dessert deliveries and preorders. She and business partner Daphne Peters launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $35,000 to cover shop launch costs. (Their budget: kitchen equipment $15,000, construction $10,000, furniture and shelving $5,000, and licensing $5,000.)

Shop Halo Halo will be one of just two brick-and-mortar Filipino bakeries in Portland, and the only one on the east side. It’s part of a growing wave of Filipino food launches in Portland, including food cart Baon Kainan, former pop-up bar Sunrice, coffee shop Kalesa, and Beaverton’s Magna Kubo. While Filipinos make up less than 1 percent of Portland’s population, the community is growing, with spots like the Filipino Bayanihan Center, which opened in summer 2021. 

At Shop Halo Halo, Abenoja will serve a few classic Filipino baked goods, like cassava cake and pandesal, alongside her own Filipino-inspired takes on desserts, from the ube crinkle cookies we featured in the winter 2022 edition of Portland Monthly to calamansi blueberry cheesecake.

Daphne’s Botanicals has been in its current space since March 2023. It sells plants as well as houseplant design services. Customers can also make their own terrariums in the shop, or attend plant workshops.

The hybrid space was originally targeted to open in late 2022, as retail space on the first floor of the new Novus apartment building. The new shop buildout includes a living plant wall, multicolored wood paneling, rattan ceiling lamps, and plenty of guest seating.

Originally posted on Portland Monthly

Author: Katherine Chew Hamilton