Know the farm
We buy from four farms we've visited and post what we paid per pound on the wall at Fremont.
Home / Our story
Started with one
roaster and a lease.
Ember & Oat opened on Fremont Ave in 2017 with a secondhand roaster, a borrowed espresso machine and a croissant recipe that took eleven tries.
Coffee people would actually come back for.
Founders Noor and Caleb Whitfield met on the bar at a café that closed in 2016. They wanted a place where the coffee was serious but the room wasn't — where you could ask "what's good today?" and get a straight answer.
Seven years on there are three shops, 34 staff, and the same roaster (rebuilt twice). Everyone on the bar is paid a living wage before tips and gets health coverage after 60 days.
Milestones
How we got here.
2017
Fremont Ave opens with seven seats and a 5kg roaster.
2019
Pastry kitchen moves in-house; croissants sell out by 10am.
2021
Millrace Yard greenhouse opens with the city's first oat-default menu.
2024
Union Station kiosk and order-ahead pickup launch.
What we stand by
House rules.
Bake it here
Every pastry is made in our own kitchen. Day-olds go to the Fremont community fridge at close.
Pay people properly
Living wage before tips, health coverage at 60 days, and a paid bean-buying trip for staff after year three.
Come say hi.
Saturday public cuppings at Fremont, 10am. Free, twelve seats, first come.