Pouring on the Flavor
It all begins with an idea.
Most people enjoy a cup of coffee — or two or more — to get us going. So do we. Through our travels, we discovered some wonderful options served around the world. With our opening in 2023, we’re starting off featuring some of our favorites.
We’re excited to share our first option from Vietnam. Copper Cow Coffee not only impressed us with its fabulous taste, the company mission is admirable. Founder Debbie Wei Mullin shares her culture and commitment to sustainability in every delicious cup. Her company features a variety of pour-over Vietnamese coffee and latte options. Zeno’s is featuring Copper Cow Coffee’s Classic Black. For a Pacific Northwest tie, we’re featuring Seattle’s Umbria Caffe with its Gusto Crema blend. This variety offers an Italian twist on Brazilian and Central American beans. Our other option is a rich blend from Turkey. Cafe Najjar’s Classic with Cardamon is sure to amaze you.
As for tea, one of our favorites is Caykur’s Kamelya Cayi, Turkey’s most popular smooth black tea. And who can’t resist a delicious Japanese Green tea with a blend of Sencha and Matcha leaves. Let us know your favorites.
Zeno: Past & Future
Zeno’s is more than a name.
Zeno’s Fusion is much more than a name for one of Portland-metro’s newest food trucks. It defines the philosophy, culture and ingredients for building a community around food.
The four founders of Zeno’s Fusion share in a stoic view of life with four basic tenants: wisdom, justice, courage and moderation. The main idea of Stoicism centers around life that is in harmony with nature, avoids negative emotions and judgements, maintains a rational mind and an overall appreciation of social, ecological and global outlooks. And most importantly, it centers on gratitude.
There was an actual person named Zeno who began developing the Stoic philosophy back in Athens, Greece, more than 2,300 years ago. Originally from what we now know as Cyprus, Zeno of Citium developed Stoicism out of his experiences from surviving a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Phoenicia (now Lebanon and Syria). Instead of bemoaning the experience, once Zeno arrived in Athens, he began perceiving the experience as a conduit to help him rationalize his outlook on life toward a more enlightened viewpoint, building upon writings of Socrates and Crates he discovered in a bookstore.
Zeno began writing and lecturing at the Stoa Poikile, a main porch within the ancient Agora of Athens—the main gathering point for all the thinkers, learners and teachers of the age. Zeno’s engaging talks helped fuel his growing following to adapt the name from the Stoa to form the name of this new philosophy, Stoicism.
Zeno of Citium is recognized as the founder of Stoicism, having influenced many Greek and Roman leaders, , including Cleanthes and Chrysippus, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Roman Statesman Seneca, Greek Philosopher and former slave, Epictetus.
Epictetus wrote, “Your happiness depends on three things, all of which are within your power: your will, your ideas concerning the events in which you are involved, and the use you make of your ideas.
Seneca wrote, “it is not the events in the world by themselves that make people suffer. The ideas we form about these events also matter. Our ideas filter what we experience. So, if through reflection, meditation, and reasoning we can change these filters, our experience of the world will alter.”
Marcus wrote, “however great and urgent the causes we take up, any positive change will always consist of a lot of small decisions, each taken in the present moment. And each of these decisions is more likely to be efficacious if we can calmly and clearly assess what is possible, rather than giving way to anxiety, fear, hatred or despair.” Zeno’s ideas continue today with philosophers and others following his “stay calm and carry on” mindset.
The founders of Zeno’s Fusion point to this mindset as a basis for their ideas and efforts in life and in business. Shaped with its core tenants and overall value in gratitude, Zeno’s Fusion combines a philosophy that guides how to share food within the community. Zeno’s Fusion anchors reason and nature, fused together with diverse foods to create a sharing community which values companionship, diversity and exploration.
Photo “Athens Fragments in Front of the Stoa” courtesy of Giovanni Dall’Orto via Pixabay.
Want to know more about Stoicism? Click here to visit Modern Stoicism.
How Zeno’s Began
As founders of Zeno’s Fusion, we wanted to try something where we could give a taste of the world to others.
Zeno’s Fusion began with a small group of friends looking toward their futures. Each time Nabil, Jesse and Chris got together, they reminisced on life experiences and the challenges ahead, discussed ways to build a career and earn money, and always shared ideas about food. Slowly, they fused together those conversations into an idea that formed Zeno’s Fusion.
“One of the first reasons why we’re starting this food truck was initially to pay for a bus for my disabled siblings,” said Jesse. He explained how transporting them to do outdoor activities like camping was a challenge, both physically and financially. “Nabil and I starting to think about how we could do this,” he continued. “We eventually decided to start a business and the food truck just fell into our lap.”
Then their idea evolved into creating something larger for a community of veterans and sharing food with the diverse populations throughout the region.
“We started talking about it, based on my cultural background,” said Nabil, who is half Egyptian. “Combined with Jesse and Chris’ cultural backgrounds and experiences in the military, we centered on featuring Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines.”
Their ideas expanded with Jesse’s Norwegian ties and exploring the different foods during their deployments.
“We realized we’re a melting pot of random ethnicities,” said Nabil. “So we thought, why not try something where we could give a taste of the world to others and that’s how Zeno’s Fusion came to be.”
Each item on the menu features a distinct connection to one or more of the founders. Jesse shared how growing up in Alaska with a family of Norwegian immigrants helped shaped his views on family and food. His early years helped point him to some of his most cherished dishes made by his grandmother and grandfather.
“My other cultural contributions come from my experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan and my favorite foods being out and about with the locals,” said Jesse. “The sit-down meals I had with Iraqi and Afghani families is where I learned those menu items and where I learned to fall in love with those foods.”
Chris shared in those memories from his deployment to Afghanistan, along with adding his own cultural ties to Cyprus, Greece, Germany, England and Ireland.
“My greatest memories are sharing food with the people I love and living in a diverse area has allowed me to experience many different cultures and cuisines living in Portland, Oregon”. Chris said that Zeno’s shared experiences in the military help them work and live as a team, each building on their own strengths.
“We want to take the cultural experiences we’ve had with these foods with share it with others,” said Chris. “We want to take those positive experiences and have them resonate with the people around us, because I think the world needs are more of that.”
Zeno’s Fusion is set to open in February 2023.