A Cafe with Lots of Heart for Art

It’s somewhat unusual to find a coffee shop/café that creates a relaxed vibe even when the line for coffee, pastries or sandwiches is at its peak-time length. It’s even more unusual to find the works of local artists adorning the bags of small-batch roasted coffee, plus visual artworks all around the café and a wall-sized mirror in the restroom that says: “You are a work of art.”

It all comes together at Grafik Coffee, whose roaster/owner is Josh Whalen. His wife, Gabrielle Whalen, plus baker Jenna Bethony and barista Goodwin Anderson turn out the coffee, pastry and sandwich creations at Grafik. The lunch sandwiches are all named for artists such as Picasso, Renoir and Van Gogh; the breakfast sandwich includes egg, bacon or sausage with honey aioli and arugula on a bagel, croissant or Portuguese bolo.

Whalen’s wide-ranging jobs in the hospitality realm were good preparation for opening a community-based, family-friendly restaurant, in December 2023, “where my whole family could work and grow up together,” he says. He also believes wholeheartedly in supporting local arts and artists.

As a roaster, Whalen does very small batches to make sure that every bean tastes just right. He works to source from certified sustainable farms, and he’s partial to the beans from We Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, because it’s a women-run organic farm.

2003 E. Main Rd., Portsmouth. 401.871.9285; GrafikCoffee.com