Since 2018, Margin Coffee Roasters has been a mainstay of downtown Albany. Its convenient location, cozy atmosphere, and welcoming staff have contributed to this cornerstone status. Oh, and it helps that they make a darn good cup of coffee, too.
But founder and owner Gabe Anderson felt he could be doing even more for his community. He and many others view Margin as a second “living room,” a place to escape the breakneck chaos of the everyday and simply just exist in the moment. And while Margin opens its doors for a good chunk of the working day, the space goes mostly unused once the last light of dusk sinks below the horizon.
Last light … hey, that makes for a pretty good name!
And so the idea for Margin’s “Last Light” event was born, typically taking place for a few hours on the last Friday of each month. Partnering with chef Kaleb Eilert of Olive Social, a local catering business that specializes in creating unique menus for private events, each “Last Light” offers a themed, one-off menu that aims to bring a unique experience to those who can attend.
“We wanted to highlight the different skillsets present in the community,” Anderson said. “Not everyone knows about the great gastronomy Albany is capable of, how varied its cuisine can be, and we wanted to do something to showcase that.”
Eilert was the natural choice for this, having many years of successfully putting together “pop-up” events and catering in various parts of Oregon. Anderson first got to know him as a regular customer to the cafe before discovering that the two were actually neighbors. They became fast friends bonding over a shared appreciation for, among other things, the wonderful community they were a part of. Eventually Eilert would come to work at Margin as well, and now helps manage the downtown Albany location in addition to his work with Olive Social.
After a bit of planning, the first iteration of “Last Light” occurred in March 2025 around St. Patrick’s Day. Intended to be a prototype to test interest, it ended up popular enough that the two decided to move forward with the idea. Together they built a basic framework for the event to keep things consistent and regular enough that those locally could look forward to it: things like a structured four-course meal, fixed amount of seating and tickets to keep things manageable, and themed around a specific culture or cuisine.
But they didn’t want it to become so formulaic so as to be predictable.
“Something I like to do is to find ways to present cuisine in a way that people don’t necessarily expect,” explained Eilert. “So if I’m doing a menu based on, say, classic New England, I don’t want to just serve a bowl of clam chowder. You know what clam chowder is, what it tastes like, that’s not anything new! I want to find ways to break your expectations while staying true to what makes that cuisine unique, and that’s the fun part.”
October’s Last Light – All Hallow’s Eve
While the “Last Light” tends to build around a specific food-based theme, such as September’s “Spice Road Harvest” focusing on traditional cuisine of the Silk Road and surrounding regions, sometimes another opportunity presents itself that is too attractive to ignore. October’s iteration fell conveniently on Friday, Oct. 31, so planning around a Halloween aesthetic seemed obvious. This provided a unique challenge to the Margin crew.
“Halloween doesn’t really have a ‘menu,’ so to speak,” said Emma, a barista who has been with Margin for over a year. “So we wanted to do something more visual instead of culinary with the theme, but not make the food so grotesque that people wouldn’t want to eat it. So we leaned more into the mysterious side of things.”
The result was an ambiance akin to some of the more historical mythology that Halloween pulls influence from, such as the medieval Gaelic festival known as Samhain. Accents such as muted lighting and autumnal colors – each table was adorned with a small bouquet of fall-colored flowers gleaned from Anderson’s own garden – gave a visual feel of being on the edge of a veil between this world and one beyond.
That said, modern influence was readily apparent in the choice of garb and music for the occasion. For instance, Emma (dressed as Wednesday from The Addams Family) greeted attendees who were costumed in everything from face-painted skeletons to comic book superheroes. The soundtrack featured your typical Halloween staples – “Thriller,” “Monster Mash,” “Zombie,” etc. – while weaving in other appropriate tunes both classic and contemporary.
And the menu itself, while not adhering to a specific cuisine, delivered on being balanced between mysterious, appetizing, and appropriately on-theme. While the first two courses were eerily obscured with names such as “Is It Food?” and “Purple” (spoiler: both were indeed food), the final two featured staple seasonal accents such as cherry and pumpkin.
Overall, the event was distinctly festive for the occasion without being tacky or overdone. And those in attendance, whether dressed for Halloween or not, were all smiles as they enjoyed conversation with themselves and those serving them. Even Anderson and Eilert, busy as they were, made a point to visit each table to talk with the attendees personally.
Burning the Midnight Oil …
Admittance to “Last Light” is achieved through the purchase of a ticket on Margin’s website, which also covers the cost of the meal. Specialty cocktails are paired with the night’s theme in mind by Margin’s own barista and bartender Vassar; these drinks are usually charged separately.
This limited capacity and structured menu allows Anderson and Eilert to plan logistics around a set number of people, something they realized early on would be necessary to combat one of the biggest challenges any food establishment faces – limiting waste.
“One of the main goals for any café is to limit the amount of waste,” Anderson said, “and this goes for any private event we host as well.” The fixed menu and set number of attendees allows for a specific amount of food and drink to be prepared in advance, cutting down on wasted effort and resources.
Something they are continuing to test and refine for “Last Light” is its marketing. Tickets are purchased through Margin’s website, but the event itself does not appear to be advertised or featured there. News has mostly been spread locally through word of mouth and social media, such as Margin’s Facebook page, but Anderson hopes to expand its reach as Margin itself continues to grow.
And while everyone at Margin echoed Eilert’s earlier sentiment – loving the opportunity for creativity while staying true to the theme or culture – it does not come without its own share of work. For instance, bartender Vassar recalled putting hours of research just into curating a playlist for a “Last Light” featuring a Cuban theme. She explained that “it was very important to us to be accurate and respectful to any culture, while still making this our own.”
All this extra effort has certainly paid off, with each “Last Light” since the prototype in March selling out within days of tickets being available.
… Until the First Light of Dawn
Even early in its lifetime, “Last Light” has tackled Tuscan, Cuban, and various Asian cuisines. While not wanting to reveal too much about future plans, Anderson and Eilert did give a sneak peek at what the immediate future holds for this community event.
November will feature a menu lineup inspired by dishes popular in the Northeastern part of the country, particularly New England. Unlike previous events, this one will be held the weekend before Thanksgiving (on Friday, Nov. 21) to avoid disrupting any plans people have for the major holiday. Tickets are available for purchase now at Margin’s website: https://www.margincoffee.com/thelastlight
December will have another appropriately holiday theme, utilizing traditional Christmas cuisine and culture from Germany. More details about this event will be available closer to the beginning of December, though Anderson assured us that it will not be the same week as Christmas proper to avoid the holiday.
And with a new location for Margin Coffee coming to Lebanon in early 2026, Anderson and Eilert hope to share the “Last Light” with a larger community well into the future.
