Duane Sorenson opened Roman Candle in 2013, with a menu offering wood-fired pizza and other Italian cuisine, including sandwiches, breads, green salads, pastries, and baked potatoes.

The restaurant closed in April 2018 for renovations, ahead of a rebrand as a gluten-free and vegan cafe called Holiday, which Sorenson launched one month later.

[1] The interior featured "custom tiles and marble ... offset by communal tables hewn from Oregon walnut wood", according to Travel + Leisure,[2] as well as "thick-wooded" cases displaying pastries and pizza, according to Willamette Week's Shannon Gormley.

[4] In 2014, The Oregonian's Michael Russell said the crowd was trendy, describing the clientele as "young mothers, runners in performance tights and freelancers in knit caps and turquoise rings tapping away on open laptops."

He said of the heavily-tiled interior: "With a quarry's worth of tile on the walls and bathrooms fit for a Roman senator, the room is a bit of unadulterated glossy magazine catnip.

[4] Sandwiches included The Bodega (bacon and egg salad), The Lil Guy (scallion cream cheese on an everything bun), and The Frankie (mozzarella, pesto and Mama Lil's-brand peppers on tomato bread).

[4] Salad options included Tuscan Cavalry, from the neighboring restaurant Ava Gene's, as well as the Fruit Loop with Asian pears, hazelnuts, and pecorino.

[11] In May 2015, Roman Candle hosted a pop-up featuring Joe Tarasco, the chef de cuisine of Danny Meyer, and Union Square Hospitality Group's Manhattan restaurant Marta, which is also known for its Roman-style, wood-fired pizzas.

[15] In November, Stumptown cafes in Portland began serving the Tuscan Cavalry salad and three sandwiches (The Bodega, The Lil Guy, and The Frankie) made by Roman Candle.

[12] On April 20 (an unofficial holiday in cannabis culture), 2016, Roman Candle gave away free slices of margherita pizza for 42 minutes, starting at 4:20 p.m.

[4] Michael Russell of The Oregonian gave Roman Candle a 'B' rating and preferred the "morning offerings" over the pizza, which he said had "unimpeachable" toppings but "unsatisfying" bread.

He advised, "Walk directly to the counter and order the kouign amann, the sinfully good layered pastry", then consider the "good-to-very-good rustic breads".

For a mere $2 you could very feasibly stretch this rectangle of mashed potato-goodness into two separate meals, like back in the days of collegiate yore when even buying ramen seemed like an insurmountable challenge.