- Matt and Anya Schodorf are co-founders and owners of Café de Leche, with 4 locations in the LA area.
- Café de Leche’s Altadena location was destroyed in the Palisades fire.
- A GoFundMe campaign has raised over $20,000 to support the affected employees.
This spoken essay is based on a conversation with Matt and Anya Schodorf, owners and co-founders of Café de Leche, a coffee roastery and small business in Los Angeles. It has been edited for length and clarity.
My wife, Anya, and I had four Café de Leche locations around the Los Angeles area, but our Altadena location — the most popular and busiest — burned in the Palisades fire. Most of our livelihood comes from that site, which we have developed into a thriving business over the past nine years.
For us, the cafe was more than a building. It was a place where the community gathered, where customers held celebrations for important occasions from wedding receptions to baby showers, and where some of our employees, who later began relationships, met for the first time.
Café de Leche in Altadena. Photo courtesy of Matt and Anya Schodorf
Right now, we’re mourning the loss of all these intangibles, like the sense of community associated with that space, and worrying about what’s next.
That location had six permanent employees and we also worry about their ability to provide for their families.
We’re still amazed at how it all happened so quickly
We’ve had wind storms in Altadena before. We went there at 9.30pm to flatten the hatches – put up the outdoor umbrellas and check if the furniture was inflated. We watered the yard in case ash or embers came in and disposed of a fallen Christmas tree from the holidays. We walked around; it was so peaceful. Afterwards, we sat in the office for a minute to pray.
We grabbed our mail and closed the door, giving our business one last look before getting in the car. Although we saw the fire in the foothills near east Altadena, we never expected the winds to blow the fires so close to our business, let alone catch fire. We didn’t think to take anything from the store.
We woke up scared the next morning and tried to check our business
We went up at 6:30 am along Altadena West, thinking it would be the safest route. Everywhere we looked, houses were burning and businesses were burning. We couldn’t see through the black smoke, so we turned back. It was getting unsafe.
Later, our daughter found out online that the firehouse half a block away from the cafe had caught fire. When we heard that, we knew things weren’t going to be good. Then someone commented on one of our Instagram posts saying they saw the cafe on fire. We tried to contain ourselves, but we couldn’t stop thinking about what could happen to our business.
When it was safe to go back, we went back up. Nothing remained. We were stunned.
Café de Leche was destroyed in the Palisades fire. Photo courtesy of Matt and Anya Schodorf
We understand that our business is just one thing, but we put a lot of love into it and it makes up the majority of our livelihood.
We are a small, mom and pop run business; we have no investors or franchisees. We put everything into the business and every decorative item was lovingly selected and curated.
We’re trying to find roles for the six permanent employees within our other locations, but in the meantime, we’ve set up a GoFundMe page to help them.
Our goal was to get $10,000 for our employees and it was amazingly fully funded within the first 24 hours. At this point, over $20,000 has been raised. The support has been beyond anything we could have ever imagined and we are grateful beyond measure.
Most employees live within 20 minutes of the cafe, if not directly in Altadena or Pasadena. Many of them had to be evacuated, some lost their homes and all have been severely affected by this tragic event. We hope these funds help bring them some comfort.
We hope to rebuild and come back stronger
People have special places that they feel connected to, and this place was that for many members of our community.
We hope the insurance companies are true to their word and cover our losses and the government stops our mortgage payments. How can we pay a mortgage on land that no longer has a business? These are just some of the things we are concerned about.
Once those who have lost their homes are dealt with, we would like to see some resources available to small businesses to help us.
Our hearts go out to those who lost their homes. We are very aware of the people who lost more than us and want to send them love and support.