- Matt and Anya Schodorf are cofounders 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 affected employees.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matt and Anya Schodorf, owners and cofounders of Café de Leche, a coffee roasting café and small business in Los Angeles. It has been edited for length and clarity.
My wife, Anya, and I had four locations of Café de Leche around the Los Angeles area, but our Altadena location — our most popular and busiest one — burned down in the Palisades fire. Most of our livelihood comes from that location, which we developed into a thriving business over the past nine years.
To us, the café was more than just a building. It was a spot where the community gathered, where customers held celebrations for momentous occasions, from wedding receptions to baby showers, and where some of our employees, who later started relationships, first met.
Right now, we’re mourning the loss of all these intangible things, like the sense of community connected to that space, and worrying about what will happen next.
That location had six permanent employees, and we also worry about their ability to provide for their families.
We’re still stunned at how this all happened so fast
We’ve had windstorms in Altadena before. We went there at 9:30 p.m. to batten down the hatches — put away outdoor umbrellas and check if furniture had blown over. We watered down the patio in case ashes or embers came in and disposed of a downed Christmas tree leftover from the holidays. We walked around; it was so peaceful. Then, we sat in the office for a minute to pray.
We got our mail and locked the door, giving one last look at our business before we got in the car. Although we saw the fire on the foothills near east Altadena, we never expected the winds to blow the fires so close to our business, let alone for it to catch fire. We didn’t think to take anything from the shop.
We woke up scared the next morning and tried to check on our business
We drove up at 6:30 a.m. along West Altadena, thinking it would be the safest route. Everywhere we looked, houses were burning down, and businesses were on fire. We couldn’t see through the pitch-black smoke, so we turned around. It was getting unsafe.
Later, our daughter discovered online that the fire station half a block from the café had caught on fire. When we heard that, we knew things wouldn’t be good. Then, someone commented on one of our Instagram posts saying they saw the café on fire. We tried to occupy ourselves, but we couldn’t stop thinking about what might be happening to our business.
When it was safe to return, we went back up. Nothing was left. We were stunned.
We realize our business is just a thing, but we put a lot of love into it, and it makes up the bulk of our livelihoods
We are a small, mom-and-pop-run business; we don’t have investors or a franchise. We put everything into the business, and each décor item was chosen and curated with love.
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 ever imagined, and we are grateful beyond measure.
Most employees live within 20 minutes of the café, if not directly in Altadena or Pasadena. Many had to evacuate, some lost their homes, and all have been impacted severely by this tragic event. We hope that these funds help bring them some comfort.
We hope to rebuild and come back stronger
People have special places they feel connected to, and this spot was that for many members of our community.
We hope the insurance companies will be true to their word and cover our losses, and the government will pause payments on our mortgage. How can we pay a mortgage on land that no longer has a business on it? These are just some of the things we are worrying about.
After those who’ve lost their homes are taken care of, we’d 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 cognizant of people who lost more than we did, and we want to send love and support to them.
