COFFEE CART LOS ANGELES
ESPRESSO • TEA • TREATS
ON LOCATION • ON SET
PRODUCTION CATERING
SPECIAL EVENTS
SERVING ALL OF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
100% DONATION-BASED
#LIBERATEDCOFFEE
Direct all inquiries to info@cafablanca.com
Or send us details below and we will get in touch
WE ARE CAFABLANCA
Cafablanca got rolling in January 2020 to bring craft coffee and tea to special events and Film/TV sets
During the pandemic, we decided to operate as street vendors, serving 100% donation-based drinks and pastries outdoors to help keep our community safe.
It has been over 3 years and we have never charged anyone for a drink. Kindness fuels us. We fuel you.
We are inspired by the iconic style and anti-fascist sentiment of the classic American film, Casablanca
We believe that great stories and great art can change the world. Yes, even great latte art.
So how did we get here?
A COFFEE BUSINESS
BORN OUT OF GENEROSITY
CAMERON (V.O.)
It was the spring of 2018. I was living in Berkeley, slinging espresso shots in this Americana café that had just opened up on the nearby Oakland border. One day a customer brought his empty mug up to my counter.
HENRY
Hey there, I'm Henry. I gotta say, that was a great cappuccino.
CAMERON
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
HENRY
This is really random, but I'm trying to build this mobile espresso bar thingy...
CAMERON
Oh yeah?
Henry
Yeah, but the thing is, I need to film a short video--
CAMERON
I do film work.
HENRY
--you do??
CAMERON (V.O.)
It was an understatement. I was bored behind that coffee counter, daydreaming of spending my days on film sets, wondering if I would ever find out if my great-grandfather made a movie poster for Casablanca.
HENRY (CONT.)
Do you think, maybe, you could help me out?
CAMERON
Sure. Let's roll.
So, I flipped the OPEN SIGN CLOSED, polished the espresso bar, hit the lights, and helped this perfect stranger produce a short video for what was to become a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Henry used donations to transform an auto-rickshaw into the west coast's cutest mobile café
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship
Neither of us knew then that fate would hand the keys over to yours truly
Or that I would drive this buzzy yellow buggy down to Los Angeles
And call it Cafablanca
LOVE AND COFFEE
IN A TIME OF CRISIS
While towing a coffee cart, I was also following my heart, and the first thing I did when I got to LA was fall in love. Juan and I became instant family, and he has been my co-captain since jump -- Cafablanca's first and fiercest supporter. The two of us parked this little yellow baby in Hollywood at the most turbulent time possible: January 2020
As Juan and I were setting up one of Cafablanca's first ever pop-ups, Kobe Bryant, his daughter and several others were killed in a helicopter crash only a few miles away. Devastated by the news, we located a nearby Kobe mural and passed out free coffee to a stream of mourning fans. This impromptu gesture led Cafablanca to land her very first paid gig within her target market: serving craft coffee inside a production studio
It was a dream come true, but within weeks of our debut another tragedy forced us to slam on the breaks. COVID-19 changed our world overnight and ravaged our country's economy, healthcare system, and global standing. As for our catering plans? Those were kaput.
FINDING A NEW PURPOSE
Cafablanca had a lot of time to sit in the parking lot and think.
During the pandemic, the need for real change and real justice became a matter of life or death for everyone
Climate change is the clear and urgent humanitarian issue of our time, and there are 100 corporations responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That fact must be centered in every mitigation effort.
Long overdue is restoring the federal assault weapons ban and the nation-wide legalization of cannabis. Government should be about keeping people safe from harm, not harming people over things that are safe.
America was founded by immigrants, and children belong with their families. We advocate for the abolition of I.C.E. and the protection of Dreamers.
End the filibuster. Expand the Supreme Court. Do whatever it takes to restore women's rights and bodily autonomy in America. No one's free til everyone's free.
All forms of terrorism against innocent civilians are abhorrent and require our vigilance and condemnation. White supremacist domestic terrorism poses a disproportionate threat to American communities and to Democracy itself. Donald Trump must be prosecuted for inciting an insurrection against The United States.
We stand with the trans community. We stand with the Jewish community. We stand with people of Ukraine. We stand with the women of Iran. We stand with the people of Israel, and we stand with the people of Palestine, and we stand against all tyrannical and/or religiously extremist governments. Love, peace, and unity is stronger than hate, war, and division.
All lives cannot matter until Black lives matter. Dismantling systemic racism is the only way forward.
The problems of our little 3 wheel coffee cart don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
Cafablanca understands that so many of our common struggles stem directly from corporate greed.
We question how a new business in today's economy can contribute to an equitable future for all...