ACP 061: Solo Espresso in New Orleans, the House Cafe

In August 2005 I flew into NOLA, on the flight from Seattle we could see the massive glowing storm in the Golf of Mexico. On one side of the clouds the sunset was painting it a gorgeous orange, but it was a thick cloud that quickly turned black and opaque. Looking out from the small airplane window I watched the cloud burst into electric blueish-purple as lightning strobe’d like a warning light. A fore-shadow and forecast of what was going to happen. Also a reflection of the very people who live in New Orleans. Fierce, strong, on one hand a guarded people that take care of themselves, and on the other hand very expressive of who they are through the arts (arts not just in galleries but also sculpted on top their buildings, painted on their bodies, heard in their voices as they sing on the streets, art they carry - worn deep into the wrinkles on their faces)
    Ten years after visiting NOLA and flying out the Monday before Hurricane Katrina, I came back. And this is where I found Lauren the owner of Solo Espresso. This is her story.

SOLO ESPRESSO [Lauren Morlock, 1301 Poland Ave]
    Interview with bits of second track “memories” to break up interview

OUTRO:
For all the photos, including tattoos, barn doors, and the water line of where Katrina rested inside the cafe/house, visit AudioCafePodcast.com/61
See you next year?


TIME 2:00
Start interview with Lauren from Solo Espresso
Short Intro, bathtub in the bathroom in the back. Start simply.

TIME 3:40
One step at a time, slow build / slow start as a pop-up. Follow opportunities as they come.

TIME 4:15
Good point, contact these machines and see if there's a machine in the area around you, they may not be online on a website like Craigslist. Also, some owners contact the manufacturer to sell the machine rather than ever posting online.

TIME 6:00
Bike or skate the coffee, so New Orleans and authentic. Don’t forget to tell all your friends, make sure you invite them out or they will put it off.

TIME 7:15
Slow start, but it can build form there and get legit. Also gives you time to discover what and how you really want to do this.

TIME 7:30
Do things as you can afford to do them. What would it feel like to have a cafe and no debts? When I bought my coffee stand I felt I needed a certain machine and went into debt for it, I regretted that.

TIME 7:45
First question, before starting a cafe, have you worked in a cafe before? Working in a cafe is a great piece of homework before buying a cafe. Lauren worked in coffee for 18 years before opening her shop. She worked at Starbucks in 2000, back when Starbucks did cuppings and was investing heavily in their baristas. She took advantage of getting training from different companies. After 15 years of working in a cafe you can pick up so many things about the cafe you want to own. Then, the next step IS finally opening a shop.

TIME 10:40
Why was opening your basement to all of NOLa the logical next step?

TIME 14:00
NOLA local tells his story of leaving New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. That he couldn’t swim, that his sister saved him.

TIME 14:50
Here is an attitude here, a polished and tough/raw aesthetic here. Dark stained room but not a dark space. Minimalist, but not empty. Its special. “I think it’s special because its my spot. Everything literally has a story.”

TIME 16:00
Shop-dog. Shanobie? Hamming people up for the pets.

TIME 17:00
Same NOLA man, James Pierce, shares about his mom, dead for over 10 years and he still misses her. She lived to 84, switching from 3 cups of coffee a day to decaf, 10 kids, a bunch of grand kids.

TIME 19:00
Flyer-ed the city when they started their cafe, that’s how they found the woodworkers/builders/carpenters that led the build-out for the cafe. Hint: you know you have a cool cafe when people want to help build-out your space and turn into friends.

TIME 21:30
“I woke up like 3 4 in the morning and didn’t have shoes…”

TIME 22:10
Getting the cash to start, a little bit of borrowing cash to put in the electrical/equipment/etc. Started with $10k. “Don’t you want a bigger space? This is only 450 square feet.” “With internet, we are so small and I feel that this shop is so intimate I’ve seen so many awesome things happen by not having internet. Conversations being made and people being introduced.” All the customers are accessible. “If someone wants to steal internet or bring their own, I’m totally fine with that.” “I have worked in a lot of cafes where someone has sit there for an entire day and game, or download from Napster, or porn” interesting balance when it is your actual house.

TIME 26:30
Security for small shops, cool customers who live close, pad-locked room between cafe and house, give the robber whatever they want because a cafe can re-coop money but not a cool barista or life, give them what they want and get them out of here, sometimes you have to watch little kids that come in and are super cute, we have a dog here just hanging out for security.

TIME 29:35
Jean-Baptiste Ulrick the taxi driver teaching me how to speak New Orleanian “You gotta eat them T’s”
 
TIME 30:10
For the neighborhood cafe, its almost rude not to come in to the neighborhood cafe, its a great place for the neighbors to meet each other. The power of thought, not being naive but don’t manifest bad things like a robbery, we have wasp spray and smart employees. “Don’t try to fool with us”

TIME 34:30
“Tomorrow we’re having Indian food and you invited me back, but it wasn’t come back to the shop, it was an invitation to come back to the neighborhood and a welcoming hand to the community. It was very cool and powerful because that was a moment that will never happen again in any other shop, its a moment that exists just here.” It creates great word of mouth and for advertising, leveraging their followers. “We do a food pop-up every Saturday” “Its nice to have an established food pop-up” create a demand for variety of food offerings. Started offering pop-ups to cross-promote with other vendors in the area. Also, microwaves are the devil. “I used to live at my shop too”

TIME 38:30
Tell us about the name Solo Espresso, it seems more like a name, because you’ve been using the phrase “When we started solo” which could just be a phrase, or mean more… names can change over time.
“We started as Dark Times Coffee” as a reference to the voodoo and other darkness that we celebrate here in New Orleans. People in New Orleans have all gone through so much darkness… because it can be a really heavy city to live in, among all the brightness.” The inspiration came from a trip to Peru, and an epiphany to only serve coffee (no flavored syrups, food, or blended drinks). We originally started with just espresso, then there was an expanding demand for other drip coffee and pour overs, then growlers for cold brew.