Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Johnson.
Jenny, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our “little cafe that could” has been a tiny little miracle of grit and survival. Since its inception, it has gone through a few partnerships, the pandemic, ostensibly a saturated market share (there are five coffee shops in a 1.5 block radius and many, many more within a 1 mile radius), the great resignation, and many other challenges that should have taken us down. Yet, somehow, we keep chugging along. I think the willingness to flex with each challenge certainly helped us to stay nimble enough to keep it going, as well as keeping an open mind to new possibilities that can arise out of tough situations. But the most important element of our survival is our community. Our community rallied around us during the darkest days; when we wondered if we could open our doors the next day. They encouraged us to keep doing what we do, they supported us by coming in and stocking up on their favorites, and they told their friends and family about our little café on York Blvd. Seemingly, we were the underdog of the local café scene, no one had any expectations that we would survive. We were in the company of greats such as Café de Leche, Go Get’em Tiger, Civil Coffee and Kindness and Mischief.
There are a couple of things that set us apart from the other cafes including the cycling-inspired element. When you walk in, you will see bikes on the walls and the stand where they are being prepped for repair. We provide a lot of bike accessories and components. We are the starting and/or ending point of many community rides (at least we were before the pandemic). Once everything is back to a new normal, we will actively plan rides again.
We are a café, but we have transitioned into a small bakery as well. We make almost all of our food in house, from aioli, kimchee, chocolate chip cookies, sourdough boules, chicken noodle soup, etc. It’s actually a much shorter list of what we don’t make in-house, which are the croissants we use for our breakfast sandwiches and our chocolate and almond elfroy pastries. We offer a variety of breakfast and lunch options including sandwiches and salad, including vegan and gluten-free options. We’ve transitioned from just a specialty café to a place where you can get a homemade meal that reminds you of your childhood. We try to stay as close to the whole food as possible, so our selections are very recognizable.
We still have a ways to go with respect to our growth potential, however, we are just taking it one day at a time while planting seeds along the way…
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Our journey has been fraught with so many obstacles and challenges, some of them the usual challenges and obstacles of starting and operating any new business, but then some of the other challenges such as partnership changes, robberies, the pandemic, supply chain issues, I mean the list goes on and on. Any business who has managed to survive during these unprecedented times has my respect 1000%. Every morning I wake up wondering what the day is going to unfold and if we are going to be able to survive it.
As you know, we’re big fans of A Bloc Cafe + Bakery. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We offer amazing coffees roasted locally by several of our friends. We go through a pretty intense vetting process to ensure what we provide to our customers and friends is amazing.
We also spend a lot of time researching and developing menu items that must be considered “The Best” by our customers aka “Taste Buds”. It’s not a standard we set for ourselves, but rather, our Taste Buds set it for us. If they weren’t raving about our products, we knew we still had work to do to make it better. We listen to each customer’s feedback until we have something we are not only proud to serve but we eat all the time. And even then, we don’t settle, we are still looking for ways to make things taste better. There is always room for improvement.
Currently, our most popular items happen to be our vegan and gluten-free products. Our v/gf chocolate chip cookie is a favorite, even amongst non-vegans and gluten-lovers, as is our banana bread, mushroom jerky and of course our sourdough bread, which isn’t gluten-free, but it is vegan.
We are very aware of our customer’s food sensitivities and we work to ensure we don’t cross-contaminate. We are very transparent about our processes and our ingredients as it only takes one mistake that could put someone’s life in jeopardy.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think restaurants and cafes will need to change how they interact with their staff. It’s very expensive and time-consuming to advertise, hire and train people. Not to mention demoralizing to the existing team and owners when people walk off the job for a variety of reasons. We as an industry need to do a better job of treating our staff well, not just monetarily, but making them feel like they are truly part of a team and they are cared for. Finding creative ways to engage/vest your staff will be important, otherwise, you will be going to work most of your days with strangers.
People aren’t traveling as much to go out to explore new restaurants, so I think that it’s important to establish trust within your community because they are the ones who are going to determine if you survive or not.
I believe the pandemic was an eye-opener for many. We’ve all heard this theoretical concept that most of us were just one or two paychecks away from homelessness, but never assumed it could happen to us. After the pandemic, we saw a raw and real fear of people losing their homes as they or their loved ones lost their jobs. It was no longer a concept but a reality that was staring us, our families, our friends, and neighbors in the face. One really amazing thing that came out of all of the despair was an increase in community awareness and the desire to help those who are less fortunate. I hope that trend continues and that we come together as humans and really start to care for and look after all members of our society.
In the restaurant industry, I hope to see less food being thrown out and more food being donated to those who need it, even if it’s placing leftovers in a community pantry or dropping them off at an encampment.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.abloc.la
- Instagram: @abloc.la
