Category: Small Business

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For December 2022, we are highlighting Milkfarm and it’s brand new sibling store on Eagle Rock Boulevard, Parchment Paper.

Below is an interview with owner, Leah Park Fierro, and Milkfarm’s general manager, Alyssa Trulson:


What is the story behind Milkfarm? What made Leah want to open a cheese shop in Eagle Rock?

Alyssa: Leah started her career as a pastry chef. After years of baking and working in kitchens, she decided to quit her job, sell everything she owned, and travel the world for a year. During her travels, she visited many European cheese shops (and ate a LOT of cheesy goodies, of course!). Leah returned to LA, and after googling “cheese shops near me”, she found her way to the Cheese Store of Silverlake. One year turned into six; during those six years, Leah dove headfirst into all things cheese, wine, & business. She’d always wanted to own her own business, and a cheese shop seemed like the most natural and exciting avenue! We at Milkfarm focus on American artisanal cheeses and locally made goods (only products that are meant to go with cheese), which is all part of the original vision. Leah wanted to create a neighborhood shop within a smaller community, which led her to Eagle Rock!


How did you come up with the concept of Parchment Paper after Milkfarm? Had you always planned to branch out and do something different?

Leah: Parchment Paper is a concept that we’ve been talking about at Milkfarm for quite some time. A place where you can buy 100% culinary-inspired greeting cards, trinkets, washi tape, kitchen wares, homegoods, and sundries. At Milkfarm, we started with a little cheese-centric greeting card shelf and it slowly morphed over to an entire table full of salami bandanas, cheese plates with mice on them, and a wonderful collaboration with Mister Parmesan to make custom caps and totes with words like “Gouda”, “Ham”, and “Butter”. Over the past 8 years, we’d constantly joke by saying “When we open Parchment Paper, this is going inside…”

Here we are today, finally open!

Parchment Paper is sure to be a invaluable source for holiday shopping and gift wrapping. What are some of your Milkfarm favorites for holiday gatherings and gifts?

Alyssa: Oh man, where do I begin?! We have so many gift-able items here. I think our Boska Fondue Pots make an excellent gift (plus a few hunks of cheese, of course), as they’re perfect for entertaining or for a solo night in. We have a foolproof recipe here at the shop, so be sure to ask us! As for entertaining, we are cheese board building machines these days. We can typically customize a cheese board to your and your guests’ preferences (except for our specific holiday boards). We ask for 24 hour notice for board orders, which gives us ample time to make it beautiful and flawless (we’re perfectionists over here!).


The pandemic has been so tough for local businesses and yet you have not only kept Milkfarm going but also found time and energy to open Parchment Paper. What is your secret?

Leah: The secret is a strong team of dedicated Cheesemongers who believe in the products and the service we offer. There’s no way Milkfarm would have survived without my core crew who have been with me 2-8 years. The pandemic was extremely hard and stressful for my team mentally, physically and emotionally. We would work 10+ hour days, then jump in our cars and deliver phone orders all around town. Alyssa’s watch clocked us at walking 10 miles in the shop, running between the phone, behind the counter, and out to cars for curbside delivery. We washed our hands SO MUCH, that the water damage around our hand sink literally took the hinges of our cabinet door right off! The 1st year of the pandemic was the hardest I (personally) have ever worked in my life, but failing was not an option. I’m extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish and grateful for the team who stuck it out in order for us to be here today. I feel like Milkfarm is stronger and more organized than ever for surviving these past couple of years.

As far as the time and energy to open Parchment Paper? I’m writing this at 11pm on a Sunday night. My days are 20 hours long and I’m surviving on caffeine. HA! Again, the only reason I am able to open Parchment Paper is because my SUPER DUPER AMAZING TEAM is running Milkfarm. The transition and implementation for me to step away from Milkfarm took about a year, but we are here now and I’m thrilled to open another business in the neighborhood that I live in.

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For October 2022, we are highlighting Feverfew, a relatively new Low-Toxic and community-centered hair salon located in a brightly colored building across the street from Eagle Rock Plaza. Owners Lauren and Danny Chaidez are lifelong Southern California residents who met while each were in bands that played shows in former NELA venues, including Mr. T’s Bowl and All Star Lanes.

Below is an interview with Feverfew co-owner, Danny Chaidez:


What is the story behind Feverfew and what made you want to open a hair salon in Eagle Rock?

We ran a pretty successful salon, Stag Hair Parlor, on Melrose Ave for 10 years. We have been long time residents of NELA and during the shifts of 2020 we just couldn’t see ourselves commuting across town any longer. We wanted to be a part of the community we live in. We found our location and decided we would do the rebrand we had been planning for years and take a big risk and start fresh. Feverfew is a flower but it also has some wonderful medicinal properties and can be used to treat migraine headaches and infertility, two things Lauren had struggled with for years. Shortly after opening the salon and closing our first location we were able to conceive our first child.

What do you like best about doing hair?

Human connection. The energy and conversation you have with another person can’t be replaced with technology. Our clients are like family. It’s such an honor to share space with them. Hair is such an incredible medium. Its wearable art. It’s personal.

Could you talk a little about your community giving program and why that is a part of your business?

We are very aware of the backlash communities can have towards new businesses opening and changing the neighborhood. It’s important to us as locals that our community feels we are necessary and want to support our small business and watch us grow. Giving back to local organizations has allowed us to connect with our neighbors on a new level. We feel you have to give to receive and decided it would be a mandatory quarterly contribution moving forward. We also feel that people do like to vote with their dollars and we’d like them to know that aside from keeping our low toxic salon open, they are also helping to donate to causes in need. Our hope its that the community can feel great about who we are and the overall culture of our business.

What is the most memorable haircut that you’ve given?

Lauren has been a hairstylist for nearly 2 decades- that’s a lot of hair! The most recent memorable cut was the first cut she did at Feverfew in late September 2020 for a long time client who was pregnant with her first child. Lauren wanted to make sure she got a big cut before the baby was born and brought in the client before the salon was finished. That motherly energy must have lingered cause exactly one year later Lauren was very pregnant. Our son is just one year and a couple days younger than this client’s son.

 

🦅 🌼 ✂️

Feverfew
2775 W Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90041
www.feverfewhair.com
Tues: 9am-6pm
Thur: 10am-8pm
Fri – Sat: 10am-6pm

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For July 2022, we are spotlighting the dual Colorado Boulevard restaurants of Michelle and Corey Wilton, Four Cafe & Penny Oven. The two restaurants serve as an anchor for Downtown Eagle Rock and a beacon for delicious, healthy food within Northeast Los Angeles.

Below is an interview with chef and co-owner, Michelle Wilton:


What is the story behind Four Cafe and what brought you to Eagle Rock?

Four Cafe was created as a passion from cooking from my garden. We live in the area and always craved a salad and soup after a long hike and had hard a time time finding anything like that in the area at the time we opened. Let alone somewhere that focused on local and seasonal produce


How did you come up with the concept for Penny Oven after Four Cafe? Had you always planned to branch out and do something different?

My background is pastry. I’ve always dreamed of having a place that emphasized baked goods. I then got enamored with making bread with sourdough starter and thus incorporating this into Penny Oven’s opening concept. We didn’t know we would want another restaurant after Four Cafe, but when the option presented itself, we thought the area needed a good bakery and breakfast place. Breakfast is also my favorite meal to cook!


How do you feel Four Cafe and Penny Oven fit into the Eagle Rock community, both in terms of what the neighborhood wants and needs?

I feel as though both places really fit into the community because they are both family friendly and casual but offer high quality food. Everything at both places are made from scratch, we don’t have a microwave and sustainability is important to us. I think the Eagle Rock community appreciates this about both places.


What is your favorite dish at each restaurant?

My favorite dish from Four Cafe is the red curry kabocha squash soup. It’s my late mother’s recipe and it makes me so happy to share it with the community. From Penny Oven that’s a hard one but I would have to say the Shakshuka which is prepared in our wood fire oven and served with our fresh organic sourdough bread.


The pandemic has caused so much strain on local restaurants. How have you managed thus far and what are you optimistic about for the future?

It’s definitely been tricky to weather this storm. I think pivoting early in the pandemic into offering groceries really saved both places. We have such an amazing team working with us, it really made me proud of everyone to jump in and completely pivot into new job titles just to keep the restaurant to survive. I am optimistic that shall another curve ball be thrown at us, we have a solid foundation in our team we will be able to take it on!

🦅 🥞 🥗 🥪 🥣

^{Above: Florence of READ Books looks for reaction to a book recommendation}

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For June, we are spotlighting READ Books, Eagle Rock’s charming local bookshop, which hosts a wonderful range of reasonably priced used books.

Below is an interview with co-owner, Jeremy Kaplan:


What is the story behind READ Books?

Jeremy Kaplan and Debbie Schiffiler met in 1994 at Book Soup in West Hollywood, where they were both employed as glorified booksellers. They got married. Jeremy became a school teacher. Debbie became a librarian. After a decade of this nonsense, with the additional responsibility of two sons (Donald & Steven), the couple made a pact to never again hold another job. Bosses are bad news. February of 2007, using the book collection we’d been accumulating over a lifetime, we opened READ Books on Eagle Rock Boulevard. We were joined in 2012 by Florence, a dog, who fills multiple roles (greeter, security, belly scratchee, and Queen of Social Media).


What is one of your favorite books to handsell (the bookshop art of thoughtful recommendation) to customers?

Two categories:
1. Important works that shape world views:
    – If This Is A Man by Primo Levi
    – Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
    – The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
    – Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
2. Neglected titles/authors
    – Fat City by Leonard Gardner
    – Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
    – Housekeeping by Marilyne Robinson
    – Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner


What kind of customer question or recommendation request makes you really excited?

It’s great whenever a person who loves literature engages us in conversation, be it about a book they found in the store, or one they read and wanted to tell us about. Makes me feel like a bartender interacting with interesting, articulate drunks. Even better when the metaphorical drunk is a little kid or an almost adult. Gotta get ‘um hooked on lit while they’re young!


What are your favorite books set in/about Eagle Rock or Los Angeles?

For a historical perspective of Los Angeles, the best book is Carey McWilliams’ Southern California: An Island on the Land.

The best L.A. fiction book, we believe, is Nathaniel West’s Day of the Locust. Interestingly, one of the scenes in the movie adaptation was shot in an Eagle Rock garage.

We’ve encountered very few books that are based in Eagle Rock. For historical purposes, you’ve got Eric Warren’s Pioneers of Eagle Rock. Local author P.R. August wrote an entertaining novel called Eagle Rock Heat, featuring a brief cameo by our very own Florence, a dog. [pictured above]
 

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READ Books
4972 N Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041
@readbookseaglerock / (323) 259-9068
Monday-Thursday 11am-6pm
Friday-Saturday 11am-7pm
Sunday 11am-5pm

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For May 2022, we are spotlighting Rock Dog & Cat, Eagle Rock’s favorite pet food and supply store.

Below is an interview with Rock Dog & Cat’s knowledgeable owner and champion for pet well-being, Peter Berman:

What is the story behind Rock Dog & Cat?

We are in our 11th year of business and have appreciate all the friendships and relationships we have made. I also appreciate all the support and trust from our customers. Prior to opening Rock Dog and Cat we operated a pet sitting and dog walking business for over a decade that serviced the Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Pasadena, Glendale and surrounding areas, My wife is also a dog behaviorist. Our kids were attending Eagle Rock Elementary at the time and we felt there was a void/need/opportunity for a family run independent pet food and supply store. I would drive by our current location when I was taking the kids to school each day and eventually saw a ‘For Lease” sign on the property.


The pandemic has had an enormous impact on retail businesses. How have you weathered the storm thus far and what differences are you seeing in what customers are looking for from Rock Dog & Cat?

Our customers were there for us and supportive pre-pandemic, so I felt a responsibility to be there and offer the same support during the pandemic. Especially the very early days. People were scared and unsure and wanted to be sure they could care for their pets. In the very early days I tried to adapt with offering free deliveries and a system that made phone orders and curbside pick up as easy as possible. I made a lot of deliveries. Basically, we have a system in place and we have had to adapt and change in order to best serve the needs of our customers. I think that is what our customers would have hoped we could do and I feel like we have done that. The biggest change is that people used to come in to browse and chat and hang out (often with their dogs) but social distancing etc. had made things a little more transactional. I try to practice empathy and respect as we all navigate things.


What are some of your favorite pet toys or treats that customers should look out for?

Everyone’s needs are so different. That is one of the things that is exciting about being at the store every day. Finding out what people need or are having difficulty with and helping them solve the problem. The problem might be about food, allergies, behavioral issues or financial constraints. The goal is to figure out how we can help with the customer’s concern. That being said, our dog customers have been loving these bacon flavored dog treats called Gibsons by Wild Meadow Farms, as well as a dental treat and/or supplement that helps with bad breath, plaque and tartar called Plaque Off. Our cat customers have been digging this cat scratcher that has scratch pads on the bottom and all four sides called The Scratch Lounge and one of the most popular cat toys is this toy on a wire called The Cat Dancer.


What do you like most about being in Eagle Rock?

The People. The great friendships and relationships we have made. The potential for even greater things to come.
 

🪨 🐶 🐱
Rock Dog & Cat
1916 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041
rockdogandcat.com / (323) 258-7625
Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm
Sunday 10am-4pm

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For April, we are spotlighting The Fable, one of Eagle Rock’s most tenured and vibrant bars.

Below is an interview with Thom Sigsby, The Fable’s dynamic co-owner:

What is the story behind The Fable?

My former employer, Artisanal Brewers Collective, purchased The Black Boar in early 2018 and I ran both that and Mohawk Bend’s bar for them. My wife, Monica, and I bought the bar in September 2019 had five and a half glorious months before Covid forced the entire industry to shutter. Monica, a graphic designer focused upon work in the hospitality industry, provides all of the visual aspects of the bar. She and I worked together to create a bar concept that is both comforting and familiar but also strives to inject some more energy into NELA and engage the community with lively programming.


What are some of your favorite breweries that The Fable regularly has on tap?

While not exclusively California-focused, we do love pouring brews from many of the outstanding and hyper-local breweries that we have here in LA County. Some faves include Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Ogopogo & Lawless. We’re also spoiled to be able to serve beers from Russian River Brewing Company and our friends up at Fremont in Seattle.


Obviously the pandemic has had an enormous impact on bars. What are some of the ways that The Fable has changed, and what are you excited for returning patrons to experience?

One HUGE way in which we have changed is that we now offer a large outdoor patio space. This not only provides a more comfortable place for people that are still Covid-wary but it also allows us to have more events and programming and broaden our offerings. We’ve also begun partnering with local food vendors such as Eagle Rock favorite Dave’s Chillin’ N’ Grillin’ and NELA newcomer River Street BBQ.


What events or activities at The Fable are you most looking forward to?

We have a new rotating event karaoke night on Mondays that includes activities such as Buzz Kill judge elimination and Battle of the Biz local business competition with Hi Ho Karaoke and then also Live Band Karaoke with Casual Encounters Karaoke. In April, we’re going to be starting both a Sunday night film series called Deeper Cuts and a music series called Good Folk @ The Fable on Tuesdays.

🦅 🍺 🍸
The Fable
1630 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041
thefable.la / (323) 508-5058
Open 5pm-2am 7 days a week
Happy Hour 5pm-7pm

TERA is spotlighting Eagle Rock small businesses to support our neighborhood’s recovery from the pandemic. For February 2022, we are spotlighting ROCK Coffee House , the beloved coffee shop and community center at the intersection of Yosemite and Townsend.

Below is an interview with ROCK’s inspiring co-owner, Stephen Kia:

What is the story behind ROCK Coffee House and ROCK Community Center?

ROCK is an acronym that stand for Reach Our Community Kids. We are a nonprofit that was started over 20 years ago as a faith-based collaboration of local churches who wanted to provide a teen center for at-risk youth. I currently serve as President & CEO of the nonprofit. Over the years our mission has broadened to be more inclusive, providing a safe space for the community as a whole. We continue to honor our faith-based roots while expanding our reach to embrace more than just youth. My partner Ricardo Cruz and I launched ROCK Coffee House together in its current form in January 2019, to help support the nonprofit. Ricardo’s family has coffee farms in Guatemala, so we bring the coffee in and roast it locally here in Highland Park with Matthew Schodorf at Cafe de Leche on York. In the long term, we have plans to use some of the proceeds from the coffee shop to fund clean water projects in West Africa, specifically in Nigeria where my family has ties. Our tagline is: “Jesus turned water into wine; we turn coffee into water.” 😊

What are some of the ways that ROCK serves the Eagle Rock community?

The primary way we serve the community is by providing our building as a safe space for people to gather, from the Eagle Rock Sk8 Chix to our AA and NA recovery groups, to our open mic nights and gaming nights and movie nights, to our dance and fitness classes, and now the community fridge and pantry. We even have a Girl Scout troop meeting in our space twice a month now.  We love creating an environment for the community to come together. We also partner with Occidental College on service projects throughout the community; with Parents, Educators/Teachers and Students in Action (PESA) to provide free tutoring services as well as juvenile diversion programs; and with Comprehensive Community Health Centers (CCHC) to provide low-cost health referral services.  

ROCK has been a valued partner in TERA’s Slow Yosemite initiative. What are some of your long term goals for ROCK?

We are super excited to partner with TERA on Slow Yosemite, to help make our intersection safer and more enjoyable for pedestrians! In the long term we want to see a People St. Plaza in place in front of the ROCK on Townsend Avenue, creating a whole new walkable experience that will really complement the community fridge on the Yosemite Drive side of our building. We’d like to install more outdoor seating and expand the existing green space, maybe create a regular calendar of events for live music, an art walk, even a mini farmers market of sorts. I can’t wait!

🪨 ☕
ROCK Coffee
4808 Townsend Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90041
therockcommunity.org / (323) 257-6102
Monday – Saturday: 7 AM – 9 PM
Sunday: 1 PM – 7 PM