Canyon Coffee is the office of LA’s self-employed
Introducing “The Workplace,” a series exploring the places we work
Business Casual is, officially, “a newsletter for people starting and building their careers,” but unofficially, it’s a newsletter about work: finding work, the workers, work lunch, and — as of today — the workplace.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused an irreversible shift in where we work: whether we like it (usually, as workers, we do) or not (usually, as bosses, we don’t), people just aren’t going into the office as much anymore; today, five day in-office mandates are not just an anomaly, but an HR liability. So, if not the office, where are we working? And does where we work affect how (and how much) we work? Do certain types of places draw certain types of workers?
These are the questions I’ll get to the bottom of in The Workplace, a new series exploring where we work outside of the office. And I can think of no better place to start than Canyon Coffee.
Canyon Coffee is “an oasis for stars, those who want to be close to stars, those who want to be stars.”
If Echo Park was a village, Canyon Coffee would be the café at the center of its village square. Really, all traffic-congested streets on the east side of Los Angeles lead to Canyon. For those unfamiliar, let me begin by setting the scene:
Canyon is located on a corner of Echo Park Avenue with not just one entry door but two, leading to routine confusion about where the line to order begins and ends. It’s possible to comfortably find a seat before 10am, but arrive any later and prepare to compete with both people and dogs. I don’t drink coffee but hear from trusted critics that Canyon’s coffee is mostly average and often inconsistent. The toast, on the other hand, is admittedly special, burnished to the degree right before burned, and topped with avocado (basic), butter and peanut butter (indulgent), smoked salmon or tuna (overpriced).
But you don’t go to Canyon for the dogs, coffee, or food; you go for the people, and the free entertainment that is watching them. When you walk in, you experience the strange sensation that you’ve seen them all before, and soon, you realize that it’s probably because you have: on Instagram, as a TV show extra, or at the Silver Lake dog park. They wear clothes that could either be from The Row or the Los Feliz Goodwill.
On weekdays, many of these people come to Canyon with laptops, ostensibly to work despite the lack of WiFi and spotty cell service. I’ve always wondered what they’re working on, typing away at their MacBooks as other, chair-less customers tap their Plasticana gardening clogs in a not-so-discreet signal for them to get up. Are they social media managers, financial controllers, the ever-ambiguous creative director? Last week, I decided to find out.
The Workers at Canyon Coffee
Name: Ian
Job: Tech Recruiter
Company: Railway
What he’s working on:
Recruiting is trying to hire people. Right now, I’m trying to get someone to the final interview, so I’m essentially scheduling, talking with the founder of the company about when we can find time for this person to actually talk to him.
I like Canyon because it’s not far from where I live. I live across from the [Echo Park Lake] so it’s like three blocks away from me — not very far. It’s a combo of the fact that I know a lot of people, so it’s kind of sucked me in now, but it’s also a good place to focus on your work and the people-watching is very interesting. I’ve brought friends here from other neighborhoods and every time they’re like “What the fuck is this place? I don’t understand.” If you could find all the main characters of a movie and suck them all into one coffee shop, this is what it turns into.
Name: Soren
Job: Creative Director
Company: Self-employed
What he’s working on:
Right now, I’m working on a recap of last week. I’m working with an artist and we had two performances in Miami last weekend, so I’m working on that weekend’s recap to push that out this week. The artist’s name is Caldwell, he’s country pop, not too big, but he’s working on his debut album.
I like Canyon, it’s cute. I just took a scooter over.
Name: Stephanie
Job: Writer, Director, Teacher
Company: Self-employed
What she’s working on:
I’m writing a movie right now. It’s a rom-com.
Name: Allen
Job: Podcast Host and Creator
Company: Self-employed
What he’s working on:
Right now, I’m working on turning a TV pilot into a feature script, and I’m also working on an audio book for my podcast, Too Much Effing Perspective. We ask famous musicians and entertainers to tell us their “spinal tap moments” which is based on this movie where everything goes wrong.
Canyon is really far from me, but I really like it here. I like that they give free refills, I like the vibe here, it’s easy to work and write when there’s a lot of action, a lot of people. I can’t work where it’s quiet, I need noise to work. That’s why I come here.
Name: Mia
Job: Singer, Songwriter, Musician
Company: Self-employed
What she’s working on:
Right now, I’m reading a Cher memoir, and I’m doing that because I’m doing a lot of research on more old-school artists in that time when David Bowie and Cher were having a whole incredible career based on such authentic style and being. Sometimes, I also have meetings here with management or other creatives that I work with.
I’ve run into people at Canyon that remind me of something for work and we’re like “Oh wait, we should meet up and have a coffee.” Sometimes I run into a musician I know and we’ll be like, “Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in a while” and we get together and write a song. So I think that Canyon definitely is a hub where we find each other and network.
The people who work here are very nice. The vibe is very good, and I live close by so I can walk here which is really nice and rare for LA. Good coffee, I love the sandwiches. It’s just the right energy for me.
The Conclusion
In the absence of bosses, LA’s self-employed answer to the baristas of Canyon Coffee — a place where working comes second to people-watching, and non-corporate dreams are made.
Thanks for reading. Share with your friends and let me know where in LA I should visit next in the comments.