This episode explores coffee through the lens of Leo and Elisa of Picaresca Barra de Café -- life partners and business partners who have built their cafés into deeply rooted community spaces in Los Angeles. Their approach to coffee is shaped not only by personal taste and thoughtful execution, but by an ongoing dialogue with the people they serve.

In this conversation, Leo and Elisa open up about the personal and professional challenges of building a values-driven business, navigating uncertainty, and operating in a city constantly affected by cultural, economic, and political shifts. Through it all, they share how community, intention, and resilience continue to guide their work, and how they keep rising above the moment while staying rooted in who they are.

https://www.instagram.com/picaresca.cafe/

In this episode, we sit down with Eddie Navarrete to peel back the layers behind one of Los Angeles’ most impactful forces in hospitality. Eddie shares his personal history in the city and how years of navigating its complex bureaucratic landscape gave him a rare, hard-earned understanding of what it truly takes to open restaurants, bars, and creative spaces in Los Angeles.

That lived experience ultimately pulled him beyond project-by-project work and into advocacy. We explore how those challenges led to the founding of the Independent Hospitality Coalition, a new platform through which Eddie is working to make meaningful change at both the local and state level. More than a conversation is about more than policy, it’s about protecting the people and places that give our cities their soul.

The Independent Hospitality Coalition (IHC)

https://www.instagram.com/ihclaorg/

Rompiendo Fronteras explores the stories of everyday people breaking boundaries across culture, art, and industry. The podcast is hosted by Alan and Alex Morales of Civil Coffee, featuring James Lontayao, artist and producer. The show is steeped in candid conversations around craft, identity, risk and the road towards meaningful pursuits in the likes of film, design, music and hospitality.

Each episode spotlights a boundary breaking Civilian discussing challenges, sacrifices, imparting wisdom, persistence and learnings through their breakthroughs. The podcast is recorded in the warmth Civil Coffee's, Highland Park cafe, around cups of Mexican coffee roasted in the city of Los Angeles.

https://civilcoffee.com/