Roy Avellaneda

Roy Avellaneda, owner, Pan y Café–I thought I’m not building just a coffee shop like I did last time. This one’s going to have an idea behind it. My father’s place (Tito’s Bakery) wasn’t just a bakery.People went there for information, where to get a job, where to get an apartment.It was where you got your neighborhood news. There were stories there. That’s what I wanted to recreate on this end of the city. Along with that, there is this whole side of me that was a City Councilor, community activist. I was going to share the space with communities for whatever purposes they needed it for. I had all these ideas of what it could be. I wanted to intertwine everything that I’ve gone through, my coffee shop, business degree, my politics, my activism. And so what I created was a space where there was a coffee shop, yes, but the theme I wanted to create was a plaza, where people congregate.

Darlene Devita, Roy Avellaneda, 2022. Digital Photograph. ©Darlene Devita. All rights reserved.