A line stretched out the door all Saturday morning, with guests peering out the front windows at trays of guava pastries cooling on racks.
Families, dates, babies and the occasional puppy filtered through the space, which reverberated off the corner of Sunset and Silver Lake boulevards with an excited hum. The grand reopening of the Cuban restaurant and community space Tropical Coffee was underway and at least one flavor of the iconic cupcakes sold out within the first two hours of opening.
“They crushed us in the best way possible,” Ed Cornell said.
Cornell and his friends Danny Khorunzhiy and Rene Navarrette helped revive the community gathering, which closed abruptly at the end of November due in part to a lawsuit, financing and a family dispute between previous owners after almost 50 years of activity. Not only did it serve as one of the last remaining Cuban-American restaurants in Los Angeles, but a safe haven for those in recoveryand its adjacent meeting room hosts countless sobriety support groups for many, including some of its new owners.
Co-owners of New Cafe Tropical behind the counter on reopening day, from left: Danny Khorunzhiy, Ed Cornell and Rene Navarrette.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
They reopened quietly with a soft launch last ThursdayHe then fully opened the doors to a crowd of guests over the weekend and resumed meetings on Monday night.
Nearby resident Katherine Tabor has been visiting the cafe for about 20 years and watched it endure multiple eras of Silver Lake, through the neighborhood's rise in popularity, higher cost of living and gentrification. Café Tropical, she noted, has remained “a pillar of the community” through it all.
On reopening day, she and her dog, Levi, sat at a table near the back of the restaurant. The space is cleaner and brighter, she said, and she hopes it will have those signs of use again, but otherwise it's the same. Possibly even better.
Katherine Tabor and her dog Levi visit Café Tropical. The Silver Lake resident has been dining at the cafe for two decades.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
She had opted for a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, which she said was even better than the last bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich she ordered there under the previous owner, as well as a guava pastry.
“It's part of my Saturday morning ritual and I was very disappointed to see it closed,” Tabor said. “It's very low-key, unpretentious and a neighborhood staple, so I'm really glad it's back.”
The new owners have spent the last few weeks quietly preparing the space, tweaking recipes; The Breakfast Sandwich and Jerk Chicken Sandwich are now served on Jamaican-style coconut bread with a golden crust. And although Cuban bread has the same base recipe, it is now seasoned slightly differently. A new rotating yeast donut, currently filled with a custard tinted with locally grown oranges, is offered alongside classic sweet and savory pastries.
“We definitely reset everything, but keeping in mind that a lot of people were going to be very attached to certain things,” Cornell said, adding, “Now we're in charge of something that's really important to a lot of people.” , and we only hope to live up to it [and] make people happy.”
Café Tropical's bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich is served with the café's new coconut bread.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Cornell, formerly of nearby restaurant Quarter Sheets, has been leading the food menu and hopes to add some items from the previous version of the cafe, such as whole guava pies. Eventually, he said, the restaurant could reopen for late-night service.
While Cornell and the team are reinventing some items, they're also using some iconic past recipes, largely thanks to the help of longtime employee Pascual Guachiac, who ran the previous pastry program.
In the back of the restaurant on reopening day, Guachiac applied a buttery wash to trays of flaky pastries fresh from the oven. He had long hoped to become a partner in the business and, in the new Café Tropical, he is now an investor. Other employees, some of whom were left unpaid After the sudden closure, they have also returned, including Miguel Contreras, who operated Café Tropical.
Toks Shoyoye has joined to help the newly reopened Café Tropical improve its coffee program.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
In the far corner of the entrance, Toks Shoyoye sat eating a Cuban.
The self-described “coffee nerd” is part of the new team and helps with the café con leche, Cortaditos and café con leche program. He buys his beans from Highland Park roaster Collage Coffee.
She's happy to see the mix of guests not only enjoying their coffees and pastries at the coffee shop, but also those hoping to visit the community space for sober gatherings, including several of her friends.
“I never used it, but I'm glad it's back,” Shoyoye said. “There is a lot of joy that he has returned; There is also a lot of relief.”
The Charmits, a family of Café Tropical fans, gathered for breakfast together on reopening day. From left to right: mother Cristina Charmit, daughter Larissa “Lala” Charmit and her son Kyle Charmit.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Kyle Charmit, who had attended meetings in the next room for seven years, drove from west Los Angeles the morning of the reopening. The café support group, he said, has always been one of the most welcoming and the meetings were held in a space that he always found comforting.
“When they closed we lost our meeting place and had to move the meeting,” he said. “But with the power of love, the power of AA and a group of people who tried to help, they were able to take this place back. So I definitely wanted to bring my supportive family and meet my friends, be together and just enjoy this Cuban-style cuisine.”
He sat next to his mother, Cristina, and his sister, Larissa; The Charmits are Brazilians and said this food reminds them of their own.
The whole family has been visiting Café Tropical for years. Larissa took Kyle to Café Tropical for the first time and he instantly fell in love with the mango smoothie, a product she hopes the new owners decide to bring back.
Sweet and savory pastries are back in stock.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Larissa used to live on the street from the cafe and visited it almost every day, joining her mother and friend as they ate cakes and sandwiches; Sometimes, she said, her mother told her not to come without guava and cheese pastries. .
That morning, his brother approached to tell him that he would be stopping by and ask if he would like to accompany him. It was the first time she heard that Café Tropical was going to reopen and, although she no longer lives on the same street, she jumped at the opportunity and said she could meet him there in half an hour.
The food, Larissa said, is as good as ever. Sitting together, their backs to the seafoam green cabin, everyone called the return “a triumph” and a kind of cycle of life.
“It's a win for all of us because I can come here and enjoy breakfast with my family,” Kyle Charmit said, “and [for] Me personally, be clean and sober. It's like closing the circle.”
Café Tropical is located at 2900 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
