This couple's pop-up coffee shop started as a dream, now it helps share their passion for Chicano culture
It was love at first sight.
That’s how Sofía Fuentes describes what it felt like to look across the counter of a Colectivo Coffee in Bay View at the barista who would become her partner, Reneé Valdez.
Five years later, their love remains strong, much like the coffee they pour for others.
Valdez and Fuentes are owners of Ella’s Café, a pop-up coffee shop they created to share the passion they had for coffee, women and their Chicano culture.
Valdez always dreamed of opening her own coffee shop. After working in the industry for years, she fell in love with the passion and creativity that comes along with creating coffee.
A barista is often the first person someone talks to in the morning. The idea that someone can start their day with coffee excites Valdez. For her, it's an opportunity to make someone smile and make their day just a little better.
After dating for a few years, Valdez and Fuentes made that dream come true in 2021.
They created Ella's Café.
They partnered with Magia Coffee, a Latina- and veteran-owned coffee roaster that supplies the shop with coffee and bags. Magia Coffee sources its coffee beans directly from Mexico and the bags feature words that represent Chicano culture and images of strong, powerful Latina women.
“We look forward to working with other queer, women (and) BIPOC roasters in the future,” Fuentes said.
They hope to open an inclusive brick-and-mortar store, where the community can come together. But for now, they attend different events and monthly pop-ups.
“We wanted to have a space and drinks that represented our community and us because we have plenty of coffee shops, but we don't have coffee shops that represent who we are,” Fuentes said.
Power in the name
The word “Ella,” (pronounced eh-ya) means “her” in Spanish.
Fuentes said when she yells in excitement, the word slides off her tongue like a celebration, "Ey, ya!"
Fuentes and Valdez wanted the name to be a celebration of strong women.
“A lot of women don't get the credit for what they do in this world,” Fuentes said. “A lot of roasters and farmers are women. We’re both women, we’re both queer. We celebrate women (and) we’re putting women on the map: queer women, brown women, black women, indigenous women.”
Fuentes and Valdez were both born in Milwaukee and have ties to Mexico, where Fuentes' father and Valdez's grandparents were born, and Texas, where both their mothers are from.
However, they had different upbringings when it came to how their families saw the role of women.
”It was a very matriarchal family where everyone went to grandma. And if it wasn't grandma, then we went to mom,” Fuentes said. “It's always been a woman-ran family.”
Valdez, on the other hand, said her family involved a lot of male egos, especially with her more traditional grandparents who carried the men in her family above the women.
That's why Valdez feels like it was her calling to show how strong women can be.
For both, Ella's Café is a representation of empowered women.
Coffee for Everyone
The mission for Ella's Café is to create a safe and accessible space for everyone. Their goal is to provide a delicious, quality cup of coffee at a price that their community is comfortable paying.
"Traditionally, we make our coffee at home, or we'll get a quick fix from the gas station or a fast food spot for our coffee because maybe paying $7-$12 for a coffee doesn't make sense to us," Fuentes said.
They try their best to price their coffee in a way that makes it accessible to everyone, enough to cover vending fees.
"We're not rolling in dough, but that's not our goal," Fuentes said. "Our goal is to provide the best coffee to our community, to bring our culture, to bring coffee and bring people together. It's building a foundation and building something that will be here for a long time."
Where the magic happens
Fuentes and Valdez see coffee as a ritual, something they see as power and a chance to connect with their ancestors.
The smell Fuentes associates with both of her grandmothers is coffee.
"It's just something that, whether we want it to be or not, kind of becomes a ritual," Fuentes said. "It's something that we incorporate into life. We put it on our altares (altars), we drink it with our ancestors every morning and I think it's important for us to keep those connections and to recognize that coffee is pretty powerful. It's a little magic potion."
While Valdez brews the coffee and mixes the coffee, Fuentes takes charge of the spiritual side of the business and reads tarot cards for customers.
"Together it turns out to be a little magical queer café," Fuentes said.
Jessica Rodriguez is a Report for America corps reporter who focuses on news of value to underserved communities for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at JSOnline.com/RFA.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee couple serves up culture by the cup at their pop-up cafe.
