WHO WE ARE

We are Laurie Winston and Rich Latronica, Atwater Village residents who love to ride our bikes to places with tasty food and drinks, fun and interesting people, and beautiful sights and sounds.  This is our labor of love, our commitment to our ideals and ideas, and our attempt at creating something new and amazing in this city we all call home, the city that has everything.  Except it doesn't have this. 

A little more about us

Laurie

laurie@spokebicyclecafe.com

I enjoy traveling, learning new skills, walking and biking around Los Angeles, and making/eating delicious food.  I come from a family of restaurant owners, caterers, and bakers, and have worked in the food service or hospitality industry for most of my life.  I specialize in vegetarian food and love menu planning.  This is my first restaurant venture on my own. My educational background is in Environmental Education as well as Environmental Policy and Planning and am currently pursuing a new interest in Psychology.  Sustainability and working with our local environment are important aspects in the development of this project for me.  I like gardening, my dogs, hiking, yoga, dancing, and listening to live music. I love exploring new places and believe you can't really get to know a place until you experience it on foot, by bike, or at a slower pace than an automobile.  I love meeting new people and am excited to have the opportunity to help create this awesome space for you all.  I prefer light roast Aeropress coffee and almond cappuccinos.  I'm a newly trained bicycle mechanic and teaching other women to become more self-sufficient with their bikes is a passion of mine.  I'm currently riding a flat bar commuter hybrid, an older model Specialized Sirrus Comp.

Rich

rich@spokebicyclecafe.com

I am a coffee geek who loves new technology. My education is in Information Systems Technology.  I currently roast my own beans on a Hot Top and explore new and different roasting techniques all the time.  I plan on taking my roasting to a larger scale as Spoke progresses.  I am on a constant quest for innovation and efficiency and.  I love finding new products and methods of doing things and introducing them to people.  I'm an information junkie.  My drink of choice is the deceptively simple Americano.  I like playing, listening to, and producing music, taking photos, and brewing beer.  I plan to eventually serve my own beer at Spoke, which will be brewed onsite in an open location where people can really see how the process works. Sourcing local, well-made products and ingredients is very important to me.  I enjoy fixing things and solving complicated problems.  I spend a lot of time walking and biking in LA.  Inattentive drivers are my foes.  I'm currently rocking a Trek 7.2FX and am mainly a commuter. 

Our Mission:

We believe in quality work and quality products made by local people.  We strive to keep improving the community and involving locals in our plans.  We will build an inclusive place where people feel welcome and comfortable.  We are designing a beautiful space that enhances the natural environment.  We will support and include other local businesses as much as possible.  We enjoy producing and serving creative, tasty beverages.  We source delicious food that tastes as good as it is good for you.  We love bicycling, encouraging people to travel by bicycle, and helping people learn about and improve their bikes.  We create new concepts, innovative ideas, and adapt to the changing world.

What is Spoke Bicycle Cafe?

Located in Elysian Valley/Frogtown at the end of a dead end street in an industrial and residential area, we share a large border with the LA River bike and pedestrian path.  There are very few convenient services for the neighborhood and we would like to provide both neighborhood residents and path users with food and drinks. a gathering space, bicycle repair services and rentals, as well as music and art events. 

We want to create a place that people are proud to have in their neighborhood and a place people are excited to come visit.  We want more people to discover the river.  There aren't very many places for the people of LA to go so close to home where they can forget about the traffic, the hustle and bustle, and chaos of everyday life. The river is one of these places. We don't hear traffic here. We hear birds, see wildlife, see native river plants. We don't have to hurry here. We want to help people experience this valuable and life-enriching area.

We are following the principles behind the adaptive reuse building philosophy, where we are using what we have, but making it better. We are renovating existing buildings, not tearing them down and putting in something that clashes with the look and culture of the area. We have chosen to work with the industrial/nature dichotomy of the site and will enhance the area, not detract from it.

The bike shop is open now.  We repair bikes, sell accessories, and recently began renting bicycles as well.  We are improving the bike shop every week, so come in and see what we've added lately.  We have a shaded area with free water, restrooms, and great company for people to relax on hot days.  We currently sell a variety of healthy snacks and cold drinks, along with T shirts and an ever changing selection of our famous five dollar records.  We have live music on the weekends and have events like tie dye parties, art shows, and bicycle repair clinics.  We will continue all of this as we expand and  continue to promote non-motorized forms of transportation.