Each week during February, the Los Angeles Chargers' Takeout Tuesday series will highlight the Black history and culture of four unique Los Angeles neighborhoods through the lens of the restaurants, highlighting how food can bring people and communities together.
This week, it's Sip & Sonder in Inglewood.
Sip & Sonder
The first specialty coffee house in Inglewood was founded in 2017 by Amanda Jane-Thomas and Shanita Nicholas – two friends who met while practicing law at the same firm.
According to its website, "Sip & Sonder is the premier destination for creatives, entrepreneurs, freelancers, curators, and everyone in between to simply exist, grab a cup of coffee, connect, create, and put sonder into action."
Their tagline: "For the Community. For the Culture."
"At Sip & Sonder, our main product is coffee," Jane-Thomas said. "We love coffee. We pride ourselves on our coffee. But we really see our coffee as a conduit for folks to really come and connect."
When Jane-Thomas and Nicholas were forced to temporality close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it prompted a pair of questions: "What now? What do we do?"
In response, the co-founders found inspiration from their tagline by launching the "Brewing for Good with Sip & Sonder" campaign. Each Friday, they deliver hot coffee and pastries to frontline workers on the COVID-19 floor at Centinela Hospital.
"It feels like a small thing to do, but it goes a long way," Nicholas said. "I love the drop-off mornings because it's our 'thank you.'"
Jane-Thomas originally became an attorney because she said she believes it to be "an empowered profession." There are parallels in her newest career.
"Sip & Sonder is doing exactly that," she said. "It's an empowered profession and that's how we look at it. It's a privilege to be able to be in the community and help empower it in any way that we can."
Nicholas pointed to the vibrancy and diversity of Inglewood, as well as the multi-generational makeup of the long-established neighborhood. She added how grateful the duo is to be able to grow Sip & Sonder "not for a community, but with a community."
"It feels like family," she said. "Inglewood feels like family."
Sip & Sonder, the first specialty coffee house in Inglewood, was founded in 2017 by Amanda Jane-Thomas and Shanita Nicholas – two friends who met while practicing law at the same firm.
Address:
108 S Market St
Inglewood, CA 90301
Hours: Outdoor seating available
Monday - Friday: 8 AM - 2 PM
Saturday: 10:30 AM - 2 PM
Sunday: 10:30 AM - 2 PM
Website: https://www.sipandsonder.com/
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