Spotted at: Hayes Valley, SF
Occupation: Traveling Barista
What are you up to today?
Well, I'm new here. I'm two days in. So I'm thinking of going to apply at Blue Bottle in Oakland. And maybe just walk around Oakland. I'm here to do coffee in the Bay Area.
Coffee brought you to the Bay Area?
Yeah. I like to travel around and work in different coffee places. I just worked in Melbourne, which has fine quality espresso. It's probably the best espresso in the world. I'll go somewhere and work full-time, save up a lot of money, and then I go do that again somewhere else.
How long have you been doing that?
Two years.
How did you get started doing it?
It kind of just all fell together. I graduated university with a degree in French Literature, so I knew I wanted to immerse myself and learn new languages. I thought about how I could do that and fell into coffee after that. I eventually just figured out I could combine the two.
I'd like to pick up Portuguese at some point—Brazilian Portuguese at least. Because that's a big coffee exporter.
Where's your hometown?
West New York, it's a town that's a five-minute outside of Manhattan.
What other places have you traveled to since?
After I lived in Melbourne, I left in July and then I went traveling around Southeast Asia. I'm in love with Asia. I really want to go back. But yeah, I was in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Was that also for the coffee tour or for fun?
Both. You would be surprised at the good quality coffee in those places.
Who or what has been your latest inspiration?
Well languages and coffee have always inspired me. Personally, as a first-generation immigrant, my mother is also a huge inspiration. She's a civil war survivor from El Salvador and generally amazing. She's a hard worker, both of us are. It's that immigrant work ethic; we get ahead. She's humbling.
Have you gone to El Salvador to visit?
No, but we're planning a coffee tour, my mom and I. I recently took her to some tastings and she's gotten really into it. So we're going to go to the west. She hasn't been back in forever, so it's going to be really nice! It'll be my first time, and her first time back since she's been in America. And we're just gonna go into the coffee regions of El Salvador. El Salvador has beautiful coffee.
How would you describe your personal style?
It's actually changed a lot depending on where I live. When I moved to Melbourne, I hated how everyone was always wearing black. It's all so similar. So I feel like I've definitely picked up a lot of that in Melbourne, but I feel like I also gave it my twist. I lived in Brooklyn prior to that, for about a year —so it's definitely a mix of Melbourne, Brooklyn, and I think coming here it'll also change. But still remain quite intact.
Tell me about your clothes! Where did all these items come from? This dress is really interesting.
I actually had this made in Hội An. They have amazing tailoring in Vietnam, so it was really inexpensive—maybe $70 with the linen. It's good quality, it'll keep me warm. The shoes are Hội An as well. Custom made. Vietnam is amazing! I went there and got a wardrobe!
So how did you go about getting these custom made items?
There are just a whole bunch of tailors. They actually flag you down in the street. There are a ton of shops that have their things out—their clothing and shoes. They just measure your feet and you pick the style and color. I actually have another dress like this in white and I really wanted it remade in black.
And the stockings?
2 for 22 at Urban Outfitters. I own like 7 pairs—because they go up to the knee as well. The bag is Urban Outfitters too.
What is the story of your tattoos? The owls and the map?
The owl tattoo is the beginning of a sleeve I think. They're compasses. The map just felt right. Eventually I'm planning on getting the band of coffeeregions tattooed on top.
How about your rings?
I definitely love rings. I've gotten these over the course of the last three years. They're from Brooklyn, Melbourne, New York.
How did your choice of lipstick come about?
I met this random beautiful woman a couple of years ago at Bedford Ave in Williamsburg who had blue lipstick and she's the only person I've seen wearing it since. And that just kind of stayed with me. And I recently saw that you can buy blue lipstick. It's kind of like a tar matte lipstick. It's in a liquid tube, like a gel. It looks like paint and it becomes matte on your lips. Limecrime also does things like that so I'm looking into lilacs and lavenders as well.
