How Africa News
Issa Rae is already a household figure in Hollywood, best recognized for her role in the blockbuster HBO series ‘Insecure.’ In recent years, she has reinvented herself as a coffee entrepreneur, and she just celebrated the launch of her fourth coffee shop, Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, in Downtown Los Angeles. The other three are located in Slauson, Inglewood, and Eagle Rock, respectively.
“Downtown LA has such a rich history of creativity and resilience,” Rae said in an interview with Forbes. “We are excited to share the Hilltop experience with the dreamers and doers of the local community.”
According to Forbes, Hilltop Coffee+ Kitchen’s menu will include “Bangin’ Breakfast Sandwich (fried egg, cheddar cheese, bacon and spicy mayo on a brioche bun), the Soul Bowl (creamy grits topped with a poached egg, braised collard greens, and charred corn), plus Hilltop “Droptops”, fancy toasts topped with ingredients like smashed avocado and shaved fennel or dill cream cheese, crispy capers and smoked salmon. Signature drinks include the Matcha Chata, an iced matcha latte and horchata hybrid; a lavender latte, plus locally roasted coffees.”
Yonnie Hagos and Ajay Relan founded Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in Windsor Hills in 2018 with the goal of creating a welcoming atmosphere for inclusivity and connection over food and drinks. Rae collaborated with them to open Hilltop’s flagship location in Downtown Inglewood in 2019, followed by a third on Eagle Rock Blvd the following year.
One of the various enterprises Rae is involved in is the coffee industry. She runs Hoorea, a production company, and Sienna Naturals, a hair brand founded on the desire to produce sustainable vegan hair. She also has collaborations with American Express and their ByBlack campaign.
Rae stated in a Cheatsheet 2022 report that her aim for becoming a coffee entrepreneur is to highlight Inglewood and larger South LA as a thriving socioeconomic region with a diversified ethnic composition. Despite the fact that the black population in Los Angeles has seen fast gentrification, she says she wishes to help the area’s Black community prosper.
