Celebrating community, culture through coffee
Hartford’s new Semilla cafe hopes to become ‘a neighborhood living room’
HARTFORD — Semilla is the Spanish word for seed, and the name of the coffee shop opening Sept. 11 at 1283 Main St. in Hartford. Elijah Hilliman and Aimee Chambers, both of Hartford, founded the shop as a place where Black and brown residents can feel welcome, gather and celebrate community and coffee.
Hilliman, whose family owned La Paloma Sabanera coffee shop on Capitol Avenue in Hartford, has a passion for coffee culture. “Growing up in that environment was life-changing for me. It was where art and culture meshed,” Hilliman said. “Everyone was like family. It was inspiring to me.”
Chambers, director of planning for the city, has a passion for creating spaces for underrepresented communities. “The question was, how do I put that into practice?” she said.
Their interests meshed when they met. Hilliman was working as a barista at Story & Soil coffee shop, just down the block from where La Paloma Sabanera used to be. Chambers came in regularly for coffee. They made friends, chatted and realized both their dreams could come true if they worked together.
“There are not a lot of places in this community that were intentionally created for people to gather in comfort and safety,” Chambers said. “I could only think of opening up a café,” Hilliman said.
They filed their permit applications with the city, calling their proposed shop “a neighborhood living room dedicated to celebrating Hartford Black and brown cultures through coffee.”
The two gathered that community together even before they opened the coffee shop, with a successful $10,000 Kickstarter campaign to fund the early stages of development. “We have had so much support from friends and family,” Chambers said. “People want this intentional space in this community.”
They found the perfect location in the building across the street from Dunkin Donuts Park that was recently improved by a $1.35 million renovation by the San Juan Center, a Latino nonprofit that serves low- and moderate-income people in Greater Hartford. San Juan Center’s project created 10 rental units and 2,500 square feet of storefront space, half of which will be occupied by Semilla.
Hilliman and Chambers have created a “neighborhood living room” whose designer aesthetic they call “grandma chic.” The seating area has traditional tables, as well as comfy sofas and rattan chairs. The dishware is intentionally mismatched, as if randomly accumulated over decades.
The beverage menu was created with this same homey intent. “We want the coffee to be accessible and recognizable. Coffee shops can be snobby … with the menu in Italian,” Chambers said. The offerings include familiar items and many that harken back to Hilliman’s and Chambers’ childhoods.
“La Paloma Sabanera” is a grapefruit limeade. “Crossroads Dairy Shoppe” is named after a shop on Albany Avenue, one of the city’s first Jamaican grocery stores, which was once owned by Chambers’ grandparents. That beverage is espresso served over rum raisin ice cream. “North End Blend” is another homage to Chambers’ family: Her great grandmother used to drink coffee with condensed milk in it.
The tea is provided by Calabash, a Black-owned firm.
Part of the café will be set aside as retail space, to sell wares made by local people of color.
Semilla will open Sept. 11. The hours will be Wednesday to Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and weekends 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. semilla.cafe. Those who want to offer their wares for sale can email drinkcoffee@ semilla.cafe.