Three years ago, Hooman Baratipour arrived in California from Iran. A few months later he met up with Amir Rofougaran, the main owner of The 1909, where the Topanga branch of Subud LA meets for latihan every Tuesday night. Amir lived just down the road from where Hooman was living at the time. Through Amir, Hooman became interested in Subud and was opened on August 25, 2015.
For a while, Hooman was working for Amir at The 1909 doing various building and other jobs, all the while learning English, as he did not speak a word when he arrived from Iran.
However, a short time ago, he made a radical departure into his own new business. 
In November, he and a friend bought a coffee shop, the LO/CAL Café. The owner, a physiotherapist whose practice is next door to the coffee shop, could not cope with running both businesses. The best part is that the cafe serves Stumptown coffee, which many believe to be the best coffee in the US.
So, next time you are in the area, visit LO/CAL Café at 2214 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405, to have some great coffee or sample the food and say hello to Hooman! For more details, see http://www.local-coffee.com/