Feeding peo­ple is an art of seduction

We, at Azafrán, strongly believe that it is in our every­day life that we acquire mean­ing and inspi­ra­tion. In serv­ing food, we are part of our guests’ daily life and we trea­sure that relation. We cre­ate our meals from the fresh­est ingre­di­ents, pre­pare them with care and atten­tion, and serve them in a wel­com­ing space by our great staff. Empty plates, smiles, return­ing guests and warm words are our rewards.

History

Café Azafrán came about on a cold win­ter after­noon when John Shields, our beloved Chesapeake chef and owner of Gertude’s, sug­gested work­ing with Irena to rein­vent the cafe­te­ria at the Space Telescope Science Institute located on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood cam­pus. The sci­en­tists in the insti­tute were look­ing to bring fresh food and good cof­fee to their work­ing envi­ron­ment, a place where extra­or­di­nary ideas and projects take shape (and are launched). Scientists from around the world come and share new tech­nolo­gies, the­o­ries and per­spec­tives for under­stand­ing the world around us. What bet­ter oppor­tu­nity than to feed those who are our “eyes to the universe”?

Thus, Café Azafrán opened on September 25, 2004. It has grown to become a deli­cious break­fast, cof­fee and lunch des­ti­na­tion and a wel­com­ing set­ting for sci­ence dis­cus­sions, neigh­bor­hood gath­er­ings, inter-disciplinary dia­logues, professor-student meet­ings and inter­ac­tion among the Johns Hopkins com­mu­nity at large.

Staff

Our staff is very kind, well man­nered and upbeat. We under­stand the impor­tance of good cus­tomer rela­tions and that a pos­i­tive atti­tude is as impor­tant as the knowl­edge of the food trade. We try to cre­ate work con­di­tions that will instill such a pos­i­tive attitude.

Food and purveyors

Azafrán food is healthy, very fla­vor­ful, and light, and is meant to make peo­ple happy at work. It is made daily in our kitchen at the Space Telescope Science Institute.  Vegetarian selec­tions are always a part of our daily menu. Eggs and most of our meats are hor­mone and antibiotic-free.

We source most of our food from the fol­low­ing places:

Farms: Springfield farm, MD; Sunnyside farm, PA; Black Rock Orchard, MD;  Pinegrove Farm, MD; Olli farm, VA; Cherry Glenn,  MD

Breads and empanadas: Max’s Empanadas, Bonaparte, Stone Mill Bakery, Patisserie Poupon, all four in Baltimore, MD.

Fish, selec­tion of meats and other goods: JJ Mc Donnell, Fells Point meats, Chefs Warehouse, Restaurant Depot.

Sustainable prac­tices

Azafrán has been com­mit­ted to a health­ier and cleaner envi­ron­ment since its open­ing day. Porcelain and glass are used in the din­ing area.  All Compostable mate­ri­als are now used for our take-out pack­ag­ing. We are soon to become a zero waste cafe, like Alkimia. We are now part­ner­ing with the Space Telescope Institute and Johns Hopkins University to fur­ther pur­sue com­mu­nity efforts to become even greener in every pos­si­ble way.

eat

December 2011

Cold sand­wiches

(no side salad included)

Smoked salmon sand­wich 8.5
w/tomato, basil, capers, onions, cream cheese w/dill & lemon zest

Flank steak sand­wich 8.75
w/avocado aioli

Turkey wrap 7.75
w/provolone cheese & chipotle sauce

Goat cheese sand­wich (v) 8.25
w/herbs, red bell pep­pers & capers

Hummus sand­wich (vg) 8.
w/cucumber, red pep­per, car­rots, onions, cel­ery & gin­ger curry vinaigrette

Chicken curry wrap 8.
w/celery, cur­rants, wal­nuts, mango chut­ney, mayo & a lit­tle sour cream

Salads as entrees

Flank steak & blue cheese salad 9.5
w/greens, hari­cots verts, roasted pota­toes, dried figs, caramelized onions, pecans & bal­samic vinaigrette

Quinoa salad (vg, gf) 8.75
w/winter squash, red bell pep­pers, olive oil & harissa

Blue cheese salad (v) 8.75
w/greens, pecans, dried figs, caramelized onions & bal­samic vinaigrette

Soba noo­dle salad (vg) 8.5
w/red bell pep­per, bok choy, car­rot, snow peas, mush­rooms, gin­ger, sesame seeds & soy vinaigrette

Small Side Salad greens (v) 3.75
w/seasonal veg­eta­bles

Snacks

Charcuterie from Olli Farm (VA), 2-year Greyson ched­dar (VT), olives & bread 6.

Hummus w/pita bread 4.70

Lentil-chickpea w/sun-dried tomato dress­ing 4.25

Empanadas (beef, chicken, veg­gie, ham and cheese), from Max’s empanadas 4.15

Coconut Cardamon Rice Pudding 4.2

Seasonal fruit from Black Rock Orchard (MD) .85/1.25

Sweets

Madeleine 1

Palmier 1.25

Walnut choco­late oat cookie 1.5

Double choco­late cookie 1.5

Oatmeal raisin cookie 1.5

Coconut cookie w/barley and coconut flours 1.75

Graham Cracker Cookie 1.25

Lemon Shortbread (bag of 4 small cook­ies) 2.85

Pistachio-Cranberry Shortbread (bag of 4 small cook­ies) 2.85

Banana and wal­nut bread 2.25

Pumpkin bread, gluten free 2.25

Carrot and wal­nut bread 2.25

Orange pound cake 2.25

Lemon-Poppy Seed pound cake 2.25

Granola Bar 2.75

Cardamom Bar 2.25

Breakfast

Frittata w/organic eggs and veg­eta­bles 3.5

Yogurt w/honey, gra­nola, fruit 3.75

Fruit salad 3.75

Bagel 1.75

w/ cream cheese 2.25

Croissant 1.8

Chocolate crois­sant 1.95

Almond crois­sant 2

Apple turnover 1.95

House muffins, vary w/seasons 2.75

House scones, vary w/seasons (avail­able house jam) 2.75

Yogurt w/honey, gra­nola & fruit 3.75

Fruit salad 3.75

Azafrán, café & catering | STScI, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 | p 410 338 4757 | azafran AT cafeazafran DOT bizAzafrán on Facebook Alikimia on Facebook Azafrán on Facebook