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 have 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.