Hopkins welcomes new café-bookstore

Bird in Hand, a new café-bookstore found on 33rd Street, opened its doors on Oct. 7.

This new space aims to cater to the intellectual, literary nature of the Charles Village community and to partner with Hopkins by hosting author events.

William Egginton, director of the new Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, discussed the partnership between the new institute and Bird in Hand.

“They wanted a robust programming of intellectual literary events, and we were looking for a public outlet as well,” he said. “So we entered into a partnership whereby we’ll be holding events there, for example, literary readings, which will not happen in the classic way. Usually, a lecture on campus happens around 5:15 [p.m.], so these will be about two hours later. A barista will stay; They’ll offer certain food and coffee. It’ll be a more casual but still intellectually stimulating event that will be open to the greater public.”

Ed Berlin, co-owner of The Ivy Bookshop with Ann Berlin, also described Bird in Hand’s relationship with Hopkins. The Berlins founded Bird in Hand along with Spike Gjerde of the Baltimore-based Woodberry Kitchen.

“We work with the Writing Seminars [department] — we’ve been their bookseller for three or four years. They’re welcome to have events here. Then, of course, there is the Humanities Institute, and we’ve talked about a number of different opportunities when they bring in an author or we bring in an author,” Berlin said.

Berlin also said that working closely with the Sheridan Libraries will allow them to host events at a venue that is much closer to campus.

“The third is that we’ve had a long-standing relationship with the Sheridan Libraries. They’ve been doing at least one or two events a year at The Ivy Bookshop on Falls Road,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense to do them up there anymore, so whenever they have a smaller event, they’ll probably do it here.”

Berlin also stressed that they plan for their relationship with Hopkins to continue to evolve, and they are open to hosting a variety of different events.

“From a programmatic point of view, we think that’ll expand,” Berlin said. “We’ve talked to people in the anthropology area, we’ve done events in the past with people in sociology. We’re just going to let them tell us how they want to utilize the space.”

Junior Richard Um expressed interest in the unique events that the new café-bookstore plans to host, emphasizing the role they could play in the community.

“I think it’ll be very interesting to have that. I think it’s good for the community as a whole, especially the Charles Village area, because we haven’t really had stuff like that,” he said.

Freshman Madison Torrez is also looking forward to attending author events at Bird in Hand.

“I’m in Writing Sems, so I’m definitely attracted to all the readings. I’m very excited to see those,” she said.

Sophomore Chloe Pacyna is most excited about the book selection the store offers.

“We’re all really excited about having this here. Having a decent coffee and combining that with books. Those are two of my favorite things in the world,” she said.

Pacyna is also looking forward to the collection of literature in the new cafe-bookstore.

“Also, it looks like the books are really thoughtfully curated,” she said. “I’m really excited to explore, it’s like seeing someone’s personal library. To have this right here is incredible.”

Junior Aleksandra Popovic added that while there are several other coffee shops such as Starbucks and Carma’s Café in the area, Bird in Hand’s menu has much to offer that sets it apart from its peers.

“I think it does add just another coffee shop to the area, but I think it’s unique in that it has the bookstore aspect, it has a really nice sitting area, and then the offerings in terms of coffee and food are definitely different than what you would get at Starbucks or Brody Café,” Popovic said. “For example, they have cortado, which is something that I haven’t had in forever and that I haven’t been able to get anywhere in the area, so I’m really excited about that.”

Junior Claire Gray, who works at Bird in Hand, highlighted the fact that the ingredients used in the food and drinks are high-quality and locally sourced.

“The coffee is really, really good, and the food is all locally sourced, even the grains and the milk. It just tastes really good. My favorite thing on the menu is probably the french bread pizzas and the tomato soup,” she said.

Jeong Yeon Lee, Class of 2016, agreed that there was a need for artisanal coffee in the Charles Village area.

“There are a lot of coffee shops, but I don’t think there are any third-wave specialized coffee shops in the area, and so it’s nice to have that in Charles Village where you don’t have to go to Mount Vernon or to Artifact to have this now,” Lee said.