Vagrant Coffee owners Josh Dew (left) and Jared Cate (Photo from Vagrant’s Instagram page).
A new cafe, Vagrant Coffee, has recently opened on 45th and Baltimore, at the former Milk & Honey location. The owners, Joshua Dew and Jared Cate, are entrepreneurs from Baltimore who already have three Vagrant locations there. It’s a relatively young business, started in 2017, and Vagrant Coffee in West Philly is their first venture outside of Baltimore.
Vagrant Coffee is also known for bringing their mobile equipment (mobile coffee and espresso bars) to parties, events and even offices. One of the reasons why they chose the name “Vagrant” was to emphasize their mobility.
Apart from their specialty coffee and in-house made pastries, the new coffee shop offers breakfast, sandwiches and salads, all available for pick-up only at this time due to COVID restrictions. There is some outdoor seating, too.
You can check out their menu and order online here.
Vagrant Coffee is open Mon-Fri 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat & Sun 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
January 8th, 2021 at 4:07 pm
Are these the guys affiliated with a place called Milk & Honey in Baltimore that sells Vagrant Coffee? Must be a coincidence. đź‘€
January 9th, 2021 at 12:04 am
What are your hours?
January 10th, 2021 at 6:20 pm
We are connected to 2 Milk & Honey locations in Baltimore. Milk & Honey is a really popular café name so we can understand the confusion. We purchased these 2 locations in 2019 and are working on our rebrand strategy which will brand all of our locations as Vagrant Coffee. Vagrant Coffee is an entirely separate company, though, just as the article mentioned.
January 12th, 2021 at 6:50 pm
I hope that Vagrant Coffee reconsiders its name during its rebranding process. As much as I love a great coffeeshop, it’s just a ridiculously obnoxious name to give to a gentrifying shop in a gentrifying neighborhood. Vagrant is literally, “A person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging.”
There will literally be people who come into the shop begging for coffee, food and money. Is this coffeeshop *for* them? Or is it a name that romanticizes poverty?
Unless it’s a pointed satire meant to make all of the customers deeply uncomfortable, in which case, Bravo!
January 14th, 2021 at 2:29 pm
I agree with criticisms of the name. No matter what they may have intended, it’s a dumb and inconsiderate name. I have no interest in going to a place using that name, and I won’t. I don’t know how they survived for 3 years in business in Baltimore with a name like that, but I really hope they will rename their shops.
January 14th, 2021 at 4:23 pm
I agree strongly with the last two comments about the name and i highly recommend alif brew if you’re on that corner and want coffee
January 22nd, 2021 at 12:09 pm
I couldn’t agree more with the previous comments about the name, the ignorance is startling. Total slap in the face to people experiencing homelessness in our neighborhood
January 22nd, 2021 at 12:17 pm
The “coincidental” Milk & Honey claim is bullshit too, the Baltimore cafes have the exact same logo and branding as the previous West Philly location (about 10 posts back on the Vagrant instagram!). Lying to your customer base is not a great first impression!
January 22nd, 2021 at 6:47 pm
We really need an explanation from Milk and Honey founders Mauro Daigle and Annie Baum-Stein for the community to begin to understand what is actually going on here. Maybe Ernst and Dana Valery of Milk and Honey Baltimore can also help enlighten us.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:57 am
I think they are all business partners in some way? For example (referring to another project):
The project team, according to Valery, now comprises Mauro Daigle and Annie Baum-Stein, the husband-and-wife team behind Philadelphia’s Milk & Honey Market, and Dana and Ernst Valery who teamed with Daigle to open a Milk & Honey Market in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-xpm-2011-09-28-bal-chesapeake-redevelopment-forward-valery-daigle-20110927-story.html
Or:
Milk & Honey Market, an original concept by restaurateurs Mauro Daigle and Annie Baum-Stein of Philadelphia, initially opened a location at 816 Cathedral Street in Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon neighborhood in 2010 under the ownership and management of Ernst and Dana Valery, with funding provided by EVI
https://www.saaevi.com/investments/milk-honey-market/
January 25th, 2021 at 10:23 am
Hmmm. It seems like none of the owners past and/or present are very interested in being truly accountable to the community.The ugly history of labor relations there is by no means healed. It’s sad because all of this could have been handled so much differently- and better.
January 27th, 2021 at 1:41 am
White people problems.
January 27th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
But its cool to be a vagrant and not take showers, especially on Baltimore Ave.
January 27th, 2021 at 1:24 pm
Gentrification is a process of generating profit through economic/material violence against racialized and marginalized people. Annie Baum-Stein, Ernst Valery and his senior business partner Stuart Alexander all seem to be implicated in this, despite any branding and spin to the contrary.
January 27th, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Gentrification is a process of generating profit through economic/material violence against racialized and marginalized people.
January 27th, 2021 at 1:38 pm
Gentrification is a process of generating profit through economic/material violence against racialized and marginalized people. Annie Baum-Stein, Ernst Valery et al. are implicated in this, despite any branding and spin to the contrary.
January 27th, 2021 at 4:50 pm
A.D. – “Implicated” in what? Having a business? Opening a coffee shop where a coffee shop used to be? Not calling you for permission first? Put down the outrage pipe every now and then.
January 27th, 2021 at 5:03 pm
I recommend looking into Ernst Valery and Stuart Alexander in particular- they are in the thick of it, from Baltimore to Buffalo, Richmond CA and other places. Gentrification is an integral part of what they profit from, even if their branding may present it as a win/win solution for poor neighborhoods quickly going rich. Mauro Daigle and Annie Baum-Stein have been part of this project since 2010 in Baltimore. Josh Dew and Jared Cate seem like workers who somehow struck out on their own very recently but are now running multiple stores.
January 30th, 2021 at 3:48 pm
Has anyone seen this well dressed local “yokel” seen walking around on Baltimore Avenue over the past few weeks. He looks slick and southern. This guy really stands out, he looks almost like *gasp* Boss Hog. I don’t know if maybe he’s visiting a daughter from Texas who is attending the University of Pennsylvania but I’m not here to cast any judgments or disparities over this man or his ten gallon hat, bolo tie with a widdled steer head and other apropos appurtenances. Amazingly chic chic in this weird way against the backdrop of Baltimore Avenue’s eclectic storefronts and restaurants. I saw him walking in front of the Sunoco. I am not against the south, the north east or west so I say come one and all to visit this cool, friendly to all people little enclave here in Philadelphia (which is actually Latin for the City of Brotherly Love) We are West Philly! 🙂
January 30th, 2021 at 10:51 pm
“appurtenances”? great, new word for the day!
January 31st, 2021 at 9:57 pm
No offense but what the heck are you talking about,’Everyone’?
February 2nd, 2021 at 8:30 am
“Went here to do work before the pandemic. Baristas were always nice. But they are UNION BUSTING. Workers demanded safe working conditions and $15/hr minimum wage to work during the pandemic – milk and honey ignored them and tried to higher scabs to work tor $17/hr, higher than the workers demanded. F**k this place.”
https://www.yelp.com/biz/milk-and-honey-market-philadelphia
February 4th, 2021 at 9:30 am
Cork’s tone sounds familiar. It’s a delightful blend of narcissism and condescension I haven’t heard since Showtime’s Couples Therapy. Mau?
February 4th, 2021 at 10:38 am
Wow!! Just heard that Milk&Honey Market workers have formed a union and walked off the job demanding safe conditions. The owners are attempting to hire scabs in response. Don’t cross the line!
Workers are demonstrating there now.
Check out the workers first statement here:
“We as the employees of Milk and Honey Market have been called back to work without consultation about our needs in this moment of crisis, leaving many of us in precarious situations with regards to health, housing and safety. We have demanded that the owners acknowledge outlet group for collective bargaining, and have made a list of demands for what we need to keep ourselves and our customers safe.
These demands included:
-Adequate PPE for all staff at all times, and the ability to stop service if this is not available.
-Appropriate signage for customers and employees about government guidelines regarding safety during the Covid 19 pandemic.
-Resources for navigating interactions with customers or staff who do not follow these guidelines
-An emergency plan in place should an employee show signs of or test positive for Covid 19
-15$/hr minimum pay for all employees moving forward.
In response to these demands, the owners posted a sign today seeking new employees with a starting pay of 17$/hr, 2$ more than they offered to pay longtime staff who were willing to return to a safe environment. We as a staff have collectively decided not to return to work until the owners acknowledge our group and meet all of our demands. We have also updated our demands to ask for 17$/hr to reflect the wages they are offering new hires. We encourage others in the community not to accept employment or shop at milk and honey until these demands have been met.”
Dignity
May 28, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/WorkersForDignity/posts/1152272451824332