Who says you can’t eat in the library?
Starting Friday, you can eat –and drink– in the new café at the Folger Shakespeare Library (201 E. Capitol St. SE).
The new Quill and Crumb Café is set to open tomorrow, Nov. 22. It’s located in the Folger’s historic Great Hall and will serve lunch, baked goods, snacks, and savory bites alongside coffee and tea service. A bar offering beer, wine, local cider, and assorted seasonal cocktails will also be a part of the menu shortly.
The Quill & Crumb is open to the public. Timed-entry es or event tickets are NOT needed in order to dine at the café.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer Quill & Crumb to guests of the Folger and to our neighbors on Capitol Hill as a place for good food and conviviality” said Folger Director Farah Karim-Cooper. “We hope the café invites visitors to linger and encourages our community to gather at the Folger.”
Quill & Crumb will keep the same hours as the rest of the Folger Shakespeare Library. The café will be open on Tuesday-Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, the café will close at 6 p.m.. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday it will stay open until 9 p.m.
On evenings when there are performances in the theatre, the café will stay open through intermission.
In the future, the Folger plans to apply for a permit to have a sidewalk café on the plinth terrace on East Capital Street.
The menu, created by Constellation Culinary Group, was inspired by the Folger’s collection and the works of Shakespeare. Constellation is also behind the Merriweather Café at Hillwood Estate and Stir Restaurant at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Quill & Crumb menu highlights include salads, tartines, shareable snacks, wines on draft, seasonal cocktails, and house-made lemonades and iced teas. Standouts include an English Waldorf Salad featuring gem lettuce, celery, candied walnuts, Honeycrisp apple, and Stilton with shallot vinaigrette and the Salmon Gravlax on toasted brioche with herbed chèvre, cucumber, radish.
You can also get a Shareable Personal Picnic with local cheese, Brightwood Bee Ranch honey, fresh berries, candied pecans, and a baguette or pastries like Lavender Blackberry Financiers and Pain Au Chocolat. The café will make Custom Espresso Drinks featuring house-made syrups, including “Ophelia’s Bloom” – espresso with elderflower & lavender syrup and pistachio milk as well as Cadbury Hot Cocoa.
The plan for the café was a part of the Folger’s $80.5-million renovation and expansion project. The renovation added an additional 12,000 square-feet of ehibition space in the Adams Pavilion, leaving the Great Hall open for use as a space for dining and socializing.
“The café has been the missing piece in the story of the new Folger experience,” explained Folger’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ruth Taylor Kidd, who oversaw the project. “Since we reopened the building in June, people have congregated in the Great Hall to work or meet with friends. We love seeing this, and we know the café will enhance how we welcome people to spend time at the Folger.”
The name Quill & Crumb was the top vote-getter in a crowdsourced project to name the café. The Folger put out a public call asking for ideas for what to name the café early in February and received 1,750 suggestions.
Folger staff narrowed the list and shared five options for the public to vote on. Quill & Crumb was the favorite.
For more information about Quill & Crumb, including the latest menus, please visit folger.edu/quillandcrumb.
