Hannah’s Cafe in Towson Serves the Most Important Meal of the Day

While still in middle school, Hannah Seidman attended a cooking camp run by chef Nancy Longo of Pierpoint Restaurant and fell in love with kitchen life. “Nancy saw how excited I was,” recalls Seidman, now 27, “and she offered me a job working as a cook at Pierpoint.”

By high school, Seidman was working the brunch shift at the Fells Point spot, whipping up everything from pancakes to crab-cake eggs Benedict and fried potatoes.  “I kept a lot of her recipes that I still use to this day,” she says.

After high school, Seidman (pictured above, with parents Lee and Sue) earned a degree in culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2018, and then had stints at Pike’s Diner, Glyndon Grill, and La Food Marketa.

Last March, with the help of her parents and sister, she fulfilled a dream to open her own cafe. The tiny Towson spot has only 18 seats but does a brisk carryout business and catering. “We thought about calling it Cafe 215, after the address on Washington Boulevard, or Storm, after my dog, but in the end, we were like, ‘Let’s just call it Hannah’s Cafe.’”

How did this opportunity come about?
My father works for Caves Valley Partners, and they own half the building. They know my dad and I like cooking and asked if we’d like this opportunity. We said, “Yes!” when they asked if we were interested in opening a cafe. We signed our lease in December 2020 and opened last March. When I put my name on that paper and signed it, my dad was like, “We have a cafe now.” It still doesn’t seem real.

Why did you decide to work with family?
Everyone in my family has worked in restaurants for a very long time. My dad was a server and did expo at Bonnie View Country Club, my sister, who does our social media, worked at Chef Geoff’s in D.C. Now, my dad works in the kitchen with me on weekends and does payroll. My mom works the front of the house.

Tell me more about the menu.
The menu ranges from healthy fare to comfort food—and we try to source locally when we can. We use Albright Farms in Phoenix for our eggs and our vegetables from Richfield Farm in Manchester and we get our coffee from Thread Roasters and our tea from Wight Tea to help support local businesses.

What should a first-timer get?
People love our breakfast burrito—it’s the most popular item. We can sell up to 50 a day. Everyone has their version, but we put smashed tater tots in ours, plus fresh avocado, and our own pickled jalapeños. I also love the Hannah’s Club. It’s turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. You just can’t go wrong with that.

How did you decide what to put on the menu?
One day, my family and I just sat down and started spit-balling. From there, we went to the grocery store, bought all the food we wanted to try and made everything at home—from French toast to pancakes and tomato soup—in our Pikesville kitchen.

What do you like about cooking?
I like that it’s mine. When I cook something for someone, I am putting my heart into it.