Feb 20, 2014

Struggling cafe’s owner sees success with Wild Pea hummus

Jon Sham 0 Comment Maryland, The Baltimore Sun, Video Blake Wollman, Desert Cafe, hummus, mount washington, Mount Washington Village, The Wild Pea Hummous, Wild Pea

10 Photos, 1 Video

The Desert Cafe, in Baltimore’s Mount Washington Village, has had some tough years with business, hit hard by the economy, competition and a lack of nearby parking. But owner Blake Wollman is also the proprietor of The Wild Pea Hummous, which has only managed to grow in that time. The photos here show the cafe – empty at lunch time on a recent Friday – and the bustling office space where Wollman and his team make and package all of their hummus varieties.

: Blake Wollman, owner of Desert Cafe in the Mount Washington Village, looks out the window in the second store of his restaurant on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Wollman’s Wild Pea Hummous business has been very successful, while business at the cafe has been slow due partly to competition in the village from other restaurants. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Thousands of chick peas go into every batch of hummus made by Blake Wollman, pictured, and his Wild Pea Hummous company, run out of an office space in Randallstown. Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Blake Wollman, owner of Mount Washington’s Desert Cafe and The Wild Pea Hummous company, inspects a batch of hummus in a large vat at the office suite in Randallstown where they make and package all of their flavors. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Wild Pea Hummous employees Crystal Ford, front, Sam Gift, top, and others package hummus into containers and boxes in a small assembly line on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, at the office suite in Randallstown where they make and package all of their varieties. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Blake Wollman, owner of Mount Washington’s Desert Cafe and The Wild Pea Hummous company, pours a batch of hummus out of a large vat at the office suite in Randallstown where they make and package all of their varieties. Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Blake Wollman, owner of Desert Cafe in the Mount Washington Village, poses for a photo next to a sign advertising his Wild Pea Hummous and its recognition on the Food Network. Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Crystal Ford, an employee of The Wild Pea Hummous company, works in an assembly line to fill containers, seal and package the hummus at the Randallstown office space where they make it, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Blake Wollman, owner of Desert Cafe in the Mount Washington Village, poses for a photo in front of the business on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Blake Wollman, owner of Mount Washington’s Desert Cafe and The Wild Pea Hummous company, scrapes a batch of hummus out of a large vat at the office suite in Randallstown where they make and package all of their varieties. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

: Desert Cafe cook Rajesh Raut, left, and waitress, Sirjana Gautam, pose for a photo at Desert Cafe in Mount Washington on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. (Jon Sham/BSMG)

(Reload page if video does not appear)

The video was shot on my Nikon D610 with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at 50 frames-per-second, and the music came from a website that the Baltimore Sun Media Group subscribes to for such purposes.

Struggling cafe’s owner sees success with Wild Pea hummus

Leave a Reply Cancel