Zemarai Anjaz saw his friend’s somber face and shaking body and knew something was wrong.

His friend, who frequented Anjaz’s coffee stand at Redmond Group Health, explained his son just called him from Hurricane Katrina-devastated New Orleans. The man’s son lost everything: his belongings and his home. The son and his fiance needed to come to Seattle to stay with family, but didn’t have the $500 for two train tickets.

So Anjaz did what any good friend would do and pulled out his checkbook.

“I’m going to write you a check,” he told his friend.

Anjaz – who owned three coffee stands at Redmond, Factoria and Renton Group Health before taking ownership of St. James Espresso in Kirkland – also rallied doctors and nurses to donate money and furniture. Once his friend’s son and fiance arrived, they already had a furnished apartment waiting for them, thanks to Anjaz’s help.

Since Anjaz came to St. James Espresso last year, the Kirkland community has also come to know him as a giving person.

The Reporter sat down with Anjaz to chat about his philanthropy in Kirkland and what makes St. James Espresso buzz.

Q: What did you do before you came to Kirkland?

Anjaz: I had three coffee stand locations at Group Health in Renton, Factoria and Redmond for the last 15 years. If Group Health employees were working after 5o’clock and I was leaving, I would make them coffee and they would say, ‘Anjaz, I owe you $10, I owe you $20,’ and there was this trust and good friendships.

Now, I just own St. James Espresso, but I still have a lot of contact with Group Health employees.

Q: So you are an architect by trade?

Anjaz: I went to school in Afghanistan. In 1982, I worked for a big construction company – ACUK – Afghan Construction Unit Kabul. Our construction company was government-run. And then when you finish at the university, you’re the boss.

Q: How did you go from architecture to coffee?

Anjaz: (Seattle-based) Caffe D’arte’s owner, Mauro Cipolla. We used to play soccer together. When I met him I was working at an Italian restaurant in Burien.

In 1983, he went to Italy and said he’s going to bring some coffee recipes and I made fun of him. I said, ‘What are you going to do? Bring recipe for beans? You just roast coffee, what do you need a recipe for?’

That’s where he started. That’s when I became a coffee man at the same time.

Q: Who’s that gentleman working the counter?

Anjaz: My 19-year-old son, Limar, volunteers for me. I didn’t train him; he watched me and he’s making the best coffee now. I had a family that used to come here and say, ‘Hey, where’s the boss? I want him to make our cappucino.’ (Limar joins his father at the table). Tell them about your own business, tell them about your whole life, man (he laughs).

Q: How is it working with your dad?

Limar: Oh, man. It’s crazy. He has stories for days, man. Seriously. I can’t even handle it sometimes.

I just come here to help out my dad and everything is going good. I like it because I chat with everybody and I know literally 80 percent of the people in here.

Q: How is it different being in Kirkland?

Anjaz: This is my favorite spot actually. I used to come to Kirkland all the time and walk or jog around the waterfront. In the summertime, I used to bring the kids in the stroller. And people are very generous people. Very nice people.

Q: As the owner of a coffee shop, what’s important to you?

Anjaz: You have to have quality, as far as the pastries, the coffee, make sure the machine is always clean, the grinder always makes the perfect ground coffee.

And customer service.

Q: How important is community to you?

Anjaz: We have food drives, we are still doing one for Hopelink.

(He pulls out a postcard that says “Alex’s first annual coin drive last fall. With your help, he raised a total of $1,786.59 and will provide school clothes for another 17 children.”)

I always put coins in a Ziplock bag. Usually I don’t deposit the coins, so if the kids need it, I just go grab the bag.

And this is for Haiti relief (he points to a jar on the front counter). There’s a lot of money there, but I haven’t counted it yet.

That’s also part of community. It’s not just about making coffee and making money. The money is not an issue for me.

Q: Kirkland has many coffee shops. What sets St. James apart?

Anjaz: Our philosophy is just make more friends.

Most of our employees, we just come outside and ask the customers, hey, how is your latte or how is your lunch. And they get so happy because they never see such things in the commercial places.

My goal is to make more relationships with people – it makes a huge difference.

Go for a cup

St. James Espresso is located at 355 Kirkland Avenue.