Voyager Espresso, Financial District, NYC
Hidden in a nondescript tunnel attached to the Fulton St. subway station, Voyager is a refreshing change from the sort of samey visual aesthetic a lot of specialty cafes have embraced. With a name and logo referencing the Voyager space probe (which just celebrated its 40th anniversary), the vibe is decidedly otherworldly. A circular...
Budin Coffee – Greenpoint goes Nordic
Last weekend I made the trek to Greenpoint to check out Budin, a new Nordic-themed cafe bringing several of Sweden and Norway’s finest roasters’ wares to these shores. There are two menus here – one labeled “Specialty Coffee” that has the likes of Tim Wendelboe, Koppi Coffee, and Drop Coffee. You pay Scandinavian prices for these imported roasts,...
Inside the Service Economy – Brooklyn’s Barista Class
A long, personal, winding tale of one barista’s experiences and ruminations. Take a look at what life is like on the other side of the bar, and how it feels to be part of the socio-economic evolution of New York’s gentrifying neighborhoods and the service industry that symbiotically subsists on it and helps the process...
New York Coffee Photo Essay with Kalle Freese
A while back right before the ’13 World Barista Championship, Finland’s national champion, Kalle Freese, visited New York. Naturally, we had to do a coffee crawl to see what the city has to offer. We couldn’t do everything in the short time available, but fresh from Scandinavia, the photos below document the adventure that was...
Box Kite Coffee
Box Kite Coffee has finally opened up their permanent East Village location after a soft-launch pop-up at Maslow 6 wine bar in Tribeca earlier last year. The bar is run by Cora Lambert and Erik Becker of RBC NY fame, that renowned multi-roaster cafe that closed in 2012. They build on that concept at Box Kite,...
Four Midtown Manhattan Cafes You Should Be Visiting
I recently met up with Steve Rhinehart (the guy behind the Counter Talk blog) to explore a few cafes that have popped up this year in Midtown Manhattan, an area that used to be a coffee dead-zone. There’s still a lot of room for improvement as these cafes become more established, but things are looking...
Toby’s Estate’s new Flat Iron cafe, with Strand Books at Club Monaco
Toby’s Estate has opened its first location in Manhattan in an interesting partnership, together with beloved indie book store, Strand Books, all inside a giant Club Monaco clothing store off 5th avenue that’s lit up brighter than an Apple store. I checked out the cafe on their second day after opening, and was lucky enough...
Bikini Bar – Tribeca, New York
Tribeca’s Bikini Bar is now collaborating with Everyman Espresso, at least until August 31, bringing together coffee and (non-alcoholic) cocktails befitting the mid-century surf & tiki-themed space. “The mission of the pop up, Everyman at BIKINI BAR, is to challenge the public’s conception of what is possible with coffee by pairing coffees with nontraditional ingredients. Another...
Sweetleaf Coffee & Tea, New York
Sweetleaf Coffee & Tea opened in 2008 at their original Long Island City location and have held the mantle as the best cafe in Queens ever since. They’re among my favorite cafes in the city, blending indie character and eccentricity with an uncompromising attention to detail in the pursuit of great coffee. Every espresso shot...
Intelligentsia Coffee, Highline Hotel NYC
Following in the footsteps of Stumptown, which entered the New York market through their swanky cafe at the Ace Hotel, Intelligentsia has just opened their first outpost in the city nestled in the lobby of the High Line Hotel in Chelsea. The space is currently deceptively small, with just a few bars and couches in...
Little Skips, Bushwick
I’ve been driving all over New York for the past couple months doing fieldwork for an energy consulting firm, which has given me a chance to visit some of the city’s cafes that are off my beaten path. One of these recent visits took me to Little Skips in Bushwick, which comes recommended by Oliver...
Untitled at the Whitney Museum
The Whitney museum has surprisingly good coffee, a fact I discovered with the help of Oliver Strand’s contribution to the ever-useful New York Times’ app, “The Scoop.” Past the long lines for museum admission that wrap out the door, you’ll find Untitled, a restaurant and coffee bar down stairs serving a refined take on diner...
