Brownies, Coffee Flavored Chocolates, And More At Limelight Marketplace in NYC

Diego and I met our friends from Mexico City, Greg and Max, at Limelight Marketplace on 6th Avenue and 20th Street in Manhattan. Check out the coffee and chocolate products sold here. We highly recommend the Espresso and the Madagascar chocolates at MarieBelle and the bacon flavored brownies from Mari's New York are a must.

Taking A Break To Hang With Our Friends & Family Who Wants To Blog About NYC Coffeeshops?

Our friends and family are visiting from Mexico City, Venezuela, Massachusetts, and California.  Yes, all at the same time!  Diego and I need to take a big break from the blog next week to spend time with them.  So, now the big question is, who wants to write about a coffee shop that we have not covered?  Let us know ASAP.  Email us at thecoffeebeaners@gmail.com.

Great Coffee Windows in Manhattan & Brooklyn

No need to go to the McDonald’s in Manhattan that are serving frapuccinos from walk-up windows, here are some great coffee windows and counters in NYC. 

OST Café in East Village

441 East 12^th Street, corner of Avenue A
(212)477-5600 www.ostcafenyc.com

Five Leaves in Greenpoint
18 Bedford Avenue, corner of Lorimer
(718)383-5345 www.fiveleavesny.com

Lokal in Greenpoint
905 Lorimer Street, corner of
(718) 384-6777
www.lokalbistro.com

Piccolo Cafe in Gramercy Park

If you saw the story of Manhattan’s Piccolo Café in the video posted yesterday, you would have seen that the coffee shop owners Michele and Alberto came to New York City thinking that they would sell their coffee for a few weeks and then head back to Italy.  They had only their plane tickets and a place to stay for the duration of the Union Square Holiday Market.  Little did they know that they would have sold thirty thousand cups of coffee in three weeks, and that on the last day of the market, a customer would give them a key to a coffee shop space (in Gramercy Park!) with no questions asked.

Walking into Piccolo Café on Third Avenue you would have no idea that these newly arrived Italian friends had no budget to create their coffee shop.  The place is intimate but attractive to the eye with walls covered in coffee colored strips of wood and tables inviting you to stay and share in the warmth.    

Because they had no idea that they would be opening a business in Manhattan, Michele and Alberto had to use everything left over from the market to make a coffee shop that was up to Manhattan expectations.  The walls are lined with pieces of wood left over from crates or with what looks like newspaper but is actually old coffee bags pasted to the wall with flour.  The coffee station is made from a bench they reclaimed in Brooklyn and burlap bean bags.  Small light fixtures made out of brown paper bags dangle above you and sway with the small breeze that enters (these were supposed to be used to sell coffee by the pound but the company that provided the bags went out of business and left them with five hundred bags).

The people behind Piccolo Café are incredible and they invite you to escape the city with their character, authenticity, and Italian essence.  Come try the buffalo mozzarella that New York Magazine raves about, drink a distinctly delicious coffee from a seventy two year old family business or stop by to purchase some truffle olive oil.

Piccolo Café is located at 157 3rd Avenue between 15th & 16^th Street.
(212) 260-1175

Atmosphere: 4 Stars

Coffee: 5 Stars (but know that they use a lot of milk in Cappuccino)

Food: 5 Stars

Service: Sociable   

Price: $$$

Piccolo Cafe in NYC

Two Italian friends come to New York City to sell their Piccolo Coffee at the Union Square Holiday Market. After selling thirty thousand cups of coffee in three weeks, a customer gives them a key to a coffee shop on Third Avenue. On December 24th, Michele and Alberto move into Piccolo Cafe on Third Avenue. It is here that they make a coffee shop out of the milk carts, bean bags, coffee bags, flour, and other little treasures they have found along the way.

Bikes & Coffee

A while ago I made a film about Brooklyn Kickstand, the guys that bring the best cup of coffee to people on their bikes and transformable coffee carts.  The link is below if you have not seen it.  Then I heard about a bike shop shop in Manhattan that was serving coffee to cyclists.  It's super interesting seeing how people are combining their business models with coffee.  I thought you should see these two links on bikes and coffee: 

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com

http://bikeblogbook.blogspot.com

Brooklyn Kickstand Video Link: 

http://www.youtube.com

Podunk in the East Village, NYC

Diego and I have been coming here to Podunk, an American teahouse in the East Village, for close to five years.  The place has been in New York City since August 2002.  We never told you about this little secret of ours because it is not a coffee shop.  This week we decided to be tea leaves for a day so that we could tell you about it.

Even though Podunk is not a coffee shop, it is still an essential place to visit if you are one who wants to explore the neighborhoods of New York City.  Podunk has helped us make the city our home, without places like this, New Yorkers would feel empty. 

The family business unwaveringly succeeds at drawing you back again to share in the tradition of two things: 1) enjoying the sense of taste and 2) sharing a moment with those you most enjoy.  So if you are alone in New York City, make it a goal to make a friend and invite them here to share a memorable experience with you.  We promise that you will crave it and its offerings forever afterward.   

The tea.  There are twenty-two informal tea & fare offerings.  I can’t describe them all but one of my favorites is “Old Friends’ Tea”.  This one offers cucumber sandwiches, scones, cakes, cookies, jam and cream with the suggested tea of earl gray (for one: 29, to share: 27.50 each).  Other assorted tea sandwiches are available a la carte: ham, cucumber, walnut-date, turkey, sprouts & olive, and manchego. If you are on a limited budget you can order the tea by the pot and tiny baked goods from the counter.

The baked goods.  When you walk along 5th Street you may smell the baking coming from Podunk’s front porch door.  Every time we come, something is baking in the oven, waiting for us to arrive.  The variety changes upon availability but we have been there when the following was available: ginger, shortbread, or chocolate chip cookies, cheddar biscuits, billowy scones (blueberry too) and pink frosting cupcakes (Diego’s favorite).  

The family.  Elspeth Treadwell, her daughter and husband all made the business what it is today.  Eight years ago Elspeth wanted a tearoom because her daughter said, “mom, can you be home more?”  Elspeth spoke to her husband, Mr. Podunk, to see what they could do so that she did not have to be working in the office all day.   At the time, he was a professor with a serious Ivy league education and they sat and talked about what kind of family business they could start.  Elspeth told him her idea and he said, “well, we can do that”.  “He is still the money man of the business and he is the one responsible for why the store looks like it does…he made the room.  He was placing everything while I was in the back baking.” 

Elspeth says that “in New York its’ hard to drop in”, she wants Podunk to be the place people stop by.   Now years after her daughter has left, the store is “still a neighborhood but now people who stop by are friends from all over the globe”.  Podunk is located at 231 5th Street between Second and Third Avenues.
(212) 677-7722

Atmosphere: 5 Stars

Tea: 5 Stars

Baked Goods: 5 Stars 

Service: Special

Price: $$$
*Note: There is no restroom so be careful how much tea you drink. 

Top 30 Coffee Blogs

Check out the Top 30 Coffee Blogs of 2010!  You can see us here amongst the other twenty nine winners:

www.onlinemba.comThe_Coffee_Beaners

Someone Asks Iron Man Where To Go For The Best Coffee in NYC

Champion Coffee in Greenpoint

Champion Coffee lies several streets from one of the loudest Starbucks in Brooklyn, one housed in an old movie theater with a massive marquee.  This mom and pop shop has been here in this part of Greenpoint for four years and it does not go thru the same amount of effort to lure you in.  The storefront is simple and deep blue and you may not know that it is a coffee shop right away but when you do you want to see what it’s about.  Inside the walls are crème and a tall blue rack separates the seating area from the tiny kitchen.  Magazines like The Economist, Art Forum, and Vanity Fair are just some of the many interesting reads available and the seating feels like mini-desks but this is all good because it serves many writers in the area that use this as temporary office space.  Even though Champion is not filled with couches to lounge in and talk endlessly, people still feel inclined to come here to play a game of chess or chill out to light sounds of alternative rock and jazz.

This place is opens at 7am everyday and closes at 10pm and in this part of Greenpoint nothing on Manhattan Avenue stays open until 10pm.   In addition to this, the impressive menu has several radiant options for less than 5$ and the tea list is like a wine list with detailed descriptions like Pu-erh Ginger-“the coffee drinkers tea… orange and ginger complement the rick smoky flavors of pu-erh.”  In Spring & Summer new menus arrive and you can peak at Brooklyn backyards through their open their spacious secret backyard.  The coffee is caffe-vita from Seattle.

Champion Coffee is located at 1108 Manhattan Avenue between Clay & Dupont.   The closest train is the G.
(718) 383-5195
www.championcafe.com

Atmosphere: 3.75 Stars

Coffee: 4 Stars

Service: Sometimes nice, sometimes indifferent

Price: $ 

The Best Chocolate Cake in the World in Nolita, NYC

The Best Chocolate Cake in the World in Nolita opened three weeks ago right next door to the famous Ceci Cela Patisserie on Spring Street.  Faye Armon, Broadway Prop Master and long time friend of the coffeebeaners, took me to taste the wonder and to see the small coffee shops that have recently opened in Nolita.   And yes, the SoHo socialites are tip toe-ing into The Best Cake in the World, even if it might be unfashionable to eat cake. 

For those who are not interested in the highly acclaimed top-secret Valhrona chocolate cake that blew Lisbon, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid away, the menu offers alternatives.  One can enjoy daily natural juices (orange, lemon, grapefruit, carrot, apple, pineapple and more), Tostas (small toasted sandwiches like smoked salmon, fresh dill, cream cheese, mixed greens and lemon), home made chocolate drinks, gelato, and organic dancing teas.   The coffee is from one of my favorites,  Counter Culture, the coffee roasters with some of the most well run coffee farms in the world.  know it’s summer and normally one wouldn’t think of chocolate on a hot summer day in NYC but the cake mini-lounge surprises you with ways to cool down.  The Valhrona flourless cake is crunchy, chilled, and refreshing, the Affogato with mint ice cream provides you with a sudden awareness and the lovely aproned-ladies tend to your every need.

Yes, I know it’s summer and one might not think of chocolate on a hot summer day in NYC but the cake mini-lounge surprises you with ways to cool down.  The Valhrona flourless cake is crunchy, chilled, and refreshing, the Affogato with mint ice cream provides you with a sudden awareness and the lovely aproned-ladies tend to your every need.

Now, I am not a chocolate lover by any means, but if you are then you probably should run here!  Chef Carlos Braz Lopes makes Traditional (55% cocoa) or Bittersweet (70% cocoa) flourless cake with crispy meringue and airy chocolate mousse, topped with a luscious chocolate glaze.   


The Best Chocolate Cake in the World is located at 55A Spring Street between Lafayette and Mulberry Street. The fastest way to arrive here is to take the 6 Train to Spring Street and cross the street but one can also take the N/R to Prince Street. 
(212)343-CAKE

Atmosphere: 4 Stars


Chocolate Cake: 5

Coffee: 5 Stars
Service: Kind

Price: $$, although the coffee prices are not unusual 

Communitea in Long Island City, Queens

Communitea is the only teahouse in Long Island City, Queens.  During the past five years   everybody in this industrial neighborhood has come to sip loose leaf tea or start the day with the New York based Irving Farm coffee.  Many LIC residents come here to enjoy the drink rituals, food, and Long Island City Breeze that enters the space via its expansive windows.  The café is drenched with sunlight and makes for a great hangout for people who want to explore LIC, grab a bite to eat, people watch, or carry out work in a quiet space.

Communitea has a fabulous afternoon tea service that yearns for friends to share, so definitely think of this as a place you would want to enjoy with a friend.    The tea service happens everyday and serves one to two people for twenty dollars.  It includes any tea from the menu (fifty to choose from), options of scrumptious bite-size sandwiches, a fresh baked scone of the day with Devon clotted cream and assorted sweets of the day.

The place is centered around coffee or tea but they have a ton of food options. From light fare like croissants, bagels, fruit bars, and soups to full meals like breakfast burritos, sandwiches, paninis, and salads.  

Communitea is located at 47-02 Vernon Blvd at the corner of 47^th Avenue.  One can easily arrive by taking the 7 Train to Vernon/Jackson Avenue. 
(718) 729-7708

Atmosphere: 4 Stars


Pastries: 3.5

Coffee: 5 Stars
Tea: TBA
(This place needs me to return with Diego for the afternoon tea service.)

Food: 4 Stars

Service: Neighborhood Friendly

Price: $-$$, nice price range

Sage General Store in Long Island City, Queens

A couple of weeks ago, Diego and I decided to look for coffee shops and cafés in the LIC, Long Island City.   We decided to explore this part of Queens because it is so close to Brooklyn and super close to one of our favorite parks in the city, The Gantry Plaza State Park.  As we rode our bikes over the Pulaski Bridge and rode North we happily stumbled upon the little old gem of Sage General Store on Jackson Avenue.

Sage General Store is part of the small collection of quite impressive coffee and tea places in this largely industrial area that has rapidly become another popular neighborhood that’s a hop, skip, and jump to Manhattan.   More on this later…

After our bike ride we came into Sage General Store for some lunch.  The food is great and definitely as good or better than some in Manhattan.  It is no wonder why the business has been around since 1997.  We highly recommend the tomato soup with goat cheese and their mac n’ cheese of the day.  Note: The entrée menu changes daily.  Portions are substantial so Diego had to take his red velvet cupcake (made in-house) “to-go” I had to stick my Dallis Coffee latte in my basket.

  

Sage General Store is located at 24-20 Jackson Avenue between Pearson & Court Square. 

(718) 361-0707

www.sagegeneralstore.com
Atmosphere: 4 Stars


Pastries: 4

Coffee: 3.5 Stars


Food: 4.5 Stars

Service: Amiable

Price: $$

The Coffeebeaners Coffee Shop Coverage

Diego has been doing the blog with me for almost a year!  It is crazy how time feels like it flies faster when you are living a city life.   I look back at the beginning of the blog and am shocked by how much he has grown. I distinctly remember how he tantrummed at Bakeri in Williamsburg and how everyone was wondering, "why the hell is she here with that kid?".  

Well now, at 5, he is getting ready for his experience at public school, meeting his new school community in playgroups, going to summer camp and traveling with his Dad to places here in the East so that I can work on a big project that you will soon learn about.  So, I am super bummed as let you know that he will be with me less often but excited too, as I have a ton of coffee shops to cover!  Don’t worry…sometimes we will surprise you with his spontaneous appearance and he is working on a special video of coffee with his friends that you will see before the summer is over! 

Cafe Royal on Nassau Avenue in Greenpoint

We had promised to give you more info on Café Royal in Greenpoint a while back…   

Café Royal’s Cody Utzman prides himself on bringing excellent food and coffee into the neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  Utzman is a savvy entrepreneur, “green” thinker, and an asset to the Greenpoint community.  He helped get Brooklyn Label, café and restaurant, on its feet and now the place is thriving.  The food, coffee, and chocolate menu is quite, truly, the best.  His Brooklyn Standard is the “new bodega”, and other deli’s should use this model of deli food, to-go coffee bar, and fresh market to bring in specialty coffee drinkers and those seeking delicious eats.   Utzman and his Brooklyn Standard partners, Kathleen Rose Mc Eldowney and Matt Milletto (coffee guru) have made the deli super attractive to the NYC Green movement by using the fruit pulp left behind in the shop and recycling it in their backyard composting worm farm!  Click here to read more about their “green” ways. 

Now, Café Royal.  Café Royal is an open space with a little feeling of France.  Even though the place takes you to a laptop haven during the day, it still welcomes you with friendly baristas, a silky bar, glossy tiles, plenty of places to sit, and a sunlit backyard.  Apparently, Café Royal was inspired by the experience that Cody had at local bar in the Burgundy region of France.  The place is extremely versatile.   One can go in to eat a hearty and enjoyable meal alone or with friends or go here to work comfortably (vintage style desks, an array of outlets and Wi-Fi passwords are uniformly at each table).   Café Royal is still working on getting a beer & wine license.  

French-inspired fare is good, and they serve Ceci-Cela’s classic French pastries.  I recommend the Eggplant Panini with roasted eggplant, chive and garlic aioli, cucumber, onions, tomatoes, on locally-made sunflower bread. Utzman creates some of the best sandwiches in the borough (pricey, but really amazing). 

This is the kind of coffeeshop we love…a place you can come to for a variety of reasons; to work; to eat; to drink Stumptown coffee any day until 11pm.

Café Royal is located at 195 Nassau Avenue, between Jewel & Diamond.  
(718) 349-8584

Atmosphere: 5 Stars

Pastries: N/A (Diego did not rate)
Coffee: 5 Stars

Food: 5 Stars
Service: Pleasant
Price: $$

The Little Bird Bakery & Coffeehouse on Avenue B in East Village

Avenue B in the East Village has recently been blessed by The Little Bird Bakery & Coffeehouse.  This three-week-old coffee shop offering Counter Culture coffee, JoJo’s Vegan Goodies and free Wi-Fi, is owned by the native New Yorker from Queens, Joanna Troccoli (the baker of the vegan treats) and family (her sister Jennifer and brother in law, Robert Baschnagel).  One would think that this might not be a good location for a coffee business because it is only blocks away from the B Cup Cafe and Ninth Street Espresso (the folks who are known for making amazing coffee) but the place adds to the mix nicely and fills the slim gap in the coffee world of Alphabet City.  

The bakery and coffeehouse, although brand new, has a rustic feel to it with garden touches, tarnished barrels and tricycles.   A long thin coffee bar made out of talavera style tiles invites you to stay enjoy your food, but not for too long.   There is limited seating at the bar so one should be conscious and not get too comfortable with a Mac.   

Joanna and friends serve a crunchy but refreshing morning sandwich of grainy bread, apple butter, crumbled walnuts, and sliced banana along with healthy baked goods made with raw sugar and goodness.  She recommends the banana cacao macaroon.  Also, don’t come here expecting cupcakes with frosting, the treats are all made with earth’s natural ingredients.  The nice thing is that even though they are plentiful and rich, you still don’t feel too guilty eating them.  

The Little Bird Bakery & Coffeehouse is located at 182 Avenue B between 11^th & 12^th Street in the East Village.  Take the L Train to 1^st Avenue.
Atmosphere: 5 Stars

Vegan Treats: 4 Stars (The morning and afternoon sandwich get 5 Stars!) 

Coffee: 5 Stars

Service: Welcoming
Price: $$

FRED Coffee Ice Trays, Espresso Cups & Tea Cupcake Molds

Here are some cool coffee and cupcake products by FRED that we stumbled upon.  

Cool Beans is coffee ice trays for your iced coffee!  

Espresso Cups

Cupcake Molds

You find these products at: 
http://www.worldwidefred.com

DUMBO Coffee Shops & Cafes

A coffeebeaners fan asked me if there were any good coffee shops in DUMBO.  I knew of a few but not as many as I thought I should, so while Diego was at camp, I went to search for them.  Here is a photo listing of Dumbo coffee shops.

DUMBO General Store Cafe
111 Front Street between Adams St. & Washington St.
(718) 855-5288
www.dumbogeneralstore.com
Specialty Coffee: Danesi

Almondine Bakery
85 Water Street between Main St. & Dock St.
(718) 797-5026
www. almondinebakery.com
Specialty Coffee: La Colombe

reBar Coffee Box
147 Front Street between Pearl St. & Jay St.  
(718) 797-2322
www.retreatnyc.com
Specialty Coffee: Batdorf & Bronson

Jaques Torres 
66 Water Street between Main St. & Dock St.
(718) 875-1269
www.mrchocolate.com/dumbo
Specialty Coffee: Illy

Baco Cafe
71 Jay Street between Front St. & Water St.
(718) 694-2226
www.bacocafe.com 

Dumbo Muffin Espresso Bat & Gourmet Food
68  Pearl Street between Front St. & Water Street
(718) 596-6700-Phone does not currently work
Specialty Coffee: Harry's Beans