14 Comments March 30, 2010
Stumptown Coffee
Drinking coffee is just as much about the ritual as it is about the flavor.
The imagery of escaping a hectic world to a calm coffee shop, nestling into an oversized chair, and sipping a drinkable work of art is the most inexpensive and cathartic 5-minute vacation money can buy. The added euphoria from high concentrations of caffeine is just icing on the cake.
However, good luck finding a seat in New York. Many of the newer coffee shops worth mentioning, like Abraço and Zibetto Expresso Bar, adopt the Italian stand-up counter-style concept of espresso whereby lingering is discouraged. And for the great shops with seats, like Joe the Art of Coffee and Ninth Street Espresso, it’s either tough to find one or the boisterous atmosphere doesn’t warrant productivity. This isn’t a bad thing, per se, but there are times where I’d like to have an intimate conversation, or conduct a meeting, and the above shops aren’t necessarily conducive to it.
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[...] Originally Posted by asherg Forgive the stupid question, but where does one find an official site for Astrance? It appears there is none and they only take bookings by phone. I've no idea, but I stumbled on a nice review while searching. L'Astrance review [...]
This is easily the most thoughtful review of Alinea that I've encountered--thanks a lot! While I still made a reservation to dine at Alinea a few weeks from now, I did it with far more hesitation due to some of the shortcomings you noted.
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Drooling OMG
Hi Josy -- So glad you found it. Sounds like you had a nice lunch! Were the coordinates correct?