Edgar 2: The Sequel

Let me start by saying I grew up with Cafe Edgar. It was (and is) just off of Broadway on 84th street heading toward West End. Though visitors to New York rave about Cafe Lalo (I think mostly because it was in You’ve Got Mail) this place in my mind had the best cheese cake. Dimly lit and boasting its literary theme, Cafe Edgar never appeared to attract the tourist crowed but rather the locals (to a kid from the neighborhood that’s how it looked). So that being said, I have not been back since high school so I do not know how the original may have or have not changed. But this review is not about the original which I plan on getting reacquainted with soon. This review is about the surprising sequel of a cafe to appear on Amsterdam Avenue between 91st and 92nd street.

As mentioned in an earlier review and what soon will take focus for many of my posts to come, I am now on a strict diet and thus could not ideally indulge the way I would have liked when visiting this café. But note this as well, that the café experience is not necessarily about the food, though it can’t hurt to have a good menu. It is more about the environment, the attitude of the staff, and the accessibility for independent activities (i.e. outlets for comps, wifi, or simply comfortable chairs). Also this café features waiter service, an expectation when patronizing a café in Europe but a rarity on the Upper West Side. For this reason I am linking this review to our restaurant review section and not our café section, it is my opinion that an establishment with a full menu and service is essentially a restaurant despite its name.

That all being established lets dig into Edgar. The menu is fairly interesting, and by interesting I mean nothing familiar to fall back on. The salad and sandwich options are all infused with an abundance of ingredients (I reminded of my posts on the gloriousness of simplicity in pizza) perhaps suggesting the higher price range of all their culinary options. Though the salad I ordered I had changed to accommodate my diet (dressing on the side and no cheese) the ingredients were all fresh and the combination (well the healthy parts of it at least) worked swimmingly. Also I should note that the staff was very accommodating to my dietary needs and provided me with plain balsamic vinegar in replace of the vinaigrette.

Beverage wise they fit the European café profile much better. Though I am convinced my iced, skimmed latte was served with whole milk (I could easily be wrong but my stomach said otherwise, that or their espresso is strong stuff) it was an excellent iced latte complete with foam and a dusting of chocolate powder (which should I have known I would have asked to be left off, but in the end was a pleasant surprise). Their selection of specialty espresso beverages was near a page long and consisted of some familiar items as well as some unfamiliar items such as espresso tranquillo (calm) and espresso corretto (add a shot of a liquor). These aren’t necessarily new to a café, in fact just the opposite, but it is nice to see the language and the care given to the creation and presentation of it (that or I’ve been spending too much time in Starbucks).

Last but never least with a café is the atmosphere and staff. As it still has its roots as a café I came with the full intention of staying and reading once finished. The staff is in no hurry to turn tables and is near encouraging for long relaxed stays. In that sense it is extremely European, when you do want the check you will have to call them over for it. But I don’t see this as a problem; this is how a café should be.

Overall I will say this; I have finally found a place close by to replace my Starbucks trips.

The Ranking (for explanation, see “Review Key”):

Food: 2 straws (I was not impressed by the menu and its combinations. Furthermore my meal was overpriced, even for New York. But I am aware that I did not try the dishes as they were imagined and I do plan on going back to do just that).

Beverages: 3 straws (Again here the espresso selection is significant and the latte I ordered was strong and bold in its flavors, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary).

Price: $$traws, Expensive price ($20 will only cover one beverage and a main course. The menu selections are mostly over $10 and their drinks are comparable, if not more expensive, than Starbucks).

Atmosphere: As mentioned above this place fits the bill for the café scene. It has the indoor/outdoor feel as the interior is decorated to remind you of the aged piazzas of the Italian Renaissance cities. The seating too fits the outdoor café persona but ironically they do not actually have outdoor seating, just the quaint, metallic, and uncomfortable icons of the European café. The staff is very amiable and almost too eager to meet your requests.

Overall: 3 straws (I am going to give it that extra straw because the atmosphere really does go that distance and for what it is designed for it does well. As a restaurant I would bypass its culinary options but as a café for a lengthy period of time it is perfect. No extraordinary experience but an excellent neighborhood choice for revisiting.

The Details:

Website: N/A

Location: 650 Amsterdam Ave (between 91^st and 92^nd street).

Phone: (212) 595-6261

Reservation: No need, I went during lunch time and it was half to mostly empty.

Dress: Casual.

Hours:

Sunday- Thursday: 8:00am- 12:00am

Friday & Saturday: 8:00am- 1:00am

A Starbucks for your thoughts or Why are there so many Starbucks around me?

In honor of the recent opening of a new Starbucks in my neighborhood and the not so recent closing of two others I feel it is about time I list the Upper West Side Starbucks’ and describe their importance to me. Perhaps there is reason to have more than one in the end, or perhaps not.

First before we can start we have to define the neighborhood. In technical terms I live in Morningside Heights which actually begins at 86th street on the West Side. But for the purposes of this study we will be looking at an area of space that stretches from 66th street and the West Side to 106th street. The reason for these two limits is simple, that encompasses an area of New York in which I am very familiar with the Starbucks’.

With this mile radius block one would find 13 Starbucks’ (please comment if I have missed one).

Here they are:

1. Broadway btwn 87th & 88th
2394 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
United States

-A new Starbucks which I have not had the pleasure of entering and utilizing just yet. It is tucked away within an apartment building and appears to have balcony seating on a second level.

2. 86th & Columbus
540 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024
United States

-This Starbucks is symbolic of my own childhood. I went to school not far from here and would many a day get coffee here before and after school. My friends and I had a unique relationship with this Starbucks in particular because we had this bizarre and just flat out weird style of studying where we would wake up extra early the day of a test and meet up at this location at opening (ie. 6 in the morning). This was done with some regularity throughout the year and thus the morning manager was convinced we were part of some alternative lifestyle group that would finish our nightly extravaganzas at a Starbucks. Back in the day this place had sofas and leather chairs as well as a plethora of plugs for computer use, now it has been consumed by the wooden tables and chairs and airportesque style of many a Starbucks of late.

3. Broadway @ 81st
2252 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
United States

-This is a very popular and almost always busy Starbucks. It has the appearance of being a large cubical and in recent years has greatly reduced the more interesting seating in favor of more chairs and tables. Some of you may remember this Starbucks appearing in You’ve Got Mail, but again the seating arrangement featured in that movie is no longer available at this Starbucks. It is decent as far as Starbucks’ go; service is pretty quick and there is a lot of seating, though don’t expect to always be able to get a seat. Personally I find this one to be too loud (considering the set up of a giant cube) and less conducive for work or leisure reading. In short this is a meeting Starbucks, many come here to talk.

4. 93rd and Broadway
2498 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
United States

-Completely opposite of the Starbucks on 81^st street, this Starbucks can be very quiet, even in the front where the registers are. I have found in the past that when looking for a Starbucks to get a lot of work done in a quieter environment this is my pick. Again though as is the case with pretty much all the Starbucks’, the seating has gotten much less comfortable. One thing that does set this one apart form a typical Starbucks experience that I have had is that its service tends to be slower and the lines can form here pretty easily.

5. 81st & Columbus
444 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024
United States

-Once in my life have a ventured in to this Starbucks to actually stay and talk there. Mostly I see this Starbucks as a place to pick up drinks after eating at any of the Natural History Museum restaurants (The B. R. Guest restaurants that refuse to work with Open Table, I’ll talk about this in a post to come). It’s a smaller Starbucks with less storefront windows. Beyond that its location is important to note as it is, as mentioned, right near the American Museum of Natural History as well as the 81^st street entrance into Central Park, which is very popular during the summer months because of Shakespeare in the Park.

6. 95th & Broadway
2521 Braodway
New York, NY 10025
United States

-This one I have always believed to be completely and utterly unnecessary, though it does get a line in the morning. I see it as unnecessary because when standing in front of it you can see one Starbucks two blocks south at 93^rd and Broadway and another Starbucks three blocks north at 98^th and Broadway. Nevertheless I have found reason to utilize this Starbucks, as have many other morning travels. I guess one reason that it gets use is its location right near the Subway entrance, though you can see the two other stores, both are a few more blocks from the express stop at 96^th street. Second to that is its location on the west side of the street. With its addition to the neighborhood I do not have to cross to the east side of the street to obtain a coffee and then back to the west side to go home. This is an extremely lazy technicality but it deserves mention for that regardless.

7. 75th & Broadway
2140 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
United States

-I am less familiar with this Starbucks but that does not mean I haven’t visited it a few times here and then. It has had the purpose for me at least of being a rest stop on the way from Lincoln Center back to Morningside Heights. In this respect its bathroom is very nice as are the lines for ordering, but on occasion those lines have been long and the service slow.

8. 76th & Columbus
338 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
United States

- I can’t really comment on this one as I have been here maybe once. I just don’t use Columbus when traveling uptown or downtown, mostly because Broadway has that convenient curve to it that helps get me directly to Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle, Time Square, and Union Square.

 

9. 98th & Broadway
2600 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
United States

-Due to its location it has been my Starbucks of choice. My friends and I would meet here in the mornings when going to school (on days that we weren’t getting up at 5:30 to go to the one on Columbus to study). It is at this Starbucks that I always find myself reading the paper, eating breakfast (from Lenny’s Bagels across the street of course), and blogging. The service is always dependable and most of the time I can find a seat, but it isn’t easy. Though it’s a newer addition to the Starbucks trend I do greatly appreciate its location and have utilized it on a fairly regular basis, their lattes are always well prepared.

10. 73rd & Columbus
267-275 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10023
United States

-A Starbucks I can’t say I have entered in more than once if that. Again its location on Columbus puts it out of the way for my needs but I’m sure it is just like any old Starbucks.

11. 70th & Broadway
2045 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
United States

-With this one I am going on record and saying that I believe Starbucks has made a typo with the address of this Starbucks. It is located just south of the intersection of Broadway and Amsterdam and I believe it is on the Amsterdam side of that intersection. Regardless if it is the Starbucks on the Amsterdam side and I am not missing another Starbucks in that area it is a fairly large one that is mostly dominated by a younger crowd who are either one their way or coming from the Sony movie theater on 68^th street. Because of the crowd it draws I have utilized it less and less of late, it is not good for anything productive. But in the good old days when I was impatient waiting for a movie to start I would venture in here for a drink. That is if I didn’t head over to the one on Columbus and 67^th street.

12. 103rd & Broadway
2690 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
United States

-I believe this one is the newest member to the Starbucks crew and is doing a fine job of getting established. We will see how it fares in that area, it is the second to move into the Broadway in the low 100s block, the first one closed and became a bank. It is good to have a coffee shop up by many choice restaurants as well as the Silver Moon Bakery which in it of itself is a destination to visit. We will see if it lasts.

13. Columbus @ 67th
152 – 154 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 100235921
United States

-This Starbucks wraps up my high school years with it being closer to the 68^th street movie theater and frankly a little better than the Starbucks on 70^th and Amsterdam. I find that it was better because it had more comfortable seating (back in the day not now) and had the room to do the stuff that we liked to do, such as play a rousing game of Monopoly or hold an eight person plus discussion of the hidden meaning within the third Matrix movie; The Matrix Revolutions.

So those are the Starbucks in my life and the different purposes they have had. The real point of discussion here is the number of Starbucks within just a mile radius defined by 86th and Broadway. What are the uses you have for Starbucks? Or are you one of the many who are annoyed by the abundance and uniformity of the Starbucks system that you have boycotted them all together? Whatever your opinions are share your thoughts:

 

What does Starbucks mean to you and how do you define its role in your community? Is it the destroyer of the small coffee shop? Or the savor who finally created an evening location for young people that doesn’t include alcohol.

 

Discuss:

Clover is at Cartel Coffee Lab

***STRAW GOSSIP***

A couple months ago, huymans wrote about the clover and the other day I was in a cafe in Tempe, called Cartel Coffee Lab, where I spotted a clover. I didn’t get to try it, so I can’t review it at this time, but I figured I’d put it on the radar. If you’re in the area, go give it a try — Cartel is located at 225 W. University Dr. Tempe AZ 85281 Suite # 101. They aren’t open early in the morning, which is a little bit of a problem for those commuting into work, but their hours are: M-Sat, 8AM-6PM. I’ll turn this into a review when I do get to try the clover.

Mama Java

Mama Java is a local neighborhood cafe in Phoenix, located at 36th and Indian School. Started in 2004 by Lisa and Patrick McKay, the cafe has quickly become a neighborhood favorite. It offers a combination that attracts artists, musicians, post spin-class athletes, and your average 9-5 business person. Mama Java has a more laid back feeling to it, which I believe contributes to the attractiveness of the cafe. The location is great, there is always ample parking, and there are outdoor tables as well as indoor tables and couches. There is also free WI-FI and electrical plugs along the walls, making it an easy place to work and relax.

On week nights and weekends, there is often music and performers on a stage located the side of the coffee house, set against a background of local artists’ artwork. Mama Java also sells crafts from local artists, making it a complete and necessary stop if you want to know what is happening on the local Phoenix artist scene. There is also a bookshelf full of older and worn books, some are travel books, some are classics, and some are just completely random, but the music, along with the books, makes it a place that can be used from sunrise to sunset.

The food choices at Mama Java aren’t extensive, but there is something for everyone, be it a bagel, cookie, or breakfast egg sandwich. It’s a basic sort of Whispers type meal (for those of you who don’t know Whispers, it is the place where the Coffee Straws team met and fell in love with food, coffee, discussions, and “libing”) but the main event is the coffee. Their coffee runs strong, so when ordering, know that when you get a 16 oz, you will be getting more than your fair share of espresso. The brewed coffee, like the espresso, is strong, and both are great drinks to have in the morning, hot or cold. They also have a wide selection of teas and Italian sodas, one of my favorite drinks.

All in all, the baristas are always ready and willing to talk, and want to get to know you and your order. It’s a place where you can walk in and they’ll know what “the usual” is. Just for that, it’s well worth the 3 dollar coffee.

The Run-Down:

What I usually get:

Drink: Sugar-free vanilla, iced non-fat latte

Eat: Nothing

Stay or To Go: To go, always on the run!

Mood when going: Great to have someone remember who I am, is a lot of chatting with customers, though, so getting a coffee can be an “experience”

The Ranking (for an explanation, see “Ranking Key”):

Food: 2 Straws (your basic breakfast foods — bagels, etc.)

Coffee: 3 Straws (a great dose of ‘go get ‘em caffeine’)

Price: $traw: Average ($3.50 for a Latte).

Atmosphere: Casual and welcoming (we feel as though it maintains a very community oriented environment).

Overall: 2.5 Straws (The coffee is excellent, though the selection of food is simple and mainly breakfast-y, making it more of a morning only place)

The Details:

Website: http://www.mamajavascoffeehouse.com

Location: 3619 East Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85018

Phone: 602.840.JAVA

Reservation: No need.

Dress: Casual.

What’s next for Clover?

Perhaps the best first post for Coffee Straws is one that deals with the culture of coffee. As such I would like to discuss some recent developments with the Clover Machine. Back before this blog existed I wrote a post for the now deceased Literature’s Next Frontier that responded to a New York Times article detailing the Clover Machine and one other from Japan that was nearly double the price. Now without the price being disclosed here, a doubling might not sound like so much but here is the kicker… the Clover costs around $11,000 meaning the Japanese version, the Siphon Machine costs around $20,000. So what we are dealing with here are coffee makers that rival new cars.

The reason I bring the Clover Machine up now is that a few weeks back it announced its merger with (or rather its take over by) the Starbucks Coffee Company. The announcement on their website suggests that with Starbucks the original idea of the Clover Machine can be brought to a larger audience. The Clover inspires the idea of coffee as an eloquent drink once again. In its precision and style, the machine manages to produces a near perfect (only because perfection is arguably impossible) cup of coffee that should never be consumed with the aid of milk and sugar. This rediscovery of coffee as an eloquent drink helps elevate it to the level of the now extremely popular espresso drinks. But will that elevation continue under the guidance of Starbucks?

Starbucks in it of itself deserves a whole section of posts as it at best has extremely mixed and polarizing reviews from the coffee community. There are those that swear by the taste and culture of Starbucks and there are those who believe it has destroyed cafe culture. It is obvious to see what these two camps will conclude when looking at the Clover, but what about the coffee culture at large? Will we benefit from Starbucks’s takeover? With such a financial powerhouse behind the manufacturing of the machine, its technology can be mainstreamed and thus made cheaper for a broader market, but at the same time the essential elements of the machine might be lost in this mainstreaming and the coffee produced may not fit the same bill.

So we are left with the question: Cheaper and more accessible or expensive and sophisticated? Now that is one problem, a second and arguably more important problem is the loss of aura when the small company Clover becomes part of the Starbucks empire.

Thus let us engage the question: What is next for Clover?