Each time we go, we fall a little bit more in love with you, NYC. We went a couple of weekends ago and, as always, did our little food and coffee tour. We checked out Gimme Coffee’s first Manhattan store, over on Mott Street and chatted a bit with Mike White, a super nice guy, and sipped an amazingly balanced shot of Leftist Espresso.
We then strolled over to Ninth Street Espresso in the Chelsea Market and were once again blown away by the shot of Hairbender Espresso, which is roasted by the rock-stars, Stumptown Coffee Roasters. I have to admit, I had my virgin experience with Stumptown when I lived in Portland, they were the first folks who opened my eyes to coffee, and I have never had an espresso equal to that of Hairbender. Ninth Street Espresso is only 1 of 2 cafes that carry Stumptown coffees, whom are bringing their roasters to NYC with the Ace Hotel.
We also hit up Joe’s the art of coffee and by that time we were all overly-caffeinated, so we headed over to Grom to meld the espresso with gelato. Grom’s second location is in West Village. The gelato was OK. We ate at Grom when they opened about a year ago in the Upper West and were very impressed, but this time the texture was a bit gritty and the flavors were just OK. It’s still much better than most American ice creams, though. To top off the coffee and gelato tour, we passed by Cone’s on Bleeker Street and ate some Dulce de Leche gelato and had a chat with the owner, who was very nice.
Of course, we had to eat some food, to balance everything out, and ate some great food at Blue Ribbon Sushi and then the next day at Pastis. So, I would say for one and a half days, we had quite a culinary experience. We always come back so inspired to create whenever we visit NYC, so we are glad to be back in the kitchen and at the La Marzocco machine trying to bring to life everything we tasted. Thanks again NYC for your inspire, we shall return soon.