Located just a few minute walk from Union Square, Everyman Espresso has a central location.

The café also has one of the funkier spaces in NYC, acting as the lobby to a theater company, and high-stool only seating.

The baristas are quite friendly and will explain to help you understand what artisanal espresso is.

And the espresso is fantastic.

Today is the first of a mini-series highlighting a welcome addition in the last few years to New York :

Artisanal Cafés

These are places where the espresso comes first. And customers would agree, it really is a treat to have an espresso at these cafés.

Personally, I thought coffee was coffee. Some I like, some I do not. But once visiting these cafés and trying their espresso, the distinction became rather clear. Some espressos - WOW!

Over the past few months my son (the little guy is over 8 months now - time is flying!) and I have been through a quasi-crash course in artisanal coffee on our afternoon ventures through the city.

They are made with high-quality beans from varying locales across the world. But just the beans are not enough.

An appropriate machine is also required; often times costing 5 digits in US dollars. Any Londoners looking to start an artisanal café in New York? Half-price

And not to be forgotten is the love.

An espresso is an art. Thus, the baristas need to be properly trained, over the course of a couple months initially. And as one barista told me, the art of making espresso is just that - an art - thus the training never ends.

So enjoy the following posts on NYCs Top Artisanal Cafés. They have excellent coffee and all provide the ambience to enjoy your café, your style.

After many cafés and many espressos, I can safely say, New York has some great café options.

Going into 2008, here is a full guide and summary to the best cafés in the city.

SohoKind Café Guide 2008

Here you will find :

- our recommendations by neighborhood

- a map of our favourites

- our favourites highlighted

- coming one-by-one over the next couple of weeks, the best espressos in Manhattan

SohoKind’s Favorites

What are my criteria for a favourite?

These are the cafés that if given just one afternoon to show a good friend around town to see the best of what New York has to offer, I would include one of these cafés in the visit depending on the neighborhood we were visiting. And personally, these are the cafés that, in and of themselves, would get me excited about being in the neighborhood. They are consistent in their quality. Each offering something a bit different.

La Colombe in Tribeca

La Colombe is a pure treat. Well-designed café. Designed from minimalist on up, including just what is necessary to make it feel cozy and comfortable. Great open loft-space feel. Excellent espresso.

Great to stop in with the stroller and my son. For a bit of reading. Conversation with friends. Or, just for a quick espresso.

Tartine in the West Village

Ah, Tartine and summer! Excellent food in New York is not hard to find. It is actually harder to find bad food than good food here.

However, finding a pleasant outdoor café in New York is a challenge. We love our sidewalk cafés and restaurants. But let’s be honest with ourselves; who could honestly recommend a sidewalk experience that would make a European acknowledge our self-professed love of outdoor dining without smirking?

There are some scattered through the city.

One such place is Tartine. On a summer day, you can recharge your whole battery with a café here. Amazing location, tucked away on West 4th. Excellent people watching. Good espresso. And very good food.

Zibetto in Midtown

Simple elegance and style.

That’s Zibetto.

Excellent espresso. Prepared and served with care. Professional and friendly service.

Zibetto is another example of excellent design. It is an espresso bar in its essence. No chairs. Just the bar and the espresso.

Each time we walk in, Zibetto has the presence of doing New York a favour by being here. That is the impression left by the stylish yet simple design of the bar. It is accentuated by the sharply dressed yet always friendly baristas. And it is confirmed by the quality of the espresso.

Abraço in the East Village

Looking for a neighborhood-y feel, where you are bound to strike up conversation with the other patrons and the barista/proprietor?

Plus an excellent espresso?

Abraço is the place.

A tiny espresso bar, it is almost packed to the walls like a rush-hour subway car each time we visit. And people do not seem to mind. It actually adds to the atmosphere and facilitates the socializing that makes this such a comfortable café.

When you enjoy a café here, you feel like you have found something special.

This is a good note upon which to close out 2007.

My son and I were in Chelsea to check out Banksy over at the Vanina Holasek Gallery and all of a sudden we were waiting at a light, standing in front of a very cool looking café.

La Bergamote was a pleasant surprise.

Comfortable atmosphere. Inviting décor. Fitting music. Mouth-watering pastries. Good layout of seating for conversation or people watching out the window. And a good espresso.

Plus, at least some of the staff speaks French, which came in handy for a couple of the customers while we were there.

Excellent touch, La Bergamote.

Address

La Bergamote – 169 9th Avenue, New York at the corner of West 20th. CE Trains at 23rd Street.

Music

Edith Piaf – La foule

SohoKind Café has been a lot of fun so far.

I do realize the café posts have slowed down a bit.

My son and I are still venturing into the NYC cafés many times a week.

And there are still a few on our list and probably many other great spots that we have not yet discovered, in order to put them on the list.

The thing is that we have been experiencing an increasing rate of disappointments. Such as yesterday.

Really charming store-window as seen from the street. Mouth-watering pastry display. But then the music changed to I-do-not-know-what and it seemed to match my ‘macchiato’ in that department.

The macchiato was almost the size of a coke can, served in a paper cup even though we were staying in the café and instead of a crèma, there was a layer of water.

To get back on track, as well as just have an enjoyable time, we ventured over to La Colombe.

In general, we have been re-visiting a bunch of our favorites. Within the last couple of weeks, we have had really enjoyable times at Zibetto, Café Grumpy, Fika and La Colombe.

Seeing that 2007 is winding out now, this is what we will do.

There are a couple more cafés to visit before the New Year.

And then the first week of the New Year, SohoKind Café will release our Favorite Café Guide 2008.

Also, our 7^th baby & kid T-Shirt design is being released next week right before the New Year.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season!

All the Best,

Spencer

We spent last week revisiting some favorites in prep for our release of the SohoKind Café Guide to NYC in early January.

My son and I hit a wonderful surprise of a spot.

La Boulangerie on the Upper East Side.

Really charming place. Inviting and comfortable setting right on the corner of 79th Street and 3rd Avenue. Traces of Europe in the air. And on a beautifully overcast day, it hit the café spot.

Somehow I had walked by numerous times, and finally noticed it today.

Too bad that it was not until now, as they will be closing next week and heading back to Israel.

The staff was very friendly, to match the ambience. The music was a fit. The espresso was pretty good. Being served in an espresso glass and with a Hershey kiss were memorable touches.

Plus, they had a light and buttery croissant.

Do they really have to close?!

Visit La Boulangerie this week!

Address

La Boulangerie – 1389 3rd Avenue, New York on the corner of East 79th Street. 6 train at East 77th Street.

Music

Edith Piaf – La vie en rose

5th Ave packs a pleasant surprise within the Henri Bendel store.

Chocolate Bar has a rather discrete presence within the atrium of the luxury store.

And I’m not sure my son and I would have ever known it was there if we had not visited the West Village Chocolate Bar a couple of weeks ago and then checked out their website.

It is tucked away in the store, but the real treat is the single table they have in a huge mezzanine bay window that almost hangs over 5th Avenue from above.

There was no one at all on the mezzanine, so I had to ask if it was a part of Chocolate Bar.

Definitely a treat. Since I had already tried their espresso at the West Village location, the hot chocolate was the choice for the afternoon.

The hot chocolate (prepped with milk, not water) and that view make Chocolate Bar on 5th Ave worth a visit. Just check out the video for yourself.

Address

Chocolate Bar – 712 5th Avenue, New York between West 55th and 56th Streets. EV Trains at 5th Ave - 53rd Street. F Train at 57th Street. 456 Trains at 59th Street.

Music

Edith Piaf – Les flonflons du bal

It was a cool day.

Cold temperature outside but cool in terms of experiences. It was a day where my son and I had 4 or 5 little things (in the realm of it’s-the-little-things-in-life) happen yesterday.

One of them was Abraço.

Abraço is a new espresso bar in the heart of the East Village.

Unpretentious. Well-designed. Self-aware. Friendly atmosphere and service.

Excellent espresso.

Abraço keeps it simple and does it so well. A pleasure to experience.

The café is tiny with no chairs or tables. Which is perfect for the setting. You can enjoy your espresso at the street-facing window bar or the bench seating out front.

The proprietor also helps create a comfortable and personable ambience to Abraço.

It is another destination café for me. And there are a rare few of those. A destination café is a café where I want to be in the neighborhood just to visit the café.

Do not get me wrong. I love the East Village.

But with Abraço, the EV is brought a little more top of mind.

Address

Abraço – 86 East 7th Street, New York between 1st and 2nd Avenues. 6RW Trains at Astor Place.

Music

Edith Piaf – Milord

It was a deceiving day in New York. Well, after a few winters here, deceiving is not quite the word, as I am now accustomed to it. It looked gorgeous outside. Blue skies and barely a cloud to be seen. But whoooo was it cold. Some of our prettiest days are in the winter, particularly February. But that usually means the coldest as well. And a biting cold when there is no cloud cover for protection.

Thankfully Mud in the East Village is there for some respite.

Mud is incredibly cozy, with its earth tones, the café seems designed for cold nasty days. And as warm as the décor is, the service and resulting atmosphere are even warmer.

The espresso, or ‘mud’, was good. Served in a rustic glass tumbler complimenting the ambience while my son and I listened to the light rock of the café and entertained (bothered? hopefully not) the polite table next to us.

They also have a full blown menu, so for food or café and a neighborhood-y feel, Mud is worth a visit when down in the EV.

Address

Mud – 307 East 9th Street, New York between 1st and 2nd Avenues. 6RW Trains at Astor Place.

Music

Edith Piaf – L’homme à la moto

It was a bitingly cold day. And my son loved it…

For a few minutes and then we needed to go inside.

Columbus Circle provides one of the more intriguing indoor spaces (other than museums) in New York. And we need it as we get deeper into winter.

Cool architecture. I’m a big fan of the full-window concept, also seen in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof among other places. Here in NYC the mezzanine and balconies all look right out on to the Circle, which after many years now has its fountain, and Central Park.

Also, Bouchon Bakery is up on the second level to take advantage of the ambience.

The café presence itself is minimalist with just tables along the railing overlooking the lower level. The bakery is quite good. The espresso decent. But the real enjoyment of Bouchon Bakery is the atmosphere and view presented by the Columbus Circle.

There are exactly 4 tables in the café area with the view of the main lobby, Circle and Park. And what a view it is. There is also railing standing, which is where my son and I had to enjoy my espresso and chocolate chunk cookie.

Truly one of the better café views in NYC. And worth a visit.

Address

Bouchon Bakery – Columbus Circle, New York at the intersection of Broadway and West 59th Street. 1ABCD Trains at 59th Street/Columbus Circle.

Music

Edith Piaf – Ça sert à quoi l’amour