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Jack's Coffee - New York City

Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee

138 West 10th St.

New York, NY 10014

Drinking a latte can be a pleasurable experience. There is the warmness of the milk, the mix of mild sweetness and familiar caffeine. But at Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee a large whole milk latte takes on a whole new meaning of enjoyment. After the first sip of my latte at Jack’s, I slowed down and closed my eyes for a moment, just for a quick moment, because I knew that I had just experienced the first moment of my life. The latte was not very bitter at all. That was really strange for me because I’m used to having bitter coffee and that’s what I consider to be normal. But it turns out that the barista used ristretto shots which are generally smaller in volume but tend to be sweeter. My friend told me that a large latte gets three ristretto shots. That was interesting because it explained why I was getting a full coffee flavor without overwhelming bitterness.

The milk was total serenity. It tasted pure and friendly, as if the cow wanted me to drink it. It was so good in fact that my friend and I ordered another latte each. I don’t usually do that. Two lattes in one sitting is usually a recipe for disaster. But I was OK.

One thing to know about Jack’s is that it is a busy coffee shop. So when I got there I was very lucky to get a seat. I think Jack’s would be a great place to get to know people and share business ideas, because since it is so busy, people often share tables. One woman shared her table with over three different people over the course of an hour.

The place smells so good. It has a mellow coffee smell. And Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee is well decorated and comfortable. It feels like you are in a place with some history and personality. It is a small coffee house, but it has MEGA flavor. The vibe of Jack’s is very stimulating for conversations and thinking. The next time I go there I will probably bring my journal and maybe I will draw some monsters or something.

The staff at Jack’s were super cool and friendly. They had a good attitude and seemed chill.

An important thing that I noticed about Jack’s was that all the customers were very nice to each other and super respectful. I noticed one woman offered to share the bench outside with other people as I walked inside. And even though it was close quarters in there, people seemed courteous and real towards each other. This is a very healthy sign for any establishment.

-Tyler

Maruzzella

Maruzzella

1483 First Ave., New York, NY

Just North of 77th Street

(212) 988-8877

Maruzzella is an Italian restaurant in New York City that has an excellent Chicken special. I had only eaten a Starbucks Double Chocolate Brownie all day and a couple cups of tea, so when dinner rolled around 6:30 PM I was very hungry. When my father and I sat down, Maruzzella was empty. But it didn’t stay that way. By the time 7PM rolled around the place was half-full. So I ordered there Minestrone soup and that was good. It had vegetables in it that tasted fresh and it wasn’t too salty. Also the broth was flavorful while still being what I would consider a lighter soup.  The chicken special I ordered was a big piece of chicken with cheese inside of it. It also had prosciutto ham stuffed inside the chicken. I was surprised at how big the piece of chicken was. It also came with potatoes that were seasoned and good because they were crispy on the outside.

The chicken was cooked in such an excellent way that each bite was a real pleasure to eat. It was a meal worth savoring and that was important because it was so filling. I remember being shocked by how full I was half-way through eating the chicken. The reason for this is because Maruzzella is a place that has the feel of comfortable fine dining and so I expected the portion to be very small. And the cheese that was inside the chicken was the perfect consistency of both creamy yet pliable. It didn’t all goosh out under pressure. Each bite was accompanied by cheese.

I’m not sure how often they are going to be serving this chicken special. And I also don’t know what the price was. But I do know that the soup was $7.00 or so. But my Dad ordered a veal dish and he said it was really good but the portions were no where near as large as my chicken portion. And this makes sense because usually veal is more expensive than chicken. And also my chicken was filled with cheese so that probably made it bloated.

As for the music selection that was played. The music was high energy female vocally driven Italian pop music. That music made the experience more casual and that is why I say it is not a fully fine dining meal. The server was very good except I couldn’t really understand him when he said the specials. So when I was interested in the chicken one I had to ask him more questions, and he didn’t mind repeating himself. He was very short and I liked that because it made it seem like a fun Italian place with a short dude.

Maruzzella has a lot of staff. Our meal was introduced by the server, there was an expo, and a bus-boy. There also was management staff that was checking on everything. So even though we didn’t have a problem with anything, if we did I’m sure that issue would have been addressed quickly.

The decor was traditional Italian nice place style. Nothing really stood out in particular.

What blows my mind is that I am still not hungry and it is 11:19 PM. By now if I ate a normal meal I would be going nuts devouring bananas and pears right now.

-Tyler

New York Starbucks vs Corona del Mar

The Starbucks in New York are different from the one in Corona del Mar. First off, in New York City, the baristas wear hats. The hats look like baseball caps but instead of having a baseball team on the front, there is a Starbucks logo. In Corona del Mar, the baristas do not wear hats. So I asked one of the baristas in New York City why they wear hats and he said it is because of some health code. And I said, “Well at least you look fashionable.” And the barista said, “I hate it.” One thing that was interesting was that the prices in New York were higher than Corona del Mar for a latte. I ordered a Grande latte and it was over $4.00. I think it may have been as much as $4.25. In Corona del Mar I can get a venti latte for $3.70. Check this out: In New York some of the Starbucks have TV screens that show the current song that is being played over the loud speakers. It also shows a progress bar for the song.

Overall the layout of the Starbucks were very similar. But one Starbucks in New York in particular had a really cool and long table. I was so jealous when I saw it because that table would have been perfect for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Group that I love to host.

One thing that I noticed was that both the baristas in New York and Corona del Mar are very friendly. That was interesting to me because I kind of expected the baristas in New York to have a lot of attitude. But in fact they were very friendly. And when I talked to one barista today and mentioned, “Yesterday I drank two-and-a-half lattes, and for some reason I couldn’t sleep.” She laughed at my joke. I didn’t expect her to laugh.

A big surprise to me was that the New York Starbucks that I visited didn’t have Pay-To-Use bathrooms. They were free, just like in Corona del Mar.

Another odd thing was that even though the Lattes were a higher price in New York from Corona del Mar, the Chocolate Chunk brownies were the same price.

Overall the Starbucks in New York City were busier than in Corona del Mar. There is almost always an empty seat in Corona del Mar. But in New York there were people hovering around, waiting for a new seat to become available. And when I got up someone swooped down into my chair like a a vulture.

I didn’t notice any Starbucks in New York that had fireplaces. But I think the Corona del Mar Starbucks fireplace is a pretty rare thing. So that is most likely a difference between the Corona del Mar Starbucks and the world.

It was really surreal to see the same audio CD’s promoted at the Starbucks on the other side of the continent. I could remember that CD with the “Wake Up” title very easily. That is seriously powerful marketing, to be able to promote an album all across the USA simultaneously and repetitively.

The biggest difference between the New York Starbucks and Corona del Mar, is that the baristas at the Corona del Mar Starbucks are one of a kind. They are so funny and cool that I am really lucky to have a local Starbucks with so many superstars. I know if I lived in New York that I would probably get to know the baristas there, so this is a mute point.

-Tyler

Cafe Sabarsky

Cafe Sabarky

at the Neue Galerie

1048 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028

Mon. and Wed. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Thurs. Fri.Sat. and Sun. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Closed Tuesdays

There’s a first time for everything and Hungarian Beef Goulash is no exception. When I sat down to eat at Cafe Sabarsky I immediately felt like I was going to get some authentic German/Viennese Food. The Cafe Sabarsky is very well designed and has a classy dark wood look. The serving staff is all very well dressed and our server spoke in a German accent and knew both English and German. She taught me how to pronounce, “mit Shlag,” which means, “with whipped cream.” I was very hungry at the time and had recently come to New York by airplane from LAX. So I decided to order their Hungarian Beef Goulash because it sounded good. Also I saw a woman eating a stew-looking meal and I was interested.

The Hungarian Beef Goulash is in a red saucy-stew that tastes delicious. It isn’t very stew-like though. This is because there is only sauce and four medium-large pieces of beef. So usually when I think of a stew it has vegetables in it. But this is a Goulash which means…well stew with vegetables and beef. So I guess this is a more pure form of Goulash because it is just Beef and Sauce and that’s it. But even though it didn’t have any vegetables in it that were chunky, it seemed like there were vegetables including the possibility of onions that may have been dissolved into the sauce. On the bright side, the Beef was extremely tender and high quality. And even though there was a tiny bit of fat on the meat, I didn’t end up discarding more than the tiniest bite of it.

The Hungarian Goulash wasn’t a cheap dish, it was $26.00 but it did come with some Fresh Herbed Quark Spatzle. This was basically extremely high quality room temperature macaroni and cheese, but without the holes in the macaroni. The Spatzle was more dense than macaroni. It was in-between pasta and gnocchi. This meal was very filling and even though it was pricey the service and environment was worth it. The serving staff was so comfortable, I never felt rushed at all and I had plenty of time to talk and relax. This was so much so that I ended up getting a Cappuccino as well and sharing a apple strudel. The cappuccino was very good and it was the perfect bitterness-milkiness ratio. And the apple strudel tastes fresh and tart, as if it was made from real apples and not some sugar preservative concoction that so many of us are familiar with when it comes to strudel. It had the flavor of a home-made strudel, but with the texture and presentation of a professional desert. The foam from the cappuccino could have been a little bit silkier but it was still very good. At least there weren’t big bubbles. I’ve noticed that some expensive cafes and restaurants sell cappuccinos and charge an arm and an elbow and yet the foam has big bubbles. Cafe Sabarsky did not disappoint in this respect.

I liked the food at Cafe Sabarsky so much that I am probably going to go to the art gallery that it is affiliated with.

-Tyler