Tea Lounge - Cobble Hill

My search for the perfect study coffee shop continues.

Today, as I had an extra two hours after dropping off my babysitting client at her dance class, I ventured around Cobble Hill looking for a reasonable coffee shop to study in. This really involves a lot of walking, peeking my head in the window, and counting the number of laptops per total number of tables. If the ratio is close to 50% or higher, I deem it a constructive study space. Seems to work.

It seems my non-beloved Park Slope Tea Lounge has a second location on Court Street (Cobble Hill). And, by my humble opinion, they got it better the second time. I have many issues with the Park Slope location, including the place being too dark, loud, and even the smell of some couches.

The Cobble Hill Tea Lounge is a pretty standard comfy couch- art on walls-coffee and snacks- cool music coffee shop. Nothing too unique, but that's why it was great. There is a certain comfort in the beat up couches and familiar music sensibilities. It taps into that side of me that used to actually get homework done back in college. Good productive vibe, specially with plenty of natural light, fresh air, and lots of people in study mode.

I ordered a regular coffee and an Italian panini. The coffee was good enough for my limited palette, though I do wish they would let customers sweeten their own drinks. Getting the right amount of sugar and coffee is a labour of love that needs to added slowly to mix better. The sandwich was tasty, and it was basically a glorified grilled cheese with tomato and basil. It was fresh tasting, and really hit the spot.

I don't see how I'd make it back. Cobble Hill is not my neck of the woods, but I'd highly recommend it as a neighborhood coffee shop to others.

Andrew's Coffee Shop

Don't go here. Seriously. Don't.

To be honest, I am not even sure how I ended up in a this midtown diner having bad pizza. All I know is that after spending way too long on a shopping spree with my mother, we needed a break and a place to sit. Somewhere with comfy chairs where we could regain our energy, grab a bite, and prepare for the rest of the afternoon.

Since we didn't want to go to another deli like the two previous lunch outings (as delicious as most delis are, the chairs tend to be a bit more uncomfortable), we ventured into Andrew's Coffee Shop allured by the primal comfort of the diner atmosphere.

Big mistake.

In addition to service being slow, they brought us a magherita pizza without basil, and when we inquired about it, the waitress basically said, "well, they just sprinkle it on anyway, you don't want it." And when we pointed out that we did, indeed, want it, she simply brought us a small plate with three basil leaves with instructions to shred it and sprinkle it ourselves. And we might have been cool with this, we were hungry after all, if she hadn't charged us for refills on our drinks.

Seriously? A diner is charging for refills on overpriced soda without alerting their customers? Unacceptable.

In retrospect, we should have gone for the deli. Good, dependable and varied food, and they are everywhere in midtown.

photo courtesy of Susan S. from www.yelp.com

Spring

It seems that spring is finally showing itself, or that at least some plants finally got the memo. And, on a totally unrelated note, I am learning to use the macros and manual focus on my camera.

City Girl Cafe

I've been babysitting a third grader this week. I pick her up from school in Carrol Gardens, and walk her around to her after school activities. Today, I dropped her off at NYC Elite, a gymnastics center in Soho. And it gave me an hour and half to continue my "studying in coffee shops" series.

I found City Girl Cafe almost by accident. After walking around Soho and resisting the window-shopping temptations, I saw the sign saying Espresso. Then I stuck my head to the window, saw a couple of other tables with laptops, and went inside.

It was really busy, which impressed me. Yet I managed to find an open table, no easy feat in a small 7 table cafe. Most people in line were getting their coffee to-go. I liked the vibe, lots of big windows and very good light. And the music was conducive to studying as well.

The only distracting thing was all the people. Good for business, but I kept people watching. People watching is great, but a bit frustrating when is attempting to get through something as boring as the LEED handbook.

photo by Konstantin Sergeyev ............................................................photo by Natalia Olivera

Gonzales y Gonzales

Dear Gonzales y Gonzales,

Thank you for helping me have a great birthday "party", where I somehow convinced a bunch of friends that the best thing to do on a Saturday night was to have margaritas and go salsa dancing. The margarita part was an easy sell, it's the willingness to accept salsa dancing that amazed me more. Thanks G&G for giving me a good meeting place.

Not that you didn't try valiantly to mess it up several times, G&G. Good thing you came through in the end. When our table was about an hour late, you made it up by giving us a great location in the middle of the dance floor area. Despite having the cheesiest 90's and top 40 music when we first arrived, you fixed it with the solid Latin band for the rest of the evening. We'll need to talk about the loud dj music though, I wasn't a fan of that. And though your service was horrendously slow, it was okay because it gave us the perfect excuse to hoard our central location.

In all honesty, I dont know how the night would have been if our table wasn't so well located. Good real state is hard to come by, specially in a dance club. Sure, it was louder than the "dining" room and harder to talk, and our appetizers never arrived, but it was an anchor in the storm, an island where to lay our stuff, a home in the the wilderness of the dancing crowds.

I am not sure if I'd go back to G&G, the type of crowd wasn't fully my scene. But the dancing was awesome, the drinks good, and my birthday was fun. In the words of one of my friends, it was a Salsa Moshpit. And I'm pretty sure he meant it as a compliment.

Perilla

I really meant to write this sooner, but my mother was in town for my birthday, and I was wonderfully distracted by actual human interaction and entertainment. Who needs to blog when you have family in town?

And on occasion of my birthday, we had dinner at Perilla Restaurant, a wonderful place that I will from now on recommend to everyone I know.

I'd been curious about the restaurant for a long time because of it's Top Chef connection. For those of you who follow TC, Perilla is first season winner Harold Dieterle's restaurant. He was great in his season, seemed like an inventive and accomplished cook, and I am glad to see that he was a deserving winner and used his moment in the spotlight to further his actual career as a Chef.

The restaurant is really small, only 18 tables, and the layout gives it a very homey and comfortable feeling. Good lighting too, which is incredibly important in a festive setting. I tend to base whether I will return to a restaurant based on the atmosphere (this must be why I am an architect and not a foodie), and purely based on the building, I will definitely go back. Of course it helps that the food was delicious.

We started with a Hamachi Crudo appetizer. Then for the main course, I ordered Sauteed Rosefish with quinoa, cauliflower, snap peas and a sweet & sour eggplant-basil sauce. The sauce lived up to it's sweet/sour name, and provided a tasty balance to the fish. I liked the snap peas as well, which I usually would have left on my plate. I guess this is the thing about restaurants with accomplished chefs, all the elements in the dish complement each other. My mom ordered the roasted duck breast, with basmati rice, garam masala & gooseberries; while Nate got grilled prime hanger stead with sunchoke creamed spinach, red shallot puree and natural jus. I tasted all three dishes, and am forced to admit that Nate's was indeed very tasty, and I might try it next time.

But mostly I will go back because of the great service, which I will address in four different examples. 1) They took our coats when we arrived. Small detail, but it was so nice (and free). 2) Though we had made a reservation, they took over a half hour to seat us. Which was annoying though understandable in busy restaurants. Yet as a token of appreciation for our patience, they gave us free hamachi appetizers. Great. 3) Waiter was friendly and always around when we needed him. That's nothing that earth shattering, but is nice nonetheless. 4) I ordered a glass of limoncello for dessert. Upon finding out that the restaurant was out of L, the waiter gave me half a glass "on the house". Which considering how strong limoncello is, was actually the amount I truly wanted.

Uh.... if I had a rating system this is the part where I would give it three forks, or 5 stars, or 10 points, or whatever it is that people do when they really like a restaurant.

Brooklyn St. Patrick's Parade

This afternoon we went to the hardware store to buy a fly swatter, and voila, there was a parade down on our street. It was fun. Lots of bagpipes, kilts and people wearing green, and many schools and local chapters of armed forces represented.

We had no idea there was even a parade scheduled on our street, so it was a happy surprise. Lucky for me, I had my camera with me, so I took some pictures.

A night in Greenwich Village

Saturdays are my favorite. I can wake up late, go to bed late, and not worry about having to be anywhere early in the morning the next day. This is partly why last night, Saturday, we ended up being out much later than originally intended. I don't know how it became a bar hopping evening. The originally plan had been to meet up with Nate's friend Leonel at a coffee shop, maybe go grab a beer or two, and try to avoid the St. Patrick's Day craziness. Next thing I know, we've gone to three separate bars, grabbed felafel, and ended up taking the subway back at 3:30 am. At least we didn't deal with St. Patty's crowds.

Greenwich Village Bistro. This was our meeting place with Nate's friend Leonel. We got there late on account of the Q running local, and I my having some trouble making it out of the house. The place is great; looks truly like a small bistro place, with expressionist paintings adorning the walls and cozy welcoming atmosphere. Highlight of the night: a jazz band was playing. It was fun, they were doing their thing, we were having beer (I ordered a Pilsner). A very chill vibe, but we didn't stay very long because within a half hour of our getting there, the band finished out their set and called it a night. It made me really bummed that we got there so late.

Peculier Pub. Of course we came here. Where else can you find an fun vibe, lots of beer, the feel of a college bar, yet still have plenty of room to hang out? I'm sure there are lots of bars that fit the description, but somehow I end up at Peculier's more often than I intend to. And what can I say, I really like the place. It feels like I am "out" while still being the type of establishment where everyone wears jeans. The lighting is dark, though bright enough to notice the bottle cap mosaics decorating the walls. It's this type of DIY decorative style that reminds me of college bars, and feels very welcoming.

We hung out at Peculiers for a while. Nate likes to order Delirium beer here, and I think this is a big factor in his initial endorsement of the bar. Myself, I ordered a Blue Moon and kept it predictable. The Delirium stuff goes straight to my light head, and no one wants that. Least of all me the next morning.

Pieces Bar. I am not exactly sure how we ended up here. Let me rephrase that. I know that Leonel suggested the Pieces, but I'm not sure why we decided we had to leave Peculier's or why we came here specifically, so many blocks away. I know we were trying to get away from the excess of NYU students, and whatever bar we went to needed to have some type of coat/bag check, since Leonel was hauling his laptop around. He suggested Pieces, and I'm glad he did, as it was a very fun experience.

For starters, to get to Pieces we had to go on Gay Street. No kidding, it's a one block street, more of an alley really, but street signs don't lie. Gay St. it is. Once we got there, it had all the gaudy awesomeness that a proper gay bar should have. Except that this wasn't the martini fabulous type of gay bar. More of a mixed drinks, pool table, t-shirts and Christmas lights scene. It made me think of Indian meets Chinese restaurant decorations, except doubly awesome. One guy, who I assume was pretty toasted, went up to me and said, "Has anyone ever told you you look like Famke Jessen?" In all honesty, no one has EVER told me that. Probably because it isn't true, but I believed him last night because I was having a pretty good hair day. People always get fooled by good hair.

My drink was good. I like my cocktails weak, and Pieces didn't disappoint with the excess of soda. Best way to make sure not drink too much is to order watered down cocktails. Works for me every time.

Buy the time we left Pieces, it was 3:30. I don't know how it got so late without our noticing. I think my internal party clock still expects bars to close around me at 2 am, like in Texas, so I'm not supposed to decide on my own to call it a night. I'll get the hang of it at some point.

Long Tan

I've been getting used lately to ordering Thai takeout. It's nice, we don't have to cook, and we pick up the food ourselves since the place we like is only four blocks away. Then I can just eat in my PJs while we watch The Daily Show on Hulu. What can I say, I'm living the dream.

The thing is, Long Tan, our current favorite Thai takeout, also happens to be a great location. Which really raises a conundrum on nights when we want to go out and have a nice dinner. Why should we go to a restaurant that serves the very food we like to pick up when we are feeling lazy?

Because we like the food. This is the answer I've come to.

Whatever. I like the place. It feels very modern and hipstery. Dark red walls, minimalist wall decorations, mood lighting and candles, bamboo plants as place settings. It feels very urban and chill. It also helps that they have a pretty good music selection. Just today we were serenaded by The Shins, Elliot Smith, Interpol and Led Zeppelin, from what I recognized.

I ordered a glass of white wine and Thai fried rice with chicken. Nate got a Yuengling beer and pad Thai noodles. My rice was good and tasty, and was in fact so large that I took some home with me. Nate finished his whole plate, and I'll trust him that it was good since I don't eat peanuts. This menu is really affordable, and it's nice to have a nice night out in a place that exudes fabulousness without breaking the budget.

We also took a bunch of silly pictures. I've been trying to discover all my Minolta's different options and settings. I inherited this camera from my father a few months ago, and though it's not my dream Nikon SLR, but it's definitely an upgrade from the previous one I had. I've been attempting to figure out all the manual settings, aperture, focus, f-stop and exposure. With mixed results, but it was still fun to take 50 pictures of the glasses and coffee.

Ozzie's Coffee - The Third Place

In Urban Design, there is a term for informal gathering spaces, coined by Ray Oldenburg, called the Third Place: “a setting beyond home and work (the “first” and “second” places respectively) in which people relax in good company and do so in regular basis.”

This becomes that hub in a community, the place where people go to meet people, to be aware of what is happening around them, to see and be seen. Such as coffee shops, community centers, bars with the same regulars for happy hour, that type of place. I have been fascinated for a while by the ongoing discussion of how Third Places fit with modern cities. Modern American city planning encourages nesting – think of suburban homes becoming larger and larger, including private pools, movie-viewing rooms, space for a full bar, private decks, etc. Entertainment becomes a private notion rather than being in a public setting. Even suburban clubhouses are private in nature, as they require a type of membership for use – living there. I have an entire schpeal about suburban city planning, but I wont kick a puppy while it’s down, as suburban developments haven’t been doing well lately.

Some people also feel that the Internet acts as a Third Place. I find this concept to be very interesting and spent, in fact, an entire semester of graduate school discussing this in class – digital communities, social networking, forums, multi-user games, etc. And though I agree with the functionality of the web as a tool for socialization, personally I crave physical proximity. Third Places persist, as they are in many ways a vital part of how we interact with the world. We still find coffee shops and places that are of a public nature, where we can democratically intermingle with the community.

Oldenburg said "The character of a third place is determined most of all by its regular clientele and is marked by a playful mood, which contrasts with people's more serious involvement in other spheres. Though a radically different kind of setting for a home, the third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends…They are the heart of a community's social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape.”

I realized today that Ozzie’s, a coffee shop in my neighborhood, might just be a perfect Third Place by every definition.

I wrote about Ozzie’s a few days ago, in my search for good coffee shops in which to study. I went today to the main location on 5th Avenue, a few blocks from my house. The 5th Avenue location is larger, brighter, with bigger tables and more windows, a nicer model to the smaller location in front of my house. And as I discovered today, it is also a great community hub.

For starters, a major characteristic of Third Places is that they tend to be from the community to the community. Ozzie’s is locally owned and only has two locations, both in the neighborhood. They also have a major wall to a bulletin board advertising everything from guitar lessons, moving services (“a guy with a truck”), to tutoring and computer services. Nothing too crazy, but it’s always nice to see home made ads. There is also a bookshelf for free book exchanges, free wi-fi, computer and printers on a pay as you go basis, a full table with local magazines and newspapers, sandwiches, and board game night on Thursdays.

The thing that really got me, though, was that people were using the space. I was sitting across from a young hipster mommy group. Six or so young mothers and their babies, drinking coffee and conversing about movies or whatever, all the while breastfeeding, burping their children, and balancing them around with expert ease. Yes, the kids were a bit loud, but no one complained. This is a child friendly establishment. Probably because the rest of the clientele was, respectively, an old couple reading the newspaper, a group of teenage girls giggling about boys, 6 or so tables with students and their laptops, some young people reading books, 3-4 tables with kids being tutored in math, and some parents who were waiting for their kids to meet them there after school. Everyone had a stake in the place. And it made me realize that Ozzie’s, along with selling coffee and pastries, is providing the community with a basic gathering point. People know a meeting space is their at their convenience, and this is powerful knowledge.

It was one of those moments where all the things I learned in school clicked in a whole new personal way. The nerdy urban designer in me had a totally exhilarating moment. My “cool” façade betrayed nothing. I feel like I could geek out on this for hours, and go into my excited rants of how amazing it is to live in a medium-density vibrant mixed-use neighborhood, but I think I should finish.

After all, my reason for coffee shop searching was to study for LEED. And I still need to get some reading done tonight.