While I've been in New York, I've been trying out various coffee places. Mostly because I love coffee, but also because I need some places to get out of the apartment and still be able to concentrate on work. Starbucks is always a safe standby, but I've found a few others that have been great in and around my neighborhood (SoHo):
- Cafe Borgia
- City Girl Cafe (wifi)
- Caffe Reggio (wifi)
- Caffe Dante
- Rheon Cafe
All of the above are great places and I will continue to frequent them. Also, NYC is full of coffee shops and I have a long way to go before I've experienced even a small percentage of them. Nonetheless, I'm currently sitting in The Roasting Plant and its unique for a few reasons:
- every table is small (2 people max) and has a power outlet
- they do not except tips... even if you try
- free, unsecured, fast wifi
- open until 12:30
- it is not crowded, and their setup pretty much prevents it
- all of their coffee is freshly ground and brewed on a per-cup basis, getting their beans from giant containers that feed the brewing machines with pneumatic tubes (see photos)
Now, their coffee isn't the cheapest in the city by any stretch - but that probably keeps out a lot of the riff-raff. It's not the most convenient place for me to go for a java but I will definitely be back.
