Maialino

Name: Maialino
Address: 2 Lexington Ave (@21st Street), at Gramercy Park Hotel

The Maialino is a Roman style trattoria with a restaurant section, split by an open trattoria working space, from the cafe section. The space is reflective, and though its well visited throughout the day, by a more upscale clientèle, the atmosphere is laid back and perfect for writing. The staff is not so personable and amicable as in a regular corner cafe, but attentive and friendly enough. The price for a French press coffee that serves two is about $4, but it could certainly be a bit stronger, but they had run out of drip coffee, so that's probably a bit better. Wifi is only available for hotel guests.

Rating: +++
Coffee: - (French press)

Le Fumoir

Name: Le Fumoir
Address: 6 Rue de l’Amiral Coligny 75001 Paris

Once lunch time subsides Le Fumoir slowly empties out with the Parisian and the foreign visitors who consume their lunch there in the comfortable leather Chesterfield fauteuils and the dining tables. After 3 in the afternoon, you will be allowed to enter the backroom of Le Fumoir, which they fondly call the Library. A small square room, with wainscot panelling and bookcases reaching up from the chair rail to the ceiling all around. Here and there a photograph and a painting from the 1920s, remind you of the glory days of Paris. I probably have never written in a more suitable writer's hangout, and it will be well worth your time to visit after 3. Bring inkwell and fountain pen.

Rating: +++++
Coffee: good

Bluebird Coffee Shop

Name: Bluebird Coffee Shop
Address: 72 East 1st Street (at 1st ave), New York, NY 10003

So, New York's cafe culture seems to be evolving toward the 'coffee shop' rather than the 'cafe' and I suppose the writer must inevitably adapt with it. The days of lounging casually and ponderously for hours with laptop and coffee are drawing somewhat to an end - The closing of 'Esperanto' on MacDougal St. was very much the underwater bell toll of times changing, well, for me at least. The writer must, I think now approach New York's Coffee spots as sudden pools of life in which to dip briefly, reflect, jot notes, observe, emerge and move on.

Bluebird Cafe is more coffee shop than cafe (yes, of course that's given in the name) - the tables are small but perfect for notebook and vittles, the coffee expertly chosen and brewed. It is a great place for an espresso, a glass of water and a bowl of homemade granola of an early morning. It also seems to have built up a substantial local following which certainly adds to the experience - the socially redundant writer can close his eyes and imagine that he is among friends as it were, or more importantly, can overhear snippets of local news and gossip to include in a novel.

Good points: Atmosphere, coffee, food, and complimentary newspapers and locals are all conducive to either a relaxing half hour in thought or a solid twenty minutes of note taking.

Bad points: Ok, it's close to the kid's park and so if you're a grumpy old man, as I am, sometimes kids and strollers can be irritating - but then that's a petty comment really. Also, the owners also have Botanica bar on Houston which doesn't open till 5pm. If they only opened it at 11am I could swing over straight after breakfast. Again, that reveals more about me than the coffee shop I suppose. There aren't any bad points really.

Rating: ++++

Sunburst Espresso Bar

Name: Sunburst Espresso Bar
Address: 206 3rd Avenue (@ 18th St), New York, NY 10003

Sunburst is a busy lunch cafe between 12 and 14 pm, but otherwise a pleasantly visited writer's hangout. The tables are not very inspiring, except for two tables at the window and three stools at a counter placed in the corner window. The coffee is good and a large coffee costs about $2.75.

Rating: +
Coffee: good

Rating System

The rating system is purely subjective obviously. I use the following scales.

Coffee: bad, decent, good, excellent
Rating (overall): from ----- to +++++

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