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Inside Box Kite Coffee's Itty Bitty New UWS Cafe
By
Nell Casey
Published Jan 22, 2015
Modified Jan 22, 2015
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By
Nell Casey
Published Jan 22, 2015
Modified Jan 22, 2015
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Fastidiously sourced and prepared coffee hasn't pushed out the street cart Anthora just yet, but the cup of coffee as fine wine model has certainly ballooned past the mustachioed counterculture and into the mainstream. So it's not surprising to see East Village transplant Box Kite expanding into the Upper West Side, bringing with it Espresso Tonics and the sports car-style machines that make them when it opens in the near future.
At the new West 72nd Street shop—really no more than a hallway, if we're being generous—owner Cora Lambert will be executing a bare bones menu of espresso drinks, regular coffee, teas and hot chocolate. The origin of their espresso drinks will come from the Hydra, a top of the line pressure profiling machine made by USA company Synesso. To see it in action, head over Saturday at 1 p.m., when they'll offer a free public cupping—"similar to a wine tasting but for coffee"—from a Danish roaster called The Coffee Collective.
From the machine, a simple espresso and macchiato combo called the 1 + 1, which the shop serves with a glass of seltzer and a homemade graham cracker. According to Lambert, it's a "great way to show how the inherent flavors in the coffees translate with and without milk." There's also the Espresso Tonic, a shot of coffee poured over chilled tonic water from Fever Tree.
At their downtown location, the shop doubles as a nighttime venue for a small tasting menu eatery. There's no plan to repeat the same uptown—and where would they put the chairs?—but they will offer a small a la carte menu of toasts. The seasonally-changing menu will include two savory toasts and two sweet toasts, beginning with a white fish toast and another with peanut butter, olive oil and sea salt.
128 West 72nd, website
(Clay Williams / Gothamist)
(Clay Williams / Gothamist)
Tagged
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coffee
new restaurant and bar radar
Upper West Side
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Nell Casey
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