Midtown Lunch

High Low Food Drink rounds up some of the best coffee in the city, and a few of the options are in Midtown.  They recommend Joe The Art of Coffee and Zibetto’s (plus Stumptown in the Ace Hotel is just outside the boundaries.)

It’s been almost three years since Macchiato Espresso Bar opened on 44th btw. Lex+3rd, selling their line of Italian coffee, sandwiches, salads, and pastries.  When it first opened, I posted my first impression (meh) which drew the ire of the owner because I hadn’t actually eaten any of the food or tries the coffee.  At the time I just wasn’t interested in trying another turkey and swiss sandwich for $9.  So sue me.  Well, it’s taken me almost three years… but I’ve finally gotten enough positive emails to warrant actually trying Macchiato Espresso Bar.  Well not me, but our resident coffee and baked goods expert Kathy YL Chan (from A Passion For Food).  I thought this place would be right up her alley, and asked her to check it out and report back.  Here’s what she found…

Welcome to Macchiato Espresso Bar on 44th Street, the last thing you’d expect to discover in discover in midtown. Coming in from 3rd Avenue, the bright blue entrance looks like some sort of strange oasis. The Bar exudes a Euro-trash meets midtown business vibe. Music is energetic, and the counter service is knowledgeable, efficient. Prices are high, though quality justifies to a certain extent.

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Clearly I don’t really know that much about coffee, considering I’m addicted to Tim Hortons iced cappuccino, but I do know this… when I went to Chicago last year, I went to Intelligentsia and it was really good.  So I’m guessing coffee fanatics in the area will be excited to hear that the newly opened Culture Espresso Bar (in the old Starwich location on 6th Ave. and 38th Street) is now open, and they are using Intelligentsia coffee.  They also have a nice selection of baked goods from various NYC bakeries like Sullivan St. Bakery & Ceci Cela (although if the Treats Truck is parked on 38th & 5th, like they are today, I’d hit that up instead.)  Now if we could only get some Stumptown up in here…  (did that just make it sound like I know what I’m talking about?)

Culture Espresso Bar, 72 West 38th Street (btw. 5+6th)

Although recently they’ve been really good about it, I’ve given the Riese Company a lot of crap over the years for not participating in various free food promotions at some of their Midtown franchises.  Well after reading this news on the NRN Website I’m here to say I TAKE IT ALL BACK:

The Riese Organization, a longtime multi-concept franchisee in New York City, is converting all 13 of its Dunkin’ Donuts stores to the Tim Hortons brand… Riese said he plans to close the Dunkin’ locations on Friday and reopen the stores July 13 under the Tim Hortons banner.

According to a different article on NRN, Tim Hortons also has cut a deal to co-brand three Manhattan locations of Cold Stone Creamery with Tim Hortons (including the Times Square location on 42nd btw. 7+8th), which will hopefully clear the way for items like  “muffin ‘bowls’ (i.e., with the tops removed) to serve ice cream in, ice cream-based coffee drinks or donut piece mix-ins for the ice cream as potential exclusive menu items at the co-branded locations.” My lord.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tim Hortons, it is basically the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts started by a famous hockey player named Tim Horton (natch). I’ve only had it once (on a road trip to Montreal) and I can’t speak for their doughnuts- but based on their iced cappuccino alone I am pretty excited to welcome Tim Hortons to Midtown with open arms! It is like ice cold crack in a cup, and I will probably drink one every day between now and the end of the summer.

As for why Riese is no longer in business with DD, the original article goes on to note that Dunkin Donuts claims to have terminated their contract due to “violated health and safety regulations”. (Not a surpise to anybody who has walked into a Tad’s Steak.) I don’t care either way… I will take a dirty Tim Hortons over no Tim Hortons any day of the week. As long as they don’t screw up those iced cappuccinos.

A list of all Riese owned Dunkin Donuts locations (which will presumably become Tim Hortons locations on Monday) is after the jump.

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A few things have happened since Kathy YL Chan (from A Passion for Food) compiled her Food Porn Guide to Navigating Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) for Midtown Lunch. Beard Papa is now gone, replaced by a coffee and dessert bar.  Since Kathy is our resident coffee, dessert, and Cafe Zaiya expert we told her to go whole hog on their new offerings and report back.  Here is what she found…

Since you’ve already had a first look at the menu and set up of Cafe Zaiya’s new coffee and dessert station, let’s just get straight to the point. The best thing on Cafe Zaiya’s new drink bar menu is SHAVE ICE. It’s near impossible to find shave ice in this city, much less a decent bowl of shave ice. It’s a terribly painful fact for someone who grew up in Hawai’i, consuming shave ice bowls on a daily basis. Zaiya’s shave runs $3.79 for a small and $4.29 for a large, and comes in one flavor: Green Tea. Unlike most places which fill the cup with shave ice and then put on the syrup, Zaiya fills half the cup with shave ice then pours on green tea syrup and plenty of condensed milk. Then more ice, till it forms a decent mound, and then more syrup and condensed milk.

How about the toppings?

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