Café d'Avignon

Café d’Avignon is a French bakery in midtown. Their menu is quite expensive with classic espresso based coffee drinks made using Stumpton roasters and specialty lattes. They also bake loaves of bread, sweet and savory pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as scones, cakes and other snacks. I ordered a drip coffee to go with my kouign amann which is a French pastry similar to a buttery croissant rolled in sugar which forms a caramelized crust. It’s flake, chewy and has just the right amount of sweet crunch on top. 

My colleague told me about this spot and I went back with her and some other work friends. It surely did not disappoint! I hope to go back again soon and try all the other delicious pastries in the display!

Café Grumpy

Grumpy started out in Greenpoint in 2005 and has grown to over 10 locations all over new York and has even expanded to New Jersey and Miami. I first heard of Café Grumpy when the HBI series “Girls” was super popular. I can’t remember if I ever tried their coffee while visiting the city over the past years, but my friend recently suggested stop by the Chelsea location which is super close to where we live!  

The Chelsea spot was really busy and crowded so we decided to get our lattes to go. I loved my vanilla latte and my friend got a maple latte. We laughed because the service was a bit slow with unfriendly baristas (true to the café name) but the coffee was delicious so we couldn’t complain! I enjoyed the coffee and its proximity to home!

Charley St

Charley St is an amazing Australian café in Little Italy. I had the most amazing food, coffee and service here!

The atmosphere is very casual which I liked, where you order at the counter and your food / coffee is brought to your table. I went with some friends and we did struggle to find a spot to sit but eventually got a great table in the back. I ordered the special which was a piece of sourdough bread topped with hummus, enoki mushrooms, with two perfectly poached eggs topped with pesto. While it wasn’t the prettiest dish, I think it was definitely the most delicious! There were plenty of other toast options, grain bowls and even a PB & J Oatmeal bowl that was very popular in our group!

On the way out I grabbed a hot brew to go. Turns out this café is owned by two young Australians, both of whom were serving customers and chatting with everyone! I loved the service, the cozy vibe and the food!