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Jimmy Choo cup holders, $165

Totally appropriate gift for the office-going coffee-lover. Also, depends how much you love said coffee-lover. The cup sleeves are available at jimmychoo.com for $165 in fucshia and orange (or £95 for the black and croc ones at Net-a-Porter).

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Blue Dog Cafe

I asked my cousin/roomie, Safia, where we can grab a quick breakfast and her eyes lit up as if she’s been waiting for me to ask her this all morning:

“Oh Shy! There’s this place I pass by everyday to work called Blue Dog Café and I’ve been meaning to check it out! Let’s go!” {direct quote}

At first I was hesitant – “I need something quick though!” “Well, then where do you want to go?” “I don’t know…should I get some coffee from Dunkin?” “Where’s Dunkin?” “Like two blocks away from here.” “OK. Blue Dog is closer.” And that’s how Safia won.

Yes, we will

When we arrived, I realized I had also passed this place on several occasions but didn’t really think much of what’s inside. Turns out, Blue Dog is all about organic, local, preservative-free food and the (**spoiler alert) delicious, healthy smoothies. I instantly got excited looking at their menu (many named after Beatles’ songs: Yellow Submarine, Strawberry Fields…).

Blue Dog Cafe

Blue Dog Cafe

Breakfast offerings

Cupcakes

A blue dog

Blue Dog Cafe

Carrot, almond, raisin muffin

Gobble gobble

I wanted something with a little caffeine so I got a small Banana Latte. After a promise that the healthy sounding Queen of the Jungle smoothie (banana, kale, spinach, and fresh orange juice) would not taste like grass, Saf got that one too.

My banana latte and the Queen of the Jungle shake

The smoothies were refreshingly delicious — not watery and not super thick. We drank them down with a good conscious too since they were made with all organic and local ingredients. I know a banana latte might not be to everyone’s taste, but I personally loved it…it was coffee with an equal hint of banana and neither overwhelmed the other taste. The Queen of the Jungle was equally refreshing (and definitely did NOT taste like a liquid salad). It was fresh and not overly-sweetened.

A happy customer

Always happy to meet a new neighbor (who can feed meeee). Stop by if you’re in the area!

Restaurant Info:
Blue Dog Cafe
155 West 56th St.
btw 7th and 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10019
(212) 459-2520
Midtown

REPORT CARD
Meal: Breakfast
Occasion: Writer’s block antidote
Price: $$
(Out of three stars)
Ambiance: ***
Food: ***
Service: ***
Would I go back?: YES! There’s always a reason for smoothies this good.

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Brunch may just be my favorite pastime. But brunch well past standard brunch timings at a 24-hour café essentially morphs me into a kid in a candy store. You can only imagine my excitement at hearing about the new Bleeding Heart Bakery & Café, a welcome bright spot in Chicago’s otherwise dismal late-night dining scene. The restaurant has an edgy diner vibe with vivid tattoo inspired art on the walls and what the owners dub a “local sustainable punk rock brunch” all day, every day.

After road-tripping to Indiana for a concert (yeah, Lupe!), some friends and I were in need of grub. Not just any kind of grub though. Once we’d confirmed that the food was delicious (because really, the host would have told us if it wasn’t), we set out to order from the brunch menu and eye the well-endowed glass counter from afar in all its munchkin and mini-cake mound glory. After oscillating between sweet and savory, I settled on a wild mushroom polenta eggs benedict with roasted red peppers and what seemed like an exotic twist on the standard condiment: persimmon hollandaise. My friends got the farmer’s veggie skillet, the seasonal fruit pancakes and, wait for it, the fried vanilla bean yeast doughnut breakfast sandwich with eggs and cheese.

My disappointing but tasty looking Wild Mushroom Polenta Benedict.

Sadly, my entrée didn’t live up to its description. The persimmon hollandaise was completely lacking in the persimmon department and the mushroom polenta was equally vapid. The seasoned roasted potatoes on the side were its only saving grace.

The Veggie Farmer's Skillet with zucchini and green beans

My friends, on the other hand, gave their dishes thumbs up. There were plenty of veggies in the farmer’s skillet and the fruit pancakes were equally tasty. And of course, how could a deep fried tempura battered doughnut breakfast sandwich be anything other than mortifyingly delicious?

The pièce de résistance: Fried doughnut sandwich. Getting fruit as a side makes up for the rest, right?

Though my dish was sub-par, I have a feeling I’ll be giving this place another shot. After all, any 24-hour place with a Veruca Salt Waffle on the menu (or simply one that references Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at all) deserves a second chance.

Restaurant Info:
Bleeding Heart Bakery & Cafe
1916 W. Chicago Ave
nr. N. Winchester Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 904-1414
West Town

REPORT CARD
Meal: Late-night grub
Occasion: Post-Concert Reflection
Price: $
(Out of three stars)
Ambiance: *** (punk rock)
Food: **
Service: **
Would I go back?:24 hour brunch on the weekends = obvi.

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Grey Dogs Coffee

I love New York City mornings because of the special energy that is in the air as people are rushing to work, class, and wherever else they are going. What I don’t love is when you’re running late and you don’t have time to get a coffee on your way. This morning I was walking through Washington Square Park with only five minutes until class so I decided to defer getting my morning caffeine fix until after class. To make up for the self-inflicted delayed gratification, I decided to go to The Grey Dog, a quaint coffeehouse situated on University Place that I’d been meaning to try for a few weeks now.

THE grey dog...I think

Grey Dog more closely resembles a quirky Austin, TX coffee haunt than it does the other chichi coffee shops that densely populate downtown Manhattan. The distressed, wooden, sea foam blue furniture and the lowered vintage ceiling fans add a special charm to the place.

I ordered a hazelnut iced coffee with fat-free milk and asked the barista to pick his favorite muffin for me. He chose the vegan pumpkin muffin made with soy milk. My eating habits are nowhere near macrobiotic, and so this would not have been my natural choice. But this was one special muffin.

My iced hazelnut coffee and muffin

I could obviously taste the pumpkin, but was surprised by hints of clove, ginger, and cinnamon. And if you’re particular about your coffee, rest assured that hazelnut doesn’t translate to a sweeter house blend. It tastes and smells like the real thing.

Bilal is a new contributor to Beauty and the Feast. He’s currently a first-year pre-med student at NYU, majoring in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.

Restaurant Info:
The Grey Dog
90 University Place
btw 11th and 12th Streets
New York, NY 10003
(212) 414-4739
Union Square

REPORT CARD
Meal: Mid-morning breakfast
Price: $
(Out of three stars)
Ambiance: ***(Quirky, Different, Definitely an experience)
Food: **
Service: ***
Would I go back?: Yes!

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Kaffe 1668

Kaffe 1668 coffeebeans

Kaffe 1668

Kaffe 1668

I took a fellow writer friend, Sarah, with me. She told me she was hungry and I had seen that they had sandwiches and a few other munchies on their menu. Problem is when we got there, they totally ran out of all their sandwiches. Even their desserts were scarce. We settled on carrot cake, a latte (for me), a mocha (for her).

Carrot cake

Latte

Mocha

The waiter might have had a crush on Sarah…she got the heart design while I just got a measly leaf one. Whatever.

When you order, they give you the password for their WiFi on the receipt, so it’s not just a walk-in-hey-everyone-gets-free-wireless deal. The upstairs is cozy and dimly lit and maybe a bit loud — at least it was on that Sunday. But the next problem you then face is trying to find an outlet for your laptop plug, etc. The place was pretty full so we decided to shift downstairs when we REALLY needed to since there were a lot more outlets.

Couches downstairs

Downstairs -- wooden sheep everywhere

It’s also quieter downstairs and there’s a lot of room on the couches. The other quirky thing about this cafe is they have black and white posters plastered all over the walls of characters discussing coffee. I thought those liven up the place a bit. They’re also big on sheep, weird I know. I figure it probably relates to the fact that Kaffe 1668 is all about working with local farmers to get the freshest milk and coffee. I thought our cake and drinks were pretty good, not the best latte I’ve had (and trust, I drink a lot of lattes). But it was a cozy enough place and a bit removed from where I live in case I really need to get work done!

Anyone else have a favorite coffee shop in the city? I’m always down to try something new…

Cafe info:
Kaffe 1668
275 Greenwich St.
New York, NY 10007
212-693-3750
Tribeca

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