A year and a half ago, when the Underground Gourmet adapted this magazine’s five-star restaurant-rating system to our own purposes (eating every inexpensive thing in sight) and applied said stars to various falafel shacks, taco carts, and pizza joints, the thought of ranking coffee bars never crossed our minds. And for good reason: How do you review a coffee bar? Or rather, why would you? Although the Joes, the Jacks, the Ninth Street Espressos, the Gimme!s, and the Grumpys have raised the level of coffee connoisseurship in this town, even the most exacting bean fiend might find the process futile. A barista either knows what he’s doing or he doesn’t. The beans are either sustainably grown, fair trade, and freshly roasted or they’re not. Beyond that—and the presumptive niceties, like free Wi-Fi, refill policy, blueberry-muffin source—what else is there?
Well, as of six weeks ago, there’s Abraço. To call the minuscule East Village storefront a coffee bar is both an overstatement and an understatement. It’s smaller than a Starbucks bathroom. There’s nary a table or chair, never mind Wi-Fi. With two slender ledges and mere inches to maneuver, Abraço is a coffee bar in the strictest sense. But it’s also much, much more. Factor in relatively ambitious food, some congenial barista banter, and a design so bright and sunny it could cure seasonal affective disorder, and you’ve got an instant neighborhood institution and the U.G.’s favorite new hangout.
Read more at http://nymag.com/
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