Coffee in the Upper East Side
I have a Keurig that makes a cup of coffee in under sixty seconds. Once brewed, I plop down on a sumptuous modern sofa that sits between a brick fireplace and a black piano. Since I cannot write with music playing, I choose one of several 4K videos that play on a twelve-hour loop, usually the mountains of Switzerland or flyovers of Norway’s fjords. Nine times out of ten, I’m still in my boxers, my hair resembles Bob Dylan’s “finger it the socket” look from his younger days, and I’m wearing LL Bean moccasins because I didn’t pack slippers.
But there are days when I wake up and I remember where I live. And on some romantic level, it feels like a crime not to go for a walk; to get out and explore the Upper East Side of New York; to skip the Kuerig and get a coffee at one of many unique and charming coffee shops. And that is what I did this morning.
8:50am – Walked east on 66th, passed Andy Warhol’s former townhome, and crossed over Park Avenue, which never gets old. There is something so quintessentially “New York” about looking down Park and seeing a corridor of pre-war co-ops. I hooked a right on Lexington and walked a block to Bel Ami Café. For starters, there’s a sign hanging on the front door that says, “No Laptops.” And that, I love - no hipsters, no terribly dressed tech nerds with obnoxious Apple products protruding from their ears, and no post-millennials trying to change the world from the comfort of the Upper East Side; just tiny tables and French music – it’s a beautiful thing. I quietly enjoyed a cup of coffee, a buttery croissant, and an elephant ear cookie.
9:35am – Walked west on 65th to Park Avenue and enjoyed a stroll beneath the aforementioned co-ops. I love everything about Park Avenue. There are no city buses, practically zero retail, and a string of beautifully manicured little parks in the middle of it. I walked up Park to 68th, took a left, and ventured north on Madison Avenue to 72nd.
9:50am – Got my second cup of joe at Ralph’s Coffee (as in, Ralph Lauren, the perennial king of American fashion). First of all, Mr. Lauren painted his shop Red, White, and Blue. SO COOL! I love it! No one does Americana like Ralph Lauren. His coffee is tasty and not too expensive, which is a far cry from a city where a bottle of water goes for five dollars. I digress. Ralph’s Coffee is exactly what you’d expect from the founder of Polo: overwhelmingly charming and curated so beautifully that you experience withdrawal symptoms upon leaving. Your inner WASP feels at home, even if you’re of a different religious persuasion. The man knows what he’s doing. I sat at an outside table and watched tourist after tourist go in for a coffee and come out hundreds of dollars poorer, carrying bags full of porcelain coffee cups, seventy-dollar candles smelling of Alaskan cedar, and Swiss chocolate bars in adorable packages. And God help em’ if they ventured over to the clothing side where cashmere sweaters are begging to be taken home. Trust me – the first cup of coffee is like a drug dealer offering you a “taste.” It requires enormous discipline to walk in and walk out with only a coffee.
10:30am – In a matter of twenty minutes the entire Upper East Side became unbearably humid, so I walked over to 5th Avenue and enjoyed a stroll beneath the magnificent elms.
10:40am – Walked up two flights of stairs to my place, immediately took my suit and tie off, and let the air-conditioning unit blow somewhat cold air onto my face for five minutes. It’s hotter than hell in New York today.
