I rarely write about places that I simply get from a newspaper or magazine article. But the Boston Glove had an excellent article, A shot at perfection, on how to brew good espresso and where to find it. Apparently there is quite an art to this. The article outlines enough steps to convince you that it is a real art but not enough to allow you to do this yourself. I guess they want to preserve the mystery. However they did provide a list of where you can find good espresso in New York and Boston which I wanted to save and share. I have been to two of the Boston area places, 1369 Coffee House and Caffe Graffiti and agree with the Globe on them. I also often go to Peet’s, Café Paradisio, and Café Pompalona in Harvard Square. I also recently went to the Roebling Tea Room in Brooklyn which I would add to the list, especially if you want good bakery stuff to go with the coffee.
Here is the list from the Globe:
Greater Boston
Simon's Coffee Shop- 1736 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-497-7766.
Diesel Café - 257 Elm St., Somerville, 617-629-8717
1369 Coffee House - 1369 Cambridge St., Cambridge, 617-576-1369; 757 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-576-4600;
Caffe Graffiti - 307 Hanover St., North End, 617-367-3016
New York
Ninth Street Espresso - 700 East 9th St., Greenwich Village, 212-358-9225
Joe the Art of Coffee - 9 East 13th St., Greenwich Village, 212-924-7400; 141 Waverly Place, 212-924-6750;
Gimme! Coffee - 495 Lorimer St., Brooklyn, 718-388-7771
Café Grumpy - 193 Meserole Ave., Brooklyn, 718-349-7623
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