Caffeine Dreams: Haute 5 Coffee Houses in New York

Looking for pitch perfect espresso? Fair trade, small farm, small batch organic coffee with big taste?  Sitcom-worthy ambience? Read on to find out where to go for all these things and more.

Gimme! Coffee

The name might seems like a little much, but once you try the coffee at Gimme!—which  Food and Wine ranked as one of the best coffee shops in the country – you’ll be shouting, “Gimme!” too. If the coffee isn’t enough of a draw, the commitment to fair trade, sustainability, family farms, organic ingredients and small batch roasting might do it for you. Or maybe you’ll be wowed by the baristas, who undergo intensive training and are said to be some of the best in the city. For the purest hipster coffee shop experience, head to the Williamsburg location.

Gimme! Coffee is located at 496 Lorimer Street in Brooklyn and 228 Mott St., in Manhattan.

Zibetto Espresso Bar

From the outside, you might mistake Swedish-born Anastasio Nougos’s  Zibetto for any other coffee shop. Inside the space is made up of little more than a sleek long white bar and the baristas and ingredients behind it. And some of the best espresso in the city. Enough said.

Zibetto Espresso Bar is located at 1385 6th Ave. There is a second location at 102 Fulton St., in the Financial District.

Joe the Art of Coffee

Small, friendly and perfectly located, the tiny flagship location of Joe’s evokes the very definition of coffee shop – from the coffee itself to the handful of tables inside and the quaint benches outside. A nice selection of pastries and snacks are served along with the coffee, including twisted bagel sticks. (No conventional civilian bagels for these guys!) And when they say art of coffee, they aren’t kidding. Serious connoisseurs can enroll in classes on everything from proper coffee tasting to milk steaming at Joe University Note: you can’t enroll in Milk Steaming Techniques until you’ve passed Espresso Fundamentals. Really.

The original Joe the Art of Coffee location is at 141 Waverly Pl., For other locations and information on upcoming classes, see www.joetheartofcoffee.com.

71 Irving Place Coffee & Tea

There is no other way to describe 71 Irving Place Coffee than just plain lovely. It has everything you want in a coffee shop and more. Fabulous coffee? Check! Genuinely yummy and fresh sandwiches, snacks and desserts? Check! Outdoor seating? Check—and with foliage to boot. But don’t let all the extras fool you, the coffee still comes first. The company also roasts its own coffee locally on a farm upstate.

71 Irving Place Coffee & Tea is located at…71 Irving Pl.

Nespresso Boutique Bar

The Nespresso Boutique Bar at Madison and 65th is not only well located, but also a spacious elegant place for a comfortable, low-key coffee date. The boutique only serves the high-tech Swiss-brand that many believe has revolutionized coffee. Although some people are adverse to the fancy machines that subtract human error (and personality?) from the equation, others (including a large European following) swear by the Nespresso machines and ‘Grands Crus” blends. Think of it as the Avatar of coffee. Speaking of movies, did we mention that George Clooney is the official poster boy?

Nespresso Boutique Bar is located at 761 Madison Ave.