dresese

Casa

One thing I've missed in New York is great espresso and cappuccinos. New York just doesn't have the same cafe culture as on the west coast, and besides the ubiquitous Starbucks, there isn't many good places to choose from. But I have had some good coffee here. One of the latest places I've been going to is Casa, around 40th St and 9th Ave, right by the Port Authority overpass.

I went by there yesterday, as the 9th Ave. international food fair was in full swing outside, and met my friend Adam.

Casa has probably the best cappuccino's and espressos I've had in New York. The most well-regard barrista there is Andrew, who is evidently a real coffee geek. He's there most of the time on the weekends. However, I've had fairly good luck with the other barristas as well, so it seems like most of them know what they are doing.

Ah, look at that espresso. You can see that wonderful brown crema on top, a great sign. How many times have I gotten espresso in New York and gotten no crema at all, or a fairly wispy one? Ah, so many espressos wasted.

Here is Andrew making Adam's cappuccino. Evidently the espresso machine you see is one of the best you can buy. It has pipes going down to the basement, where they have some sort of system to deliver steam or something like that.

Above you can see Casa's owner, in the red Caffe Trieste shirt. It's a good sign that the owner is a fan of that place.

There it is, a great cappuccino. No latte art, but that's OK, what really counts is the foam, which in this case was silky smooth, and super sturdy. Great stuff.