In my search for free wireless in NYC, I came across a few sites which mentioned a new cafe that's just a few blocks from where I live. This one blog makes it look like an ideal place for me to work on those days I feel like getting out of the house. I have yet to see it lit up like the photos on that blog, by the way. Every time I've been by there it's been kind of dark on the inside, with very little going on by way of artificial light.
The first time I walked by there was during my first week here. Bizarre experience. First of all, there are no customers inside, just me and this one guy behind the bar. No matter, I'm ready to get some breakfast and coffee and get to work. But there's no food behind the counter. I ask the guy if there's a grill or something and he confirms that they have no food, but clearly there are glass counters that look like they should be filled with something, so I ask about them. He says maybe they'll have some food tomorrow!! Brie laughed about this. Perhaps the muffin fairy didn't visit them last night, but they're hoping to get lucky tonight! Well, I'm not willing to just have coffee for breakfast, so I move on.
The next time I come to visit a few days later, the place is completely closed, with an "under renovation" sign on the door! This is odd, since according to the aforementioned blog, the place is brand new! But at least that explains why the food was so iffy. Not business as usual, at least not yet.
By the way, this place happens to be right near the bus stop where I get off when coming back from Brie's place. About a week later I was heading home at night (fairly late: 11:00pm or later) and noticed that the place was open so I thought I'd see if they were done with renovation. Still no customers, but the owner was there and he explained to me that they would be opening at 7:00 in the mornings and that they didn't have their own kitchen but shared it with a nearby restaurant and would be offering gourmet sandwiches and such.
So, the next morning I head by and the only things behind the counter are really sweet things like cupcakes and cookies. I was hoping for something like a bagel or bran muffin, so I ask about the sandwiches and no, they don't have any sandwiches. No other food besides the cupcakes and cookies. If this place opens at 7:00am, don't you think they'd try to offer breakfast food to go with people's coffee? And once again, I'm the only customer inside. I have yet to see a single customer other than myself in this place. Well, I don't want to have cookies for breakfast so I move on, hoping that in a week or two they'll get their food offerings figured out.
I've really enjoyed Think Coffee, but it is awfully far away and is a somewhat distracting place to work (more on that in another post) so I thought I'd check out Cafe Soleil this morning and order some coffee there no matter what happened. So I had a bowl of cereal here first, assuming that I wouldn't find any solid food to my liking there, and headed out. Got there and the door was locked. With an "Open" sign displayed in the window. I was about to move on and this other man I haven't met yet comes to the door and says they're closed for renovation (!) and that he's the new owner and that they'll be open for sure by next Thursday.
Wow.
So I guess I'll check it out when I get back from Austin. At this point you must be wondering why I keep trying. Thing is, if this place would open and offer anything like solid food, it would be ideal for me to work in.
Byzantion Woodworking Company
On a positive side note, there's this really cool woodworking shop right next to Cafe Soleil where these artisans do all this ornate hand-carving of liturgical furniture for Greek Orthodox churches in the area. AMAZING. I like to just stop at their window and gawk. I walked in once and was gonna ask the man there if they do all the detail work there or just assemble it, and I saw that he had a chisel in hand, carving as I spoke. I complemented him on the beautiful work they do and left.
I took a few photos with my cell phone, and some video which I really could have improved by cupping my hand over the top of the phone and putting it closer to the glass, but oh well...
The craftsmen work right here in front,
carving where you can watch them
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