The Coffee Crawl Sipping my way through New York City…one coffee shop at a time.

Today actually turned out to be an especially fun and interesting Crawl. I met up with a good friend for a walk around the West Village. We weren’t intending on hitting up a coffee shop for a coffee crawl, but as we strolled around the Village we happened upon Jack’s Coffee. Located on West 10th Street between Greenwich and Waverly, this shop was situated in a perfectly calm-inspiring neighborhood. From the exterior Jack’s Coffee looked like just another cute coffee shop. Inside was a whole other story. With walls full of pictures of patrons and pets outside the shop to a very kitschy decorating style all around, Jack’s Coffee provided me with just the perfect atmosphere. Ceiling fans were scattered around the ceiling. I can’t say enough how much I love ceiling fans. It seems that New York City doesn’t have enough of them! Coming from North Carolina originally, where ceiling fans can be found everywhere, I miss that added little breeze blowing around the room. Well, Jack’s was able to give me that little pleasure and reminder of home. It seemed like everyone loved it as well, because not a seat could be found inside! Luckily for me and my friend, we were able to snag the bench right in front of the shop. It was actually the perfect way to enjoy our purchases and chat on this day that gave us such glorious weather.

Jack’s Coffee features beans that are organic, fair trade and shade grown. Three aspects to coffee beans that I have found that New York coffee drinkers love. It’s showing that the shop is actually thinking about the environment, where their beans come from and how they’re grown. Always a good thing to see. There weren’t too many offerings in the way of food here however, what they did have looked absolutely delicious. There were huge “Oreo” cookies, oatmeal cookie sandwiches filled with icing, chocolate chip cookies, scones and biscotti. Everything offered was actually perfect for my taste buds. Definitely yum-inspiring. After the barista described all of the treats to me, I opted for the Apple Walnut Scone. The large sugar crystals encasing the entire pastry accompanied with the chunks of apples and walnuts made this fall treat something to savor (even though I ate it in approximately 10 minutes – haha). Apples and cinnamon are probably the second best flavor pairing for fall, only behind pumpkin and nutmeg. I washed the scone down with an iced latte. I know I know, it’s October and I should be on regular lattes and coffee, but I’m extremely partial to the iced drinks. Today’s latte was especially delicious. The milk was creamy. The espresso steamed perfectly to provide the right combination of smooth flavor with strong caffeination. The barista even added a small dollop of foam on top. I just love it when iced lattes and cappuccinos have foam on top. It completes the whole experience somehow. Ask for it the next time.

Now, the extra fun begins. My friend and I were relaxing on the bench outside of Jack’s and my eye caught a familiar-looking man pushing a stroller. I instantly recognized him as Jason Hoppy – Bethenny Frankel’s husband! I know it’s a bit stalker-ish of me to do this, but we decided to follow behind him, casually of course, to see if we could spot the fabulous New York City Housewife herself. After one loop around the block (and feeling a little weird), Jason finally came to rest outside of a restaurant, at which point Bethenny came running out of to get Bryn (their baby) and douse her in kisses. She was wearing the tallest stiletto boots, cute dark jeans and a sweater. Fabulous.

Bethenny, Jason and Bryn were completely the cutest-looking family. No paparazzi were around and no one was really gawking at them (well, besides me). I have to say, this was an excellent ending to an already delicious Crawl. Check out Jack’s Coffee on West 10th and Greenwich. Maybe you’ll even see a celebrity or two.