Hello and Happy Monday! This week, our focus in Eats and Drinks will be on uptown cafes!
As always, our key for events:
👋 - We are going to this event, so come by and say hello!
🌟 - We wish we could go, but you should go and tell us how it is!
EATS AND DRINKS
Plowshares Coffee Roasters West Harlem (1351 Amsterdam Ave., at 126th): this is a gem of a cafe in West Harlem - it’s spacious with free wi-fi for folks who need a good place to work or meet someone. Not surprisingly, the coffee is excellent, with plenty of dairy and non-dairy mix-ins for your coffee. The coffee beans at Plowshares are premo, and you can buy a bag to take home, but be warned: these beans are pricey (though at home brewing is probably cheaper than buying a Starbucks latte every day). The food is also good - when I was there I had an oat milk latte and a spinach and cheese croissant, both of which were delicious. Plowshares originally started out as a coffee roaster in upstate New York and they have two cafes in NYC: this location in West Harlem and one on the UWS (103rd and Broadway). And if good coffee and food was not enough, on the first Monday of each month, they have a concert called Free Bread, which features local musicians and artists and of course, free bread!
The Chipped Cup (3610 Broadway between 148th and 149th Street): this is a cozy, subterranean cafe in the heart of Hamilton Heights, which offers “coffee and victuals” according to its The coffee and food are both delicious (we particularly recommend the baked goods, but the avocado toast is also great), but you have to get here early if you want to get some work done - space and tables are limited. As the weather warms up, the cafe has a lovely garden terrace in the back where you can sip your cold brew. It is below ground though, make sure you’ve sprayed bug spray to enjoy to its fullest. When you are done, you can go upstairs to Beer Run and grab a few cans/bottles to go.
Dear Mama (611 W 129th Street, off Broadway in the Forum Building): advertised as a “Harlem-based specialty coffee, wine and eatery,” they have two locations in Manhattan, one in East Harlem at 109th street and this one, located inside a Columbia University building. The cafe is dog-friendly, and has tables and chairs right outside of the cafe for you to enjoy the nicer weather. In addition to having great coffee, food, and cocktails, they have many free concerts you can attend if you are into live music (you can check out their calendar here). We stopped by after a bike ride up and down the West Side bike path and enjoyed some delicious cold brew and a great blueberry muffin. If you like the coffee enough, you can buy a bag of the beans or get a coffee subscription - the prices are actually quite reasonable for the quality of coffee you are getting.
HAPPENINGS
Calling all runners! Bronx Achilles is back at it! Achilles International is the name of the group that provides volunteer guides for the marathon—and all the other races. You have seen them in their neon yellow shirts. If you’re a runner and capable, you should consider volunteering with Achilles. If you are already an Achilles volunteer, Wednesday evening workouts are back on at the Pelham Bay Park Track and Field Parking Lot (3920 Middletown Road) starting Wednesday, March 19th at 6pm. The workouts are led by some super excellent med students at Einstein, so you know it will be good. Sign up and get there!
🌟 - Head over to Comedy in Harlem (750A St. Nick between West 147th and 148th Streets) for Jokes Over Easy on Sunday, March 23rd from 3-5 p.m. (doors at 2). The show promises to be hotter “than your grandma’s grits,” and you know all comedy compared to grits is excellent. Tickets are $15. Get them here.
🌟 - Your last chance to check out the Women’s Jazz Festival will be next Monday, March 24th when Carnegie Hall Citywide will present Camille Thurman, saxophonist and vocalist at the Schomburg Center (515 Malcolm X between West 135th and 136th). If the ticket prices had been keeping you away from the festival, closing night will be FREE thanks to the good people at Carnegie Hall. You do not need to register to attend but registration gets you priority check in before the masses, so you should totally register. You can do it here.
Also on Monday, March 24th at 6 p.m., The Harlem Chamber Players will be doing a free concert at The Forum at Columbia University (601 West 125th Street at Broadway). The concert is free and open to the public. You can RSVP here.
DID YOU KNOW?
There is a quant building on West 121st Street that was once home to Fire Patrol No. 5 (307 West 121st Street) and a friendly Newfoundland named Nero, who joined the fire patrol shortly after it was established in 1892. Legend has it, Nero was so committed to the fire patrol that he would jump from an open window in his third-floor apartment to ride with the men when they were responding to a fire. One there, he apparently slept under the horses until it was time to go home. Though he never saved lives, he was very handsome and beloved and was eventually laid to rest on a section of West 121st Street called George Carlin Way. You can read more about Nero and Fire Patrol No. 5 here.
https://www.siburiedstories.com/