Cupping Room Cafe

Whether it is steak or melon, this gorgeous café has whatever it takes to satiate your palate. What appears to be a low key bakery and dinner from the outside opens up into a gorgeous venue of live music and delicate dishes. For me, it brought back room style to a new pace. The environment was warm and inviting. One of the walls was even all glass on one side making the room feel even more alive than it already was. The décor was excellent; my favorite part was the desserts displayed amongst the flowers. It was presented in a manner that was hard to decide which was presenting which. Everything about the restaurant was seasonally appropriate. Now onto the important part: the food.
I have to be honest, what drew me to the restaurant was the fact that they had pancakes on their menu, so in the dinner tradition, I started with the mozzarella sticks. I bit into them and something incredible happened, I actually tasted the mozzarella cheese! It did not taste like your classical butchered mozzarella stick that we have all grown far too accustomed too. It was so fresh, it tasted like it had just been sliced from the farmers market the minute before it entered the fryer. The oil served as a taste mediator instead of initiator as it usually does. They were, I’d have to say, perfect.
My main dish, however, was not too great but I blame that on bad ordering. I was not hungry so I had the feta cheese and watermelon. The amount of feta was not substantial and the presentation was mediocre. Next time I think I’ll have the homemade pita basket with olive tapenade and spicy tomatoes instead.
To match my watermelon, I had a Green Goblin which took the traditional recipe and added an Absinthe twist, as Europe intended it to be. That being said, the peach schnapps should have been used a little more carefully, the amount it had really brought out the licorices sense of the Absinthe in not the most ideal aroma, however it did start tasting better sip by sip.

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http://www.cuppingroomcafe.com/zgrid/proc/site/sitep.jsp;jsessionid=auDJL1dRiUU7
CUPPING ROOM CAFE
359 W. Broadway
New York, NY, 10013
Tel: (212) 925-2898
Fax: (212) 966-5617

Subway Directions:
Canal St. Lines A, C, E, 1 & 9
Spring St. Line 6
Prince St. Lines N & R

It was 2 am and all I wanted was a sandwich. Not just any sandwich, a warm, delicious, meat filled, incredible, sensational sandwich. I was seeking the kind of superior joy that can only be received from a 2 am snack. Pizza would not cut it this time. Ever since spending time in Tel Aviv, all I ever want to eat at 2 am is toast. For anyone who has not been to Tel Aviv, toast there is not at all the lame warm bread that it is here. You can get topics on it, ranging from salad to cheese to meat. I crave it all the time and have not had this craving satisfied in two years until the other night and I didn't even have to board a red eye!!
Pretty far west into Chelsea, there is a new resteraunt called Meatoast. Meatoast makes 12 inch subs (think a Kosher Quizno's that uses a panini press). I got a 6 inch sub (not on the menu but I convinced them that if they did not give me a 6 incher it would be Bal Tashlit and the Kashrut of the resteraunt would be questionable) with turkey, salami, letace, tomatto, pickles, and garlic mayonaise. I was not expecting anything to out of this world but the flavors literally exploded in my mouth. This was definitely the best sandwich that I have ever had in the United States. Thank you Meatoast for making meat amazing!
Please note- Meatoast is open Sunday through Thursday 10am-3/4 am, Friday 10 am -3 pm and Saturday 8pm-10AM... that's right, 24 hours straight until the week begins. They are cash only but seeing as a 12 inch sub is less than $10 that shouldn't be to hard.

MeaToast

(212) 239-7464

Chelsea
503 W 28th St
New York, NY 10001

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