A marble floor, a dark walnut wood bar with brass trimmings, sleek white shelves with gilded figurines and other sundry knick knacks, a minimalist menu, achingly cool baristas, and a hip hotel lounge that serves as its seating area.
This is Stumptown Coffee Roasters.
(Note: the place was too darn crowded for pictures, save for the cappuccino shot, so thank you's are in order to Serious Eats, the New York Times, and Hotel Chatter for their shots.)
An import from Portland, Oregon, the epitome of local, fresh, farm-to-table dining, it is no surprise that Stumptown is a no-nonsense coffee shop (I use the words coffee shop very loosely - more on that later). Stumptown is the brainchild of Duane Sorenson, the big cheese -- or, bean -- in coffee circles, whose life is dedicated to bringing Portland locals the best coffee beans, fair trade or direct trade (buying directly from the coffee farmers), regardless of how far he has to go to get it. Indeed, Stumptown's menu boasts coffee from nearly all over the world, and its website is complete with a serious "coffee seed varietal listing" that's intended to inform coffee drinkers of flavor differences in their cup 'o joe, much "the same way that wine grapes impact the flavor profile of vineyards across the globe." Wow. So with all this knowledge and confidence in the bag, Sorenson was primed to brew up something big as his next conquest: a branch in NYC.
From the briefings about and interviews with him that I read on the internet, it seems as though Sorenson has self-anointed himself the Queen Bean for indoctrinating New Yorkers on how real coffee should taste. To be sure, he has several very successful locations in Portland and two in Seattle all with cult-like followings, and Stumptown secured a spot on the Food & Wine list of Best Boutique Coffee Roasters, scoring him kudos from high ranking professionals in the bizz and giving him national acclaim, so is trying to convert New Yorkers' finicky and unceasingly insatiable thirst for the next cool thing really such a stretch of the ima-joe-nation? Mr. Sorenson sees the coffee mug half full. So do I.
In the months leading up to its opening last year, there was so much steam brewing over Stumptown on the blogs and among foodies about just the coffee (in unusual manner, there was barely a mention of anything else other than the supposedly famed coffee - food, ownership, decor, etc.) that I became curious to see what all the buzz was about. I finally got the chance.
Nestled in a storefront on an unassuming stretch of 29th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues (and sold at Baked in Red Hook with another store slated to open soon in Red Hook), Stumptown is the coffee shop of the recently-opened Ace Hotel. You can enter from the entrance to the coffee shop itself or from the main door to the hotel just a couple feet to the right. From the minute I stepped in, the place was bleeding with cool. The four or five baristas working behind the wood-paneled, elevated counter were all probably in their late 20s/early 30s, adorned with tattoos up and down their arms, and perfectly hip. Two of them looked like male models. Seriously. And the other male barista? He had a handlebar mustache and some seriously thick sideburns; paired with Stumtpown's uniform of a three-button vest, white dress shirt with crinkly, rolled up sleeves, a tie, and a hat -- I could have sworn I was on the turn-of-the-century set of Newsies...in Williamsburg. It was like a 2000's hipster version of a barbershop quartet in there. Too-cool-for-school aesthetic and intimidation aside, they were very friendly and cordial. I mean, in those clothes, how can you not be? They all worked the part very well.
I really wanted to take in the whole experience so I ordered my cappuccino ($3.30 - only one size available) with skim to stay, added brown sugar, and promptly parked myself on a comfortable and lusciously red sofa in the hotel lobby that also serves as Stumpown's seating area. (There's a bar in the coffee shop for standing, but what's the point in that when there's a hotel lobby loiterer's dream to regale in just steps away?)
I luxuriated away, lost in a newspaper and my cappuccino. It was magnificent. The lobby is so inviting that I ended up staying there for an hour and a half and didn't even realize it. The layout is wonderful: soaringly high ceilings, mosaic tile floors, huge white Roman columns throughout the room, interspersed with sumptuous, oversized mismatched chairs around wooden tables of different shapes and sizes, and desk chairs along long dark wooden tables for studying or reading. Aside from the giant white columns, the entire room has a darker touch, giving it a more serene feeling, with different people -- a barrage of trendsters and the occasional hotel guest -- coming in and out, relaxing and chit chatting on the different sofas and chairs, legs up, backs slumped, and having a good time. It almost felt like I was in somebody's living room.
The cappuccino's presentation was perfection. The actual coffee was great. I can't say it was the single best I've ever had; I've definitely had worse, but it tasted great. My only gripe was -- and this could be because I know very little about aka do not have such a refined appreciation for the nuances of coffee -- there was a sour smell to my coffee. Not taste, but smell. I didn't notice it after the first sip, but after the second one, I thought I smelled something sour -- not sour in the tart, citrus-y sort of way, but sour in the bitter, almost gone-bad sort of way. I thought it was the hotel lobby. But why would that be? After I picked up the cappuccino mug for a third sip, I got a big whiff of it -- it was definitely the coffee. Maybe my olfactory senses just acclimated to it, but by the end of my drink, the smell had disappeared.
For a place that emphasizes fair trade, it was slightly surprising that I wasn't greeted by the bohemian, no frills, rickety-on-purpose decor that I envision when I think of coffee shops that promote sustainability. Then again, it's also a place that takes itself way seriously: no flavorings, beans roasted on-location, the mother of espresso machines, and coffee provider to some of the hottest spots in town, including the John Dory, Momofuku MIlk Bar, and Marlow and Sons -- it's like the holy grail of coffee. I was left alone for the full hour and a half, but at one point a barista came by and took my empty cappuccino cup. I was a little surprised by the wonderful service until I remembered that the magnificent and cool hotel lobby I was sitting in is the "seating area" for Stumptown customers. I don't get all that coffee talk, the differences in beans and roasts, but what I do know is that this is not your average grab-and-go coffee shop. For me, the experience was just as, if not more, important than the coffee itself. It was the nicest coffee "shop" experience I've ever had -- and for only $3.30. A perfect spot to have a lovely coffee in a gorgeous space. It will be your own little sanctuary.
Be happy and Carpe Diem!
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