Has anyone made a good case for caffiene being a crucial fuel to the Industrial Revolution, or to the urbanization of America? I can say with some experience that it's a crucial power source for the Information Age. And so, it's nice that my favorite artisan espresso joint, Joe the Art of Coffee, continues its measured and thoughtful expansion out of Greenwich Village. Yesterday the new outpost at Grand Central had a pre-opening day test run: drinks and treats were on the house as the crew broke in the new space. Yum!
Since Apartment Ecology is, broadly, about cities and sustainability, where does Joe fit in? Well, it's locally owned. The locations compost and recycle: "Every bit of coffee and organic material is composted and all of our containers are recycled," sez joetheartofcoffee.com. Joe uses Barrington Coffee Roasting Company beans; the Massachusetts-based company apparently sources from farmers who grow coffee sustainably while paying them a fair price for their crop. Barrington's organic roasts are USDA Organic Program-certified; its fair trade coffee offerings are certified by Transfair USA.
Joe gives back by contributing to the life of the city -- which is just as important to sustainability as clean energy. It sponsors Team Joe Coffee, a free running club; has canned food drives during the Thanksgiving and December holiday seasons; offers a unique series of affordable classes on everything coffee, such as the class where I learned to pull the perfect shot using the gloriously steampunk espresso machine at the 13th Street location -- where you can also view an expertly curated selection of photographs by young artists, thanks to the jen@joe partnership with jen bekman gallery. And Joe is friendly. The barista at Waverly always encourages patrons to share the tables when seats are scarce, even if they don't know each other (seldom done in personal-space-conscious NYC). And while I waited on line yesterday at Grand Central, Joe owner Jonathan Rubenstein recognized me as a regular from another location and paused in his pre-opening rush to say hello. NYC can be such a small town. Thanks for the latte and bran muffin, Jon -- they were worth the wait, and as always, they were delicious.
Images: Emily Gertz
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