At Cafe Edna, an #OSOM coffee shop on Nassau Ave in Greenpoint, the baristas rule! If you live on “the other side of McGuinness” not only will you get great coffee and bites here, but in my personal experience the service is always lovely.
In this post we get to know a few of the baristas and some of Cafe Edna’s delicious food options. Continue reading →
Founded by Chérmelle D. Edwards of smdlr.com and presented by Greenpointers, Coffee’s Night Out is an evening that invites individuals to explore coffee and culture within independent coffee shops. During the evening, curated culture – art, music, spoken word, film – will pop up alongside specialty coffee in Greenpoint at the following locations:
While picking up special cat food for my obese tuxedo at Greenpoint Vet Hospital, I grabbed a coffee across the street at Cafe Pistachio (114 Nassau Ave), which contributor Jen H. raved about a few months ago.
It was late in the afternoon and the drip coffee looked like it had been sitting out all day so I ordered a short espresso, which was way too long and not something I would go back for. I did notice something I would return for, though.
For a while I’d been very curious about Borek after seeing the frozen variety at a European deli. (I’ve also seen it spelled Burek.) The Borek on display at Pistachio looked fresh and delicious and since we were starving it was a great take home appetizer before cooking dinner. The server said they make them in house, too.
There were a few varieties to chose from: cheese, potato, ground meat and spinach, and I went with Spinach. It was a flakey, buttery and moist phylo dough pastry stuffed with spinach and salty feta, served with dill sour cream on the side. It was really satisfying and makes for a really cheap snack or small lunch at only $4. That is cheap!
Can you recommend any other spots in Greenpoint for delicious Borek?
Carolina Ro, of Ro Chalk & Calligraphy, designed the menu for Cafe Edna.
What’s in a name? Cafe Royal (195 Nassau Ave) was shutdown and in its’ place the owners of the building, who for reasons unknown want to remain anonymous, reopen the doors tomorrow June 21st, with a new name: Cafe Edna.
What do you think about the name change?
I chatted with manager Samantha Sharifi, one of Greenpoint’s loveliest baristas to find out what this change means for “the other side” of Greenpoint.
While you may have dug the old name and the golden rooster logo, there might have been other complaints that have been remedied by the new owners, like spotty wifi and the uncomfortable school room chairs. They overhauled the furnitures, hooked up Fios, so the internet is “10,000 times faster,” according to Samantha, plus you can print out your short stories or resumes on their wireless $0.10/copy printer and add your favorite songs to their ipod.
The same great staff with a few new hires are all on board including the beloved head chef Juan Paredes, who will still make you a delicious breakfast scramble or my favorite: the egg burrito. Plus there is an additional chicken burrito on the lunch menu and many old and new vegan and gluten free options.
Even more exciting, soon they will be rolling out a full dinner menu along with beer and wine with old favorites like the quinoa plate, vegan lasagna, the gluten-free pasta and more to come. Will you dine at Cafe Edna?
Let’s talk coffee. Samantha said they are now serving Toby’s Estate on a brand spanking new expresso machine and she will personally pull you the “perfect shot.” It better be short, girl!
Samantha is also putting together a Greenpoint artist group show, so keep your ears peeled for that.
Where have you been getting you daily caffeine dose since Royal closed and what do you think about the new name?
Cafe Edna will open tomorrow at 11am-4pm for a soft opening, then be open from 7am-6pm until they open for dinner.
On a recent super top secret important Greenpointers business meeting, I needed some sweet and Lauren at Milk n’ Roses described an Italian pastry stuffed with cheese and flavored ever so slightly with orange. “Give me that!”
What came was a sfogliatella, so I know why she didn’t even try to pronounce it. (Sf-oy-yuh-tell-uh) Crazy Italians! Who cares how to say it? It’s delicious and you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full anyway.
After working at an Italian bakery as a teenager in Queens, I quickly got sick of all the cannolis, rainbow cookies and the collect calls from the bakery owner’s mafioso son in jail, but I never got sick of the sfogliatelle (that’s plural).
Sfogliatelle are Nonna, my Sicilian grandmother’s, favorite dessert so it’s always in the box of pastries we bring to her house when we have our traditional Sunday eat-until-you-pass-out feast.
It is crispy dough infinitely layered into the shaped of a shell and inside is soft and not too sweet ricotta with a nice citrus tang and dusted with powdered sugar. Try one next time you’re at Milk n’ Roses (1110 Manhattan Ave), they’re irresistible!
