Play >

“There is so much history in New York City,” says Michael Shannon, who plays Agent Van Alden on the HBO hit series “Boardwalk Empire,” which returns for its second season tonight. But when it comes to laying down roots, the small-town Southern boy (he was born in Lexington, Ky.) chose Red Hook, Brooklyn. “I love it for its neighborhood feel,” says the 37-year-old. “It’s is the kind of place where everyone knows your name.” Perhaps that’s because he’s Michael Shannon — but we won’t burst his bubble. This is his New York. -- WENDY STRAKER HAUSER

 

Jack’s Coffee, 138 W. 10th St., between Greenwich Avenue and Waverly Place

“Everything is organic, and the owner invented his own stir-brew coffeemaker, which stirs the coffee grinds as it brews. I’ll usually stop in here before a theater performance. I take my coffee black, although at Jack’s they always steam the milk, even for regular coffee orders, which is nice sometimes.”

http://hamptons-magazine.com/lifestyle/articles/the-perfect-cup-jacks-stir-brew-coffee

When you walk into Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee on the square in the Amagansett, as throngs of hip customers do, first-timers do a double take. Jack looks like a movie star, and the store he designed like a movie set, with architectural details borrowed from a vintage boatyard.

 

If Jack’s Stir Brew, Organic Fair-trade Coffee and Food in Amagansett, has the right touch of nautical detritus, is it because Jack Mazzola, who at one time dealt modern furniture, knows how to serve up beachy charm. “To get the feel of the layout,” says Mazzola,
“I lived in the store for seven weeks.” He sourced the vintage buoys, he mounted a monumental hunk of driftwood, and he found the organic juices and his Aunt Rosie’s chocolate chip cookies.

 

A one-time actor, “What does a guy got to do to get a cup of coffee?” was Mazzola’s prescient line on Guiding Light. In between the long stints of barely scraping by, Mazzola appeared occasionally on Diagnosis Murder. He quit acting “cold turkey” when he lost a part in Tears in the Sun (starring Bruce Willis). “I was at my wits’ end,” he says. “I needed stability.”

 

After much soul searching, dark-roasted coffee presented itself. “Growing up in my traditional Italian family, my grandmother ended every meal with stove-top coffee,” he explains. In 2003, after spending time on a coffee farm in the Dominican Republic, Mazzola opened Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee in Manhattan’s West Village. Three months later,  New York Magazine named his the best coffee on New York. He soon appeared on NBC’s Today. Meanwhile, Mazzola’s gorgeous girlfriend, designer Christina Lehr (Henry Lehr’s daughter), and her mother designed the hip boutique next door: Beach Stop by Henry Lehr.

 

At the original Jack’s, Mazzola befriended well-known regulars including Daniel Day-Lewis and Hilary Swank; here in Amagansett, Alec Baldwin as dropped by as have Ed Burns and his brother Brian. Travel if you must, but according to Mazzola, you will rarely find better coffee. “I hated the coffee in Jamaica,” he says. “Even in Hawaii, it’s horrible. I went to live with a tribe along the Amazon, and I brought my own sock sack of coffee for our campfire.”

 

Mazzola’s beans primarily come from a farm in the Dominican Republic, although he sources from places like Sumatra, Mexico and Ethiopia as well. His company also has a relationship with a small boutique roasting facility in Vermont. “It’s a long and slow, dark, dark roast,” he says. (His iced coffee is cold-brewed using a machine he invented.) 

 

Mazzola’s third calling is photography. Some customers have liked his wall of nautical photos under Plexiglas so much they have commissioned similar displays. It seems his is, quite literally, a jack-of-all-trades.

We scoured the Hamptons for the best signature coffee drinks and found ourselves at the aromatic doors of Love Lane Kitchen, Golden Pear and the newly opened Jack’s Stir Brew. Here, we break down the three most addictive coffee drinks we found and give proof positive that the East End is no slouch when it comes to a good cup of coffee.

Iced Coffee at Love Lane Kitchen
Mattituck’s Love Lane Kitchen is a mecca for all things “New American,” and its coffee is no exception. Billing itself as the “foremost artisanal micro-coffee roaster on the North Fork,” Love Lane roasts only Fair Trade beans, mostly from rich and fertile South American regions, in small batches. The ever-popular, and addictive, iced coffee is made cool by coffee ice cubes, which are made from brewed coffee that is chilled and frozen into cubes. “As a cup of coffee is mostly water, the water’s quality has an impact on the taste,” says Love Lane owner Mike Avella of typical iced coffees. Consider us officially spoiled for conventional ice. 240 Love Ln., Mattituck, 298-8989

Café Mocha at Golden Pear
You can bet we asked the coffee makers at Golden Pear to “spill the beans” on the unique coffee blend they’ve been serving for the past 12 years. Their response? “We could tell you, but we’d have to kidnap you.” They did, however, share some of the ingredients that go into their most popular coffee drink, the café mocha, which is made with rich Ghirardelli chocolate, precisely steamed milk and espresso. Enjoy the staple café mocha at any of Golden Pear’s Main Street locations in East Hampton, Southampton, Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton. 99 Main St., Southampton, 283-8900

The Mad Max at Jack’s Stir Brew
Before founding Jack’s Stir Brew and becoming the “New York coffee maven,” Jack Mazzola was busy pursuing an acting career in L.A. After being passed over for a part in a Bruce Willis movie, Mazzola rededicated his life to another passion: coffee. Today, Jack’s Stir Brew has blossomed into a caffeinated empire of Fair Trade, meticulously prepared coffees. In Amagansett, Jack’s most popular drink is the Mad Max, featuring Jack’s signature stir brewed coffee, a shot of espresso and Hudson Valley milk. With each cup stirred as it brews, the Mad Max goes down smooth and packs an aromatic punch to your senses. What a way to wake up. 146 Montauk Hwy., Amagansett; 267-5555

Past the concert stage where artists like Patti Smith and Best Coast will rock out this

weekend on the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton, is a little gazebo with a much

smaller stage and a more intimate vibe. Jack’s Stir Brew Acoustic Stage is the spot

where 20 bands and duos will perform during the three-day Escape to New York

festival. “The acoustic performances were a pleasant surprise,” said festival-goer Dave , 52, 

Morristown, N.J. The audience members sit on picnic tables and munch on Asian-style hot 

dogs, gourmet ice cream and dumplings as artists croon mellow tunes. It’s a stark contrast 

from the electro-pop music echoing throughout the festival. The Acoustic Stage’s line-up 

includes artists like 2AM Club and Ghostwise. David Trotta of Jersey City runs the music for 

Jack’s Stir Brew, a coffee  shop based in Manhattan and Amagansett that hosts regular 

acoustic shows called “Fresh Ground Music Night. Trotto not only booked half of the bands 

performing on the Acoustic Stage, but he will also take the stage as part of the duo Trotta & 

Ronstadt. “I think the festival is not just about music – it’s a lifestyle,” said Trotta. “It has a 

grass roots vibe going that Jack’s really plays well with.” Performers can even be caught 

sitting in the audience. Dominick Magnotta, a 25-year-old musician from Brooklyn, said the 

best part of the festival is “running into beautiful people, the greetings and the weather."

Magnotta is one of the five members of the Brooklyn-born band OTiS that will take the 

stage. He describes the band as “new age soul.” “A friend of a friend recommended us for 

the stage when they found out a few slots were available,” said fellow OTiS member Craig 

Schoenbaum, 31, of Brooklyn. “We usually play electric but we had to change it down for 

this and we adapted to it quickly and made it happen."

It is no coincidence that Jack Mazzola shares the same name as the fairytale character of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Their stories are strikingly similar.

Jack Mazzola, a struggling actor who moved to NYC from Lodi, NJ, also traded his life for beans. At age 30, Jack decided to make ends meet by entering the coffee business. He traveled to Italy to learn authentic coffee shop culture and worked on a farm in the Dominican Republic

Soon enough, Jack came up with a brilliant idea to make his coffee beans magical through a technique called “stir-brewing.” He imagined a machine that stirred the coffee and water to create an “even saturation of the water to evenly brew the blend and utilize it to its fullest potential,” he said. He incorporated a French press to ensure a unique, flavorful taste.

Jack proposed his idea to an old friend and customer from his father’s auto shop, Ronnie, who was an engineer in NYC. Together the two brought the idea to life. Jack patented the stir-brewing process and remains the only one in the world that stirs coffee to this day.

Jack’s Coffee opened in 2005 and his beanstalk grew and grew. In addition to stir brewing, Jack sold the first officially certified organic fair-trade coffee in New York City. And after just a few fee-fi-fo-fums, Jack gathered his gold.

He continues to expand with his recent opening in Greenacre Park, a relaxation area to preserve and evoke appreciation of nature. The Rockefeller family made the donation to build the park—which is surrounded by locust trees and a waterfall—in 1971. They recently sought a footprint of sustainability for their park and considered Jack’s Coffee the perfect match.

“When the Rockefellers call, you answer,” said Jack, sitting at a table in the park. But before Jack’s story becomes minimized to a fairytale, it is important to recognize the real-life passion behind Jack’s endeavor. As Jack says, his coffee is “big and bold”…and so was his pursuit. “My goal was to educate my consumers,” he said.

He was able to do so because of his farm work in the Dominican Republic, where he learned to appreciate the cultivation side of coffee.

“Coffee is produce, and it goes bad.”

The accepted shelf life of coffee is three weeks. But Jack, who said he is high-maintenance when it comes to quality produce, allows only a one-week shelf life. Jack’s Coffee’s beans are imported from Sumatra, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, providing its big and bold—also described by Jack as “volcanic”—taste. In addition to his coffee innovations, Jack pioneered Hudson Valley Fresh produce with his friend Sam Simon. The buddies realized that other milk was over-pasteurized, losing all of the nutrients to increase shelf life. They initiated a more organic and nutrient-rich milk that Jack uses in all of his coffee shops. “I have a commitment to giving back to everyone on my food chain,” Jack said, describing his close relationships with the farms he receives his products from.

Jack said he even knows the exact farm that the apples in his sandwiches come from, and insists on giving a portion of the proceeds to everyone that contributes to his products.

Yet, even though Jack uses an eclectic crew of farmers, he does not believe in an extensive menu. “I am a preacher of simplicity and consistency… We’re talking about coffee. We’re not talking about fine wine and cheese,” he said, laughing.

Jack said that each brew is adjusted based on the harvest that year to perfectly blend in the stir-brewer. He is adamant about his coffee having a rich taste, while preserving the nutrients of its organic nature.

“At the end of the day, I’m a foodie,” Jack said, slowly sipping his coffee and smiling. Jack Mazzola shows that fairytales can converge with reality…as long as you conjure up a few magical beans and a determined imagination.

 

(NEW YORK) It’s about time you met the Jack behind your java. He’s a proud Taurus, his last name is Mazzola, he’s the first certified Fair Trade coffee purveyor in New York, and with three stores now, he’s shaking up the corporate caffeine culture one cup at a time. Feeling the buzz? MARIA DENARDO

Is it true you were an actor?
Robert Sean Leonard’s casting manager discovered me when I worked at my father’s auto-body shop in Lodi, New Jersey. He would frequently smash his car, and my father would fix it. He asked me if I was interested in acting. I was up for anything to get me out of Jersey. I was not in school, working with my dad, and we started to butt heads.

What first brought you to New York?
I left home when I was 16, when I fell in love with an older woman I met at an acting class. I didn’t graduate high school, but I have no regrets. I was more inspired to see things and experience things. I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to live in Manhattan. Life has been my book of knowledge.

What was your first role?
I was a patron in a diner on Guiding Light. My line was, ‘What does a guy got to do to get a cup of coffee around here?’ I picked up an agent, and I was cast for a recurring role as Maria Santos’s secretary, Todd. It lasted a year, on and off. At that time, daytime television was looked down upon. Then I went to L.A. for the pilot season. I booked a co-starring role on Diagnosis Murder—I still get residual checks from that, knock on wood. I played Rosser, this guy that broke out of prison and was chasing down Dick Van Dyke. I did all my own stunts and got $20,000 for three and a half weeks of shooting. After a couple years, I moved to L.A. I was pretty much just being a hustler. I was still pounding pavements after three years and was eventually cast in the Bruce Willis film  Man of War. I thought I’d made it, but then my part was dropped. I was sick and tired of working for other people, so I went cold turkey and said, ‘I’m done.’

How did this coffee thing happen?
Being in the service business my whole life, I’ve always been a fan of coffee shops. When I was younger and working for my dad, the coffee shop was right next to the social club. We’re Italian. I’d just pop in and my grandfather’s friends would be sipping their coffee. Later, I was living in New York, with a roommate situation, the apartment was, like, this big, and you know, if you hate your roommate, you have to go to a coffee shop to get away.

Why did you choose 10^th Street as your first location?
When I moved back to New York, I took an apartment upstairs from a magazine shop. That magazine shop is now my coffee house. I nagged the president of the board for months to get the space, until one day it opened up. I presented the board with a visual presentation of what I was going to do with Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee. I went around and photographed all the places that I liked, from bakeries and groceries to meat markets. I wanted to bring back old New York.

How did you prepare?
I read everything, touched everything, tasted everything. I spent some time in Italy, which sounds cliché, but I actually was really excited to jump on a plane and learn. A friend of mine handed me a book by Julia Alvarez, who owns a coffee farm in the Dominican Republic. I e-mailed her and two weeks later her husband was in my apartment doing a tasting. I went there too and worked on their farm for a month, getting a good understanding of Fair Trade, since it wasn’t big at the time. I was the first certified organic Fair Trade coffee bar in Manhattan.

What business model do you follow?
I follow my heart, but I really am inspired by Patagonia. The product looks good, feels good, and the retail operation focus was on great customer service. Plus, one percent of their sales is dedicated to environmental charities. I’ve also started a music company called Fresh Ground Music—every first Tuesday of the month, we have live music in this store with live broadcasts on our website. I also started a film company called Fresh Ground Films. Eventually, we want to start doing some documentaries.

What’s “stir brew”?
I proposed this idea that I wanted to stir coffee, similar to a French press. I created a machine with a group of engineers that rakes the coffee to gently stir it so the grounds are uniformly mixed, giving you an even brew. This way, you oxygenate the grounds to give it a richer flavor, leaving out any bitterness. Once we built a model, we opened our first store with it. A year later we got a worldwide patent.

How much coffee do you drink?
I start my morning with a black coffee, and I have an iced coffee or espresso in the afternoon. If I really want to treat myself, I’ll make a Happy Jack, which is a latte with a bit of agave cinnamon on top.

What was your first day like when you opened?
It took me almost three months to build the store with friends and family. I was always outside taking photos, painting tables, building relationships, and telling people to come in when it opens. On the first day, it was me and my cousin, Matty, working. There was a line out the store. We had Miles Davis music, flowers on the tables, mounds of pastries, and good cheer.

Where does the coffee come from?
We roast in Vermont, and right now we have Dominican, Peruvian and Mexican blends.

Tell us about Lorraine, the storied regular at your West Village location.
When she first started walking by with her friend, she would never visit. Then she started coming in every day, if not twice a day. I had a key to her apartment. She celebrated her 96th birthday in Jack’s, and she was 98 when she died. I loved her. She was an old-school, lively New Yorker who drank a big cup of black coffee, bigger than she was. She’d fall asleep over her mug, and I’d offer to walk her home. Customers used to go nuts over her smoking—she was the only one I allowed—but what could I do?

Which celebrities have come in?
Hilary Swank and Daniel Day-Lewis—he’s a friend of mine. I met his wife first, and she’d always tell me I reminded her of her husband. And when he came in, we hit it off.

Why open in the Hamptons?
I was looking for an escape out of the city, so when I was contacted to do a coffee shop here, I did it. At the end of the day, it just knocks the hell out of you. I love the whole surfing and fishing culture. We’ve had a great response, but winters can be tough. It’s a great challenge—I still love to build community.

What do you think of Starbucks?
Hats off to Howard Schultz for setting forth the whole movement for specialty coffee, but...

Thoughts on tea?
I love it. If I want to ease down on the caffeine, I’ll drink some green tea. The name for my Sweet Mary Tea comes from, ‘Sweet Mary of God, that’s so good!’

Do you take your dates out to coffee?
I only have one date these days. Her name is Christina, and we’ve been dating for four years. I don’t take her out for coffee; I bring her coffee.

What are your hobbies?
I’ve been collecting pieces of driftwood, which I’m trying to incorporate into collages. I love photography, travel, the ocean, surfing, meeting people. Architecture is another passion of mine.

What’s in your fridge?
A lot of white wine, Hudson Valley milk, carrots and chocolate.

What books are inspiring you right now?
The 12-Step Program. It’s about accepting who you are and giving up control. I’m fascinated by relinquishing your ego.

What’s next?
We’re thinking about organic cotton apparel and stuff like that, keeping it as sustainable and organic as possible. I’d love to have another location in Sag Harbor. I’ve been approached to expand in Japan. We’re hoping to start that conversation at the end of September.

Is coffee the new wine?
I don’t think so. People are trying to take it to that level, but it can’t go there. Coffee is coffee, man. People aren’t drinking it with cheese.

 

MIDTOWN--Jack's Stir Brew Coffee has opened a new location inside Greenacre Park on East 51st Street. The park is run by the Rockefeller Foundation and has a 20 foot waterfall designed by Hideo Sasaki. They offer both coffee and an organic lunch menu.

View more videos at: http://www.thefeast.com.

 

Nine years ago, Jack Mazzola sat at his kitchen table contemplating how much he loved the French press. The struggling actor—who'd had roles on soaps like "All My Children," and "Guiding Light"— imagined a similar device that would allow him to mix coffee grinds during the brewing process.

After a few sketches and a call to his buddy's dad who was an engineer, Mazzola was on his way to a worldwide patent and the freedom of never having to wait for an agent's call again.

"The result was incredible," says Mazzola. "So we went ahead with our first urn and opened Jack's Stir Brew on 10th Street ... and there were lines out the door."

Modeling his business after companies like Patagonia, which operate under strict policies of fair-trade and sustainability, the concept took off. Stir Brew expanded to a location on Front Street, followed by a pop-up in Amagansett, Long Island last summer. When a permanent Hamptons location became available in September, Mazzola seized the opportunity and moved into a small loft above the construction site to direct the cafe's design and nautical-themed décor.

Recently, The Feast stopped by Jack's Amagansett location to see the new space and to get a closer look at the gadget that transformed Mazzola into a coffee-pioneer. Next up: Stir Brews will be poured at Chipotles around the country. [The Feast]

146 Montauk Highway, Amagansett, NY; 631-267-5555.

 

Set on a cobblestone street between the South Street Seaport and Peck Slip, Jack's Stir Brew Coffee serves a rich, full-bodied cup of coffee for $3.25. The first New York establishment to serve fair-trade organic coffee, Jack's does not mess around when it comes to caffeinating its patrons. The patented stir brewer machine actually mixes the grinds as the coffee percolates for a more even extraction and less acidity. For those whose "get up and go" got up and went, try the Mad Max ($3.40), which is a shot of espresso in a cup of coffee, or go for the Happy Jack ($4.50), a latte with cinnamon and honey. You can't go wrong at this coffee shop, unless you're talking on a cell phone at the cash register. As a sign at the counter will tell you, just hang up and order.

See minute 9:18 for Jack's

On the days you do manage to find a seat inside the tiny and perpetually crowded West Village location of Jack's Stir Brew, turn your attention to the Happy Jack.

 

Part drink, part dessert, the Happy Jack is a well-executed latte steamed with spoonfuls of fragrant honey. A generous sprinkle of cinnamon tops it off. This warming drink is just sweet enough, and bright with a triple ristretto shot. It pairs best with a few of Jack's just-baked chubby chocolate chip cookies.

President Obama once got a cup of joe at Jack Mazzola’s destination for organic coffee, but he’s hardly a regular.  Ryan Adams and Daniel Day-Lewis reportedly are, however, and longtime downtown resident Sarah Jessica Parker has also been known to pop in.  The shop’s patented stir brew method is also used at its South Street Seaport location, but the buzzy West Village storefront gets the most celebrities.

Jack Mazzola’s organic fair-trade coffee company has expanded into roomier quarters in Amagansett Square, making way for what the former daytime soap star turned coffee king hopes will become “the social club of Amagansett.” The space at the edge of Main Street formerly occupied by another Sylvester & Co. store has been transformed with what Mr. Mazzola calls a “vintage nautical” theme, in which driftwood, maps, and found objects accent the walls.

Kate Maier Jack Mazzola and his patented stir-brew coffee machine have moved into a larger space in Amagansett Square

    Mr. Mazzola’s own photo collages, which consist primarily of images of Montauk, are for sale, and shelf space is brimming with Jack’s Coffee mugs, hats, and other merchandise.

    Nearly a decade ago, Mr. Mazzola patented his stir-brew coffee machine, which makes his Central American blends less bitter, as they are oxygenated while brewing, he said. He has committed himself to selling fair-trade coffee exclusively .

    “It’s been very trendy, supporting sustainability,” he said during a flurry of excitement as workers moved the pieces of his store from its former digs in the nook beside Randy Lerner’s Meeting House restaurant. But Mr. Mazzola’s passion for sustainable living sprouted long before the trend, he said. To that end, he and Mr. Lerner, who owns the square, share a common vision.

    Soups and sandwiches made in the kitchen of the Meeting House will be served to go at Jack’s, where increased counter space has made way for a sandwich press and what will be an organic juice bar.

    The plan is to serve the juices “bottled in our own packaging.” A selection of oatmeal, millet, and other warm breakfasts will round out the morning menu, which already includes muffins, cookies, and pastries made by bakers from here and New York City. 

    Mr. Mazzola’s flagship store on Greenwich Avenue expanded first with satellite locations in other parts of Manhattan, and he set up shop in the square in July. He will oversee operations of his other stores from a loft office overlooking the floor of the Amagansett store.

    From the moment he opened the first shop, “we were overwhelmed. It was surprising how welcoming the community was, and to discover customers and friends from New York,” who spend time on the South Fork in the summer, he said.

    By next season, Mr. Mazzola hopes to have started his “Reggae Jams at Jack’s,” and other live shows and films. He has been in conversations with a D.J. from New York and promised that the Sunday afternoon sessions would include $5 lobster rolls from Stuart’s Seafood Market in Amagansett.

    In the meantime, Mr. Mazzola is in something of a nesting phase, shifting around furniture and decorations, and planning for the future. “It was basically just a white canvas,” when he moved in, he said on Monday, gesturing to a cork board he had set up for community postings. An alcove that would soon be home to a selection of newspapers and magazines might also double as a stage for live entertainment.

    By summer, a table he sees as a “fruit stand” might be transformed into a farmers marketplace — “we’ll use as much organic as we can,” he said.

    With tables and counters to sip at and a new selection of foods, “what I look forward to in the future is foodies, musicians, first dates, fathers and sons after baseball games,” all meeting in what he calls “the nerve center” of Jack’s Coffee. Spending more time than ever here and at his house in Springs, “I’m considering this home,” he said.

Whoa!  Meeting Jack Mazzola was a whirlwind, the man must consume nothing but fairtrade coffee from his nine year old coffee house, Jack's Stir Brew.  More overwhelming than his frenetic tour were the number of projects that he continues to develop.  Jack's was the first organic, fair trade coffee shop in New York City and he still seems two steps ahead of the crowd.

A high-school dropout, Jack moved to NYC when he was 17 and began acting.  He found some success, earning roles on daytime television and commuting back forth between the east and west coasts.  Still, he was living paycheck to paycheck and was ready for something different.  When the store front below his apartment opened up Jack was ready to make a career move.  

Despite suffering from dyslexia his entire life and possessing little formal education Jack was unperturbed when he was asked for a business plan.  "I didn't write anything," he says "I went around the city and took pictures of different places to give a visual idea of what I was going to create."  Jack has been unrelenting in following that vision, creating a space that embodies its community heritage and fosters local creativity.  But his own creativity is enough to fill the place.  

The son of a mechanic, Jack used old friends from the body-shop to prototype his first invention.  His patented stir-brewer makes coffee that is commended for its full body and low acidity.  But from a broad perspective coffee is simply part of the picture.  It seems as though the coffee shop is only a vehicle for Jack's many other passions: his support of local dairy farms, his capturing of community through music and media, support for local artists, and, of course, entrepreneurship.  It would have been nice to stumble into Jack's Stir Brew earlier in the weekend.  I left feeling there was more for Jack to show us, plus the coffee was good.

Drinking a latte can be a pleasurable experience. There is the warmness of the milk, the mix of mild sweetness and familiar caffeine. But at Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee a large whole milk latte takes on a whole new meaning of enjoyment. After the first sip of my latte at Jack’s, I slowed down and closed my eyes for a moment, just for a quick moment, because I knew that I had just experienced the first moment of my life. The latte was not very bitter at all. That was really strange for me because I’m used to having bitter coffee and that’s what I consider to be normal. But it turns out that the barista used ristretto shots which are generally smaller in volume but tend to be sweeter. My friend told me that a large latte gets three ristretto shots. That was interesting because it explained why I was getting a full coffee flavor without overwhelming bitterness.

The milk was total serenity. It tasted pure and friendly, as if the cow wanted me to drink it. It was so good in fact that my friend and I ordered another latte each. I don’t usually do that. Two lattes in one sitting is usually a recipe for disaster. But I was OK.

One thing to know about Jack’s is that it is a busy coffee shop. So when I got there I was very lucky to get a seat. I think Jack’s would be a great place to get to know people and share business ideas, because since it is so busy, people often share tables. One woman shared her table with over three different people over the course of an hour.

The place smells so good. It has a mellow coffee smell. And Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee is well decorated and comfortable. It feels like you are in a place with some history and personality. It is a small coffee house, but it has MEGA flavor. The vibe of Jack’s is very stimulating for conversations and thinking. The next time I go there I will probably bring my journal and maybe I will draw some monsters or something.

The staff at Jack’s were super cool and friendly. They had a good attitude and seemed chill.

An important thing that I noticed about Jack’s was that all the customers were very nice to each other and super respectful. I noticed one woman offered to share the bench outside with other people as I walked inside. And even though it was close quarters in there, people seemed courteous and real towards each other. This is a very healthy sign for any establishment.

The discreet Jack's Stir Brew at 138 West 10th serves the best macchiatos in the city. From the creamy consistency of the coffee to the cosy coolness of the the place itself, Jack's is where the New York cognescenti get their coffee. With less than 20 seats, Jack's feels like you've discovered a coffee speak-easy for local West Villagers. Of course that's not the case, Jack's was named best coffee in America in 2008, but that's the sense of intimacy it evokes. The burnished brick walls, kitsch blackboard phrases and black and white photos of local patrons, including the firemen next door, makes Jack's an authentic village fixture.

In this day of factory made/farmed almost everything, how wonderful it is to come across products that are artfully and lovingly made by hand, by small producers and often family-run companies. This week we have highlighted some of my favorite artisanal products, my absolute favorite being the Hellfire Pepper Jelly that my cousin Hillary makes (I am obsessed with it and spread it on everything). Along with my personal faves, we have also included a list from a veritable expert on the matter, Edward Behr, the editor of The Art of Eating, which incidentally is a fantastic publication for the food inclined.

Love,
gp

By far some of the best espresso we’ve tried and definitely served in the coolest coffee shop, Jack’s was the place to be this year in its new location in the Hamptons. Jack Mazzola, the owner and designer of his namesake coffee shops in New York and Amagansett, has invented his own way of making coffee, developing the first process that stirs the ground beans while they are brewed - voila, Jack’s stir-brewed coffee. Jack knows his producers, sources beans from organic growers only, designs and builds the cozy shops’ cabin-in-the-woods-meets-lighthouse interiors, and shows up to serve coffee and pastries at his locales.

 

So-called “pop-up” stores are nothing new to East Hampton, but when Jack Mazzola hurriedly opened an Amagansett branch of his West Village coffeeshop, Jack’s Stir Brew, just before the Fourth of July weekend, he knew he’d be making a bid to be here to stay.

The shop, which has opened in part of the newly expanded Sylvester & Co. space at Amagansett Square, will move into Sylvester’s original location just west of its current site after the summer is over, with a focus on both food and providing an atmosphere where community can grow.

The coffee at Jack’s Stir Brew is reason enough to stop die-hard coffee drinkers in their tracks, thanks to a patented brewing method Mr. Mazzola stumbled upon as a young man.

Mr. Mazzola, whose father ran an auto body shop in Lodi, New Jersey, left home at 16, but first agreed to learn about manufacturing from a relative who built machines that mixed large quantities of food in factories.

When he began traveling, he noticed how people in cultures all over the world stirred their coffee directly into boiled water, much as he had done at home when using a French press. He decided to build a machine that would agitate coffee on a commercial scale and Jack’s Stir Brew was born.

“People have been stirring coffee since at least the early 1800s, but no one ever built a machine,” he said. “It oxygenates it and removes the bitterness. It needs to be gently agitated. It produces a very big, bold coffee. You can really taste the origins. For the Sumatra, for example, you taste the volcanic boldness.”

After patenting the stir brew machine, Mr. Mazzola opened his first coffee shop on 10th Street in the West Village in 2002, where he lived upstairs and opened and closed the shop every day for the first two years. It was during that time that he devoted himself to a family philosophy that would serve him well in business as he opened another shop at South Street Seaport and now in Amagansett.

“The mechanic was over my house for Sunday afternoon pasta. My dad’s clientele was endless, and that was my philosophy,” he said. “I wanted to buy the best products from local purveyors. It wasn’t about being trendy and sustainable. It’s local because I wanted to know them.”

Jack’s Stir Brew was the first commercial client of Hudson Valley Fresh organic milk, after his company had trouble steaming organic milk from another provider because it was too pasteurized. All their coffees are fair trade and shade grown, and Mr. Mazzola’s Aunt Rosie bakes fresh chocolate chip cookies for the store. There’s a gelato bar and fresh sandwiches in the fridge from The Meetinghouse restaurant next door, and idiosyncratic snacks ranging from gogi berries to crystallized ginger. All the coffee is roasted by a small coffee roaster in Rutland, Vermont.

At Jack’s in the city, music and 16mm movie nights are an integral part of the business.

Mr. Mazzola and the Amagansett store’s manager, Molly Kendall, a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who plans to serve pastries and hot food aplenty at the new location this fall, hope to foster that same community spirit in Amagansett.

“The first week here, the front porch was packed with people hanging out talking,” said Ms. Kendall.

Local musicians have already begun to line up to play, and Saturday afternoons are filled with music provided by a local guitarist.

Mr. Mazzola, who recently started a film company called “Fresh Ground Films” and began recording artists for the shop’s “Fresh Ground Music,” hopes to show movies here too.

He’s currently working on a production called “Real New York,” interviews with five New Yorkers who are customers of the 10th Street location.

“We have everyone from a former bouncer at the Ninth Circle, where Andy Warhol used to hang out, to a roadie for The Beastie Boys to the Italian immigrant who sips espresso there every day,” he said.

Mr. Mazzola isn’t stopping at film production. He hopes in the not-so-long term to bring Jack’s coffee to other hamlets in the Hamptons.

“I can’t sit still,” he said.

Owned by Jack Mazola and managed by Molly Kendall, this new coffee shop is focusing on organic and fair trade coffee. Jack's Coffee locations are community driven, and Amagansett is no exception. This location is carrying more products than any of their other stores, with many of their suppliers on Eastern Long Island. Fresh sandwiches prepared by the Meeting House and organic pastries by Anke are made daily, and the shop is using a local Montauk iced tea company, as well as selling fun organic snacks like goji berries, crystallized ginger chunks and coconut date rolls. Bringing part of the big city with them, they are also selling copies of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post.

The East End may not enjoy the ice creamy creativity of the Bay Area (what pretty colors, too?), but we seem to be getting our coffee complement, with two new options recently sprouted in the tiny hamlet of Amagansett. There’s the local girl, Julianna Nash, who is captaining Mary’s Mobile, a crimson caffeine trailer parked at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett from 6:30-11:30 a.m., everyday but Tuesday, brewing up beans from Dallis Coffee, the century-old roaster in Queens, and serving them alongside a full suite of scones, muffins, croissants and other beach-friendly, coffee accompaniments direct from Mary’s Marvelous back in the village on Main Street. Also back in the village (but visiting from another Village about 80 miles west of here), Jack’s Coffee has popped up in a pretty little room at 154 Montauk Highway. Outside the myriad maritime memorabilia, this Jack’s offers much the same menu (including the Half Lou, named for a sometimes-NYC-sometimes-East End regular), and tasty stir-brew quality, of the 10th Street Jack’s, as well as perhaps the only source of Hudson Valley Fresh milk in these parts. (There’s also Ciao Bella gelato and Mast Brothers chocolate, urban imports that have been spotted elsewhere of late.) “I’ve never seen this much decaf in my 10 years making coffee,” the barista said, suggesting it might have something to do with folks being on vacation. He then pulled a very strong cortado.

Amagansett Square is getting a caffeine injection in the form of Jack’s Coffee, an organic, fair-trade coffee company with roots on Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan. Jack Mazzola, who lives part time in Springs with his girlfriend, said that he and Randy Lerner, who owns the square, are on the same wavelength. While setting up shop last Thursday, he explained his plans, which include moving into the space presently occupied by Sylvester and Co., setting up a concert and film series, and serving organic food grown in Mr. Lerner’s backyard farm. For the time being, a coffee nook furnished with removable countertops and fixtures has been set up in the space that was once Beth’s Flowers. “This store was designed to be disassembled” in anticipation of the move to Sylvester and Co., which is planned in October, he said. Ice cream is to be served through the window, pre-packaged sandwiches will be produced in the kitchen of Mr. Lerner’s Meeting House restaurant nearby, and a selection of some of New York’s most popular organic baked goods are to be hauled to the South Fork outpost on a daily basis, including the Aunt Rosie’s chocolate chip cookies that are an apparent hit at the flagship location. With nine years at the Greenwich Avenue location under his belt, Mr. Mazzola said his was the first “certified organic, fair-trade coffee bar in New York,” and that it was “doing sustainability before you could even spell it.” “We hit a 27 in Zagat, which is unheard of for a coffee bar,” and the Manhattan spot was voted by AOL as serving “the best coffee cup in America,” he said. The secret to the success of the Central American blend he produces is the patented stir-brew process, Mr. Mazzola said, which he drew from his morning French press ritual. Using a special machine that stirs the coffee during the brewing process “oxygenates and reduces the bitterness” of the coffee, he said. Mr. Mazzola, who once had a recurring role as Todd on “All My Children,” left the entertainment business to pursue a full-blown coffee adventure, but his love of the arts has come full circle with a series of pilot projects to support music and film. He described the Amagansett space as fertile ground for Fresh Ground Music, a project supported by artists including Jill Sobule and Ryan Adams, and Fresh Ground Films, whose project of the moment is a documentary on some of the regulars at the Greenwich Avenue shop. If Mr. Lerner continues to support his vision, Mr. Mazzola’s hope is to set up a film and concert series at the square and open a “sustainable luncheonette, spearheading farm-to-table lunch spot” that will serve food from Mr. Lerner’s farm and ultimately “generate business for people out here.” Mr. Mazzola, who was in a frenzy of preopening construction on Thursday, will hand off the operation to a manager, Molly Kendall, a pastry chef and Culinary Institute of America graduate who crossed paths with Mr. Mazzola in Manhattan, after the dust settles. “This is Molly’s baby,” he said, adding of Mr. Lerner, “It’s exactly what Randy’s involved in — community-driven places.”

Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee opened the door’s of its new Amagansett location today at 7 a.m.--just in time for the morning rush! The coffee shop will serve up its organic, fair trade, shade-grown coffee, which was made famous at the brand's original Greenwich Village location. Jack himself boasts that the new coffee house, which is located at 154 Montauk Highway, was designed and built in only 72 hours. Dare we ask just how much caffeine fueled the renovation?

Just what we need today: recommendations for good coffee from Toby Cox, owner of Three Lives & Co. Bookstore in the West Village. Jack’s Stir Brew The Three Lives & Company local; mind the groove in the sidewalk from our repeated trips down the block for our mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

A steady train of onlookers — challenged to keep walking, confused into staying — gathered outside the window at Jack’s Stir Brew last week as comedian Chris Fleming realized the bond between Cucumber and Melon in a cucumber-melon soap dramatization. With Screech-hectic impulses, Fleming clutched the head of a vintage mic and carried out his improv blend of flurry and meltdown to uninterrupted laughs and a hesitant Meaghan O’Connell who waited at the door’s threshold, wondering when she might catch a calmer wave and walk in. In this, the third installment of Paper Cone Stories hosted by Emma Barrie and Kayla Morse, the theme was “Too Soon?” and the writers were funny people (Pressure!). I tend to shy away from live comedy, fearing that stewing sense of estrangement that occurs when I miss the punchline. That said, this was less the sort of funny that takes up space and more keyed into a blogging vernacular I am only now getting familiar with - never had a Blogger or LiveJournal, that doesn't mean I didn't have a Diaryland. Wry slice of life, New York topical satire and goofy adventure stories abound; I was really entertained. Moviegoing aside, I rarely laugh along with strangers, and it's too bad, because there's something unmistakably relieving about it. Added, was the coffee shop’s tight squeeze and narrow shoebox frame which cultivated inevitable mutual appreciation, and foreseeable (always strange, and sometimes awkward) IRL encounters with those whose faces have until now been two-inch avatars on our screens. Edith Zimmerman read some of her Letters to the Editor of Women’s Magazines; quips that take sardonic jabs at the readers, the content, and the editors of our favorite glossy magazines. If you've ever read the letters, in say Vogue, there's usually an intentional mix of criticism, worship, debate — Is zero a size? Is black a color? No offense 'Ethnic' prints? — and predictably, stock rumblings from long-time, newly unsatisfied readers. Zimmerman's interpretations are dark in their spacy-ness; high fashion macabre meets flaky cluelessness. She'll turn a mouthful of Marie Claire exercise craze into twelve-year-old boy, blood and guts jokes, meanwhile, her tone remains stony and wittingly naive: Daria and Jane Lane bored in biology class, flipping through Elle. Leon Neyfakh’s piece about ska and the foibles of freelancing, and the absurd trails one might chase for a story, was the sort of casual, idiosyncratic storytelling that gathers steam and humor with particularly vivid images; notably, a pitbull named Pigeon sitting under the desk at a ska label’s office. My friend pinched me during this detail, knowing fully well that my glossary of names for pets I will never own, grows more and more ridiculous. Only yesterday while watching X-Men, my roommate and I decided to rename our cat, Mortimer...Magneto. “I’m going to read to you from the New York Times, and then I will rant incoherently,” Akiva Gottlieb began. What followed was Gottlieb’s playful attack and unpackaging of a Times piece that fell far short of covering both sides of a museumgoer’s permanent relegation from MoMA due to an incident during the Marina Abramovic retrospective: "This is an act of cultural imperialism. If this man’s work is barred from the museum, then I hope he’s taking his ass-grabbing talents to the streets. He could be the Basquiat of butt-groping." Using deadpan to dry hyperbole, and dressed in pop culture (nods to Bieber and the Double Down) Gottlieb's criticisms of the Times piece was based on his obvious fascination (blame it on the A-A-A-A-Abramovic) with the unnamed MoMA groper. His who-what-when-where voyeurism charge was unsatisfied, and Gottlieb, "a former teenage boy, one who was singled out in my high school yearbook as “Most Likely to Wear a Trenchcoat and Lurk in Dark Alleys Making Lewd Gestures," wanted more. "For certain liberal arts school graduates, the Abramovic retrospective is our Woodstock, the cultural happening that enables us to stare meaningfully into the eyes of strangers, brush against body parts, watch women run through a muddy field while stripping off layers of clothing, and generally revel in the various possibilities of naked flesh under the guise of an artistic experience. It’s a lot like ChatRoulette, actually, and it’s making New York very comfortable.”

Greenwich Village home base to a cafe at the Seaport, plus a few interborough partnerships with Rice restaurant, and a forthcoming truck, soon to roam the Rockaways. But his first expansion beyond city limits came via an unexpected fast-food overture: Chipotle founder Steve Ells, a Jack’s regular, approached Mazzola about setting up shop in the burrito outpost at Virginia’s Dulles International Airport in Terminal B.

After much shuffling of corporate paperwork and legal mumbo jumbo, Mazzola hopped a shuttle last month to oversee installation of his patented stir-brew technology. If all goes well, this might be the beginning of a larger co-branding experiment (after all, there are currently nearly a thousand Jack-less Chipotles). At the very least, New Yorkers traveling to and from D.C. can be guaranteed a taste of home and a very alert flight.

Inspired by the story of Jack himself inventing a coffee maker to brew his beans led me here for this, the final stop on my self imposed coffee tour. I wanted a good ol’ fashion cup of coffee to bring me back to my roots. When I walked in I thought, “Jeezum crow, feels like Vermont in here”. I quickly forgot I was in Manhattan and while ordering I chatted up the barista and found out that Jack’s buddy roasts the beans in his barn up in Vermont. Everything is organic and fairtrade, including the baked goods. I found a comfy seat and took a nice long slug of the rich, smooth and tasty brew. My little hippy heart was in heaven.

So, what some were calling the Great Recession came and (maybe) went, and those elusive summer bargains in the Hamptons never materialized. Prices for three-month rentals on the East End (such as $25,000 for a modest cottage) never left crazy-goofball territory, and now the market's heating back up. Perhaps it's time to consider a cheaper alternative: Rockaway Beach, aka Hamptons West. This Queens outpost abuts the exact same ocean (the Atlantic!) that Christie Brinkley and Russell Simmons enjoy, and think of all the cheese fries you could buy with your savings. Don't bother with the likes of Corcoran to scout properties at this last stop on the A train—it doesn't list in the Rockaways. Instead, check out the deals on Craigslist (room-shares run about $700 a month) or call an agent like West End Realty's Valerie Clarke, a retired photographer who left TriBeCa to sell listings in her hometown 'hood. (Among her best marketing lines: "I'm not going to lie to you, there's no good food here," and her dry observation that with a cellphone, "You can get your drugs and pizza delivered right to the beach.") Rockaway's architecture is an awkward jumble of Provincetown-meets-Bushwick, but the area's boardwalk apartment buildings are your standard-issue '60s-era co-ops, and it's easy to find a decent two-bedroom for less than $2,000 a month. But since we're talking Rockaway prices, why not treat yourself to a new vacation home? Ms. Clarke showed me a clean, solid, 400-square-foot studio for $129,000, and an airy junior one-bedroom with fancy moldings and ocean views for $185k. A few more dollars buys an entire Rockaway bungalow. These tiny abodes allow you to experience beach-town life in your very own shingle-clad cubicle. Locals say the best and only option for a shorter stay is The D Piper Inn, a 12-unit B&B less than a block from the beach. On a recent evening, shirtless proprietor Peter Duffy sat on the porch with his guests, puffing his way through a pack of Newports. The rate, he says, is $125 a night or $650 a week—"Absolutely no hourly under any circumstances!" This price includes breakfast, use of a communal shower and a spin on one of the fat-wheeled bicycles parked out back with the rusty bathtub. It sounded a little dicey, but the spotless rooms are comfortable and handsomely furnished. Plus, anyone can use the toaster out in the hall. Mr. Duffy says his typical guest is a middle-age professional who lives on the Q53 bus line, but he once hosted a group of Park Slope vegans: "They gave me a cupcake and jeez, it was disgusting!" Once settled in, feel free to improvise: Rockaway life tends toward the makeshift. The pedicab driver charges "whatever you feel like paying," local fashion dictates towels on the head and the community garden features a clam-shell patch, innumerable American flags and a faded Bud Light canopy shading a filing cabinet. For entertainment, there's a vast expanse of shell-strewn public beach, which on a hot day draws every teenager in Queens along with fantastic displays of belly-button jewelry. The locals also recommend drinking. There's the Wharf, a patio bar with amazing views situated behind the oil-change shop, and the Bungalow Bar & Restaurant, a patio bar with amazing views situated behind the McDonald's. The area's surfers and lifeguards prefer Connolly's Bar, a basement tavern famous for its frozen drinks, including Red Bull-n-vodka ("It sounds awful but it's NOT!" one lifeguard told me). Can this laid-back scene survive? Every few years, trend watchers predict the area's big comeback, and this time around, the hype centers on the corner of Rockaway Boulevard and Beach 96th Street. The intersection recently sprouted a fair-trade coffee café, an organic produce stand and Rockaway Taco, which lures long lines of Williamsburg-style hipsters straight out of the ocean. My prediction: Rockaway entropy will never be defeated. I waited 63 minutes for a $3 taco. The produce stand is supplied by a lone anarchist farmer who tired of the upscale scene at Union Square Greenmarket; the late-afternoon selection consisted of some greens, four containers of strawberries, radishes and three bananas. Also, stinging nettles. ("It's a super food, like seaweed that grows in the forest," says co-proprietor Shaun Kessler.) The stand shares a former taxi garage with an outpost of Manhattan café Jack's Stir Brew Coffee. I'm not saying the atmosphere is chill, I'm just observing that someone behind the counter wrote "Employees must wash hands" on the wall with a black magic marker. Russell Simmons doesn't know what he's missing.

Just what is stir brewed anyway?  It just happens to arguably be NYC’s best coffee! It’s difficult for New Yorkers to give a definitive answer on which shop offers the best coffee.  Some are better than others for different reasons….heck, your absolute favorite coffee shop may go out of business in a year and the next best place is two train rides away…from everything else that you do. So that being said, there are definitely some independent coffee purveyors that consistently stand above the rest. I have raved about Oren’s and others before but if I have to pick a contender, Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee is another standout.  For one thing, as the name implies, Jack’s brewing process is entirely unique.  Owner Jack Mazzola invented the device himself which oxygenates the freshly ground beans as they brew, reducing their acidity giving every cup I’ve had a nice smooth flavor leaving the palate unscathed by bitter after tastes.  He also found that adding cold milk to hot coffee kills the flavor so you’ll never see those stainless steel carafes on the counter here. Only steamed milk will do. In addition to the brewing method, his coffee blend itself is custom made and top secret.  But we do know that it’s a certified organic, Fair Trade, shade-grown-micro-roasted dark blend.  So there.  Go get yourself a cup!

It's 11:00 am on a windy, drizzly early March day in Manhattan's West Village, but I'm warm and dry in the cozy confines of Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee on W. 10th St. Though the Mommas and Papas are singing, "Monday, Monday," it's actually Wednesday, Wednesday, and my last morning in New York after an exhilarating six-day visit. When I asked friends who are longtime lower Manhattan residents – the kind of people who looked at me incredulously when I said I was lodging on the Upper East Side -- where would be the perfect café to end my stay, the answer was unanimous. So here I am, and after 20 minutes, I'm already beginning to understand why. The words "home away from home" come easily to mind at Jack's. The cheery baristas greet customers like old friends, and the customers themselves frequently stop to talk with one another before ordering their americanos or as they walk out with cappuccinos in hand. Jack's is a shoebox-shaped place, maybe 14 feet from the door to the far end of the counter and 10 feet wide. This size is part of its charm, as is the casual, distinctly lived-in look. From the doorway, a six-foot-long wooden counter with four well-worn stools stretches invitingly along the right wall, and a sitting area barely large enough to squeeze in a dozen neighborly patrons at four two-foot-square tables opens in front and on the left. When I walked in, a bandanna'd barista smiled and called out a greeting from behind a case stocked with a tempting display of muffins, croissants and scones, as well as yogurt, fruit juices and water. Intersecting this case was a counter displaying apples, biscotti and bagels in woven baskets. Here customers were ordering from a menu written in chalk on a mounted blackboard. In addition to the usual coffees, teas, cocoa, cider and milk, the beverage choices included a couple of surprises: a house specialty called Apple Jack -- tea with apple juice – and beer. I ordered my usual latte and chocolate croissant, and just then got lucky as a patron arose to leave, liberating a seat at one of the café's two window seat tables, which, happily enough, no one else was waiting to claim. And that's where I sit now, in this airy window-lit space, with my laptop, croissant and latte covering most of my table, reveling in Jack's idiosyncratic cafescape. On my far right, above the long counter, a gloriously crammed wall showcases photos of regular customers, a few posters, and other endearing oddities like a picture of a camel in front of the Egyptian pyramids and another of three apparently caffeine-connoisseur penguins with a Jack's mug in the foreground. Under the photo gallery, a diminutive cork board, maybe 2 feet by 3 feet, features notices from locals ("Past Lives, Dreams and Soul Travel," "Learn Spanish," "Lunchtime Yoga," "Dan Will Teach You Guitar"). Beside the corkboard, a ski-capped couple snuggles on the stools, and beyond them a tweed-coated chap in a navy blue beret professorially peruses the Times. To my immediate right a thirtysomething mom is interviewing a prospective nanny ("You have your driver's license, right?" "Oh yes, I am driving maybe six month now."). Opposite me, a bewhiskered guy in a baseball cap nurses a mug and stares into space as if he's settled in for the day; at the table next to him, a young man in a ski parka rustles red-marked papers and scribbles in a notebook. On my left there's a brick wall with two blackboards, a navy blue tie hanging collegially from the corner of one. One of the blackboards bears the scrawled message, "I'm almost NOT crazy." Next to them, Jack's t-shirts, baseball caps, army jackets, courier bags, mugs and coffee are arranged neatly for sale on shelves. The notebook-scribbler vacates his table and it's immediately taken by a mid-twenties mom in big black rain boots and her daughter, who delicately drapes her pink backpack over the back of her chair. They launch into an intent discussion of whether they should try to make the icing themselves the next time they bring a cake to school. I sit back and close my eyes, trying to absorb the pastry-and-coffee scent, comforting conversational murmur and unhurried pace of this place. Then I turn to my laptop and write: "Every town should have a Jack's, where you can wander in, order a cup of delicious coffee and a just-right chocolate croissant, where the barista asks how the book is going or how the kids are doing, where you can strike up a conversation about novels with a neighbor, write a message on a chalkboard, or bring a child during her school's lunch break." Now Van Morrison fills the air – "oh, Domino" -- and the mom is leaning forward and saying to her scone-nibbling daughter, "You have to be introduced to Tennyson at some point in your life, right?" Regulars stream in and out, joking with the baristas and each other, and the morning slips away. I look at my watch: time for a last stop at a neighborhood bookstore and then it's on to JFK.
 Getting up with a sigh, I compliment the barista on the quality of the coffee. She tells me that the secret is Jack's homemade "stir brew" coffeemaker, which stirs the coffee grounds as it's brewing, ensuring that the grounds are fully saturated and evenly brewed. The result, she says, is a less acidic, stronger, bolder, smoother brew. As we talk more, I learn that she used to work at a Peets coffeeshop in the Bay Area that is literally a 10-minute walk from my house. "This is as close as you'll get to Peet's in New York," she says. We share small world smiles and she encourages me to try one of "Aunt Rosie's" chocolate chip cookies. "Is there really an Aunt Rosie?" I ask -- and she points to a photo of a beaming woman behind me. I buy two of Aunt Rosie's finest for the long flight home. They'll serve as a delicious reminder of the perfect café that brightened a drizzly New York day.

Your afternoon wake-up call with a touch of sweetness, all rolled into one. Meet The Mountie ($4.50) from Jack's Stir Brew in the West Village. A triple ristretto with steamed milk and maple syrup. Shakes of cinnamon to top. A little coffee, a little dessert. Come on the weekdays, in the afternoon, and you won't have to worry about a lack of tables. Book in hand, warm mug on the table: it's one of life's lovely simple pleasures.

Matthew Modine, the founder of nonprofit pro-biking group Bicycle for a Day, takes pedal power just as seriously as he does acting. While he returns to Broadway next month as Capt. Arthur Keller, father of Helen, in “The Miracle Worker” at the Circle in the Square theater, he’s just as focused on getting urbanites out of cars and onto bikes. He rides his year-round, even in winter. “I love riding in the snow,” he says. “But make sure your bike has fenders, otherwise your legs and backside get all covered with New York City ‘stuff.’” This is his bike-friendly New York. 1) “Jack’s in the West Village has the best stir brew. I don’t know what he does to it, but he has it trademarked.”

Did you hear? It's supposed to be absolutely freezing this weekend. (If it weren't cold enough for you already.) My plans: a long novel, a good friend, a thick knitted scarf, and endless cups of the Hot Applejack ($4.15) at Jack’s Stir Brew in the West Village. Tea (your choice, though I like it best with chai or black tea) steeped in hot apple cider. Dustings of cinnamon to finish. It doesn't get more cozy than that!