MY FAVORITE PARK SLOPE: PLACE TO WORK AT, THEN DRINK AT

Finding the perfect Park Slope coffee shop to work in is work itself.  Upon moving here, I first tried Root Hill, which boasts the best coffee in the Slope (in my haughty opinion). But those cold plastic chairs can really only comfortably sit an elf on the shelf. And so the search continued.

I've since learned  that I'd never find everything I was looking for in one coffee shop: bold coffee, yummy food, ample comfy seating, hot baristas, plentiful sockets... but one place comes close: Tea Lounge. When it comes to coffee shops, I'm a bit of a size queen. I crave anonymity in these settings, and find the intimacy of Cafe Grumpy, De Luxe, Postmark... hell, any other coffee shop except Tea Lounge, to be insufferable.  I want to blend in witha sea of deadpan stares and bloodshot eyes hovering over glowing apples. I want to sink into some big old honkin' couch that is bad for my back, but I don't give a shit because *damn* I could fall asleep right now. I also want a place where I can nibble on more than some gourmet scone (the grub here is pretty good, especially their salads: mix pix with grilled chicken is the way to go.)

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Konditori Shut By DOH on Thursday

Things that make me drop my jaw and twist my face into a Renee Zellweger I-just-ate-something-rancid expression: Walking to Konditori on Seventh Avenue at 8:45 this morning, seeing it shuttered with Department of Health notices up on the door.

Here's the sign on the door:

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Get Discounted Coffee For Bringing Your Own Mug!

If there are two things I love about the BK-based blog Brokelyn, it's their attractive staff and ability to spot great deals in Brooklyn. Most recently, they've brought us a list of coffee shops that offer discounts if you bring your own mugs or reusable cups. This is great because A) discount! and B) it's better for the environment and C) you don't have to scoff at a barista who spells your name on the paper cup as "Flergen." Here are their Park Slope recommends:

Red Horse Café
497 6th Ave., between 13th St & 12th St., Park Slope
Discount: 25 cents off drip coffee with your own mug.

Starbucks
Various Brooklyn locations (in Park Slope, 7th Ave between Garfield and 1st Street and the one inside B&N at 7th Ave between 5th/6th Streets)
Discount: As part of their Green Project, they take 10 cents off beverages when you use your own reusable travel mug.

Tea Lounge Heads East...WAY East

Left image via www.streetlegalplay.wordpress.com

In early May, we learned that Park Slope coffee & baked goods-slinging breeder/freelancer hangout The Tea Lounge (who've seen themselves go from three locations to a single one on Union St over the past decade), have plans to start franchising the Tea Lounge name. Owner Jonathan Spiel, who has built The Tea Lounge into a "community" since opening a dozen years back, feels he has a unique franchise model in a café that engenders this community spirit, with entertainment as a healthy part of the mix.

Last week, we finally learned of the first franchise location in the expanding Tea Lounge empire. Where would it be? Willyburg? Perhaps an up & coming NYC neighborhood like Sunnyside, Queens? How about someplace hip on the West Coast: Portland or Olympia, perhaps?

Nope. Not even close, Maynard. Instead, The Tea Lounge is pulling a lil' Sex and The Shitty II & heading to the Middle East! That's right. As was first reported last week, Mohammed al Arbash, a Kuwaiti businessman, will be opening the first Tea Lounge franchise in a Kuwait City mall. OBVIOUSLY.

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What's Up With Gorilla’s Pre-Packaged Cold Brew?

Photo credit: James O'Meara

It's been a while since we've heard some good juice from Gorilla Coffee (lest you forget the great Coffee War of 2010, please see HERE HERE HERE and HERE). It seemed as if Gorilla had cooled it with the lawsuits and slipped back under the radar to focus on their latte art. 

Or so we thought.

Turns out Gorilla is ruffling feathers yet again and this time it’s personal.  Iced Coffee Personal. 

Patrons recently looking for their precious morning summertime crack iced coffee fix were in for a surprise as they received not the usual freshly-prepared buck of chilled coffee, but a box of Gorilla Cold Brew. Coffee I can take home and alternate with a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino tucked in the back of my fridge?  Don’t mind if I do.  But at $4 for a single serving it's hardly a steal (that is unless you’re itching for a souvenir cardboard gorilla).

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