Showing posts with label espresso. Show all posts
Showing posts with label espresso. Show all posts

Monday, February 16, 2015

Caffe Dante Closing After 100 Years

MY BELOVED CAFFE DANTE to CLOSE
Yes I'm afraid it's most likely true, my beloved Caffe Dante to close this month (February 2015) after 100 years in business in New York's Greenwich Village. It's rumored that Mario Flotta the long time owner of Caffe Dante will be selling the caffe to a Australian Corporation and it was reported on 1010 WINS Radio News this morning that Dante will be shuttering its doors in 10 days time. This is very sad, especially for me and longtime regulars who have been going to Caffe Dante for 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years for New York's most authentic Espresso and cups of Cappuccino. I myself have been going there since the Summer of 1985 when I came back from my first trip wonderful trip of many to my ancestral homeland of Italy .. As i've been going to Caffe Dante almost evry single day siance 85, I've become good friends with the Flotta Family over the years especially Mario Sr. who is almost like a second father to me.
This is such sad news, and all I can say is something I know that most do not, is that Mario bought a building around the corner on Bleecker Street for just such a situation. That being that the landlord would one day raise his rent beyond reason (the Landlord did in 2013), and Mario would just pack up his caffe and move it around the corner. Mario is Caffe Dante, his loves the place like one of his own children, and I know this is the reason he bought the building on Bleedker. Mario told me himself what he would do, and he always wanted the Caffe to continue and for there to be a place for Caffe Dante for his sons, Mario Jr., Anthony, and Peter.
I hope everything all works out, I love Caffe Dante more than I can ever express, it's without question my second home, and a Greenwich Village without this wonderful Caffe would be that much less of the Greenwich Village that we residients, visitors and tourist from around the country and around the World know.
 
 
 
Story & Photos by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

REBIRTH CAFFE DANTE NY






NEW CAFFE DANTE
The EXTERIOR Is THE SAME











Owner
MARIO FLOTTA
at 
CAFFE DANTE

"Mario, Is CAFFE DANTE"

BASTA !!!!





READ ABOUT CAFFE DANTE
In 
DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE'S 
Book
"La TAVOLA"

DANIEL HAS BEEN A LONG TIME PATRON
of
CAFFE DANTE










Sunday, November 10, 2013

Thursday, July 19, 2012

IN NEW YORK REGULAR COFFEE IS KING


My Morning Coffee. Couldn't live without it. Get's me goin, hundreds of Millions a day. each and every day. You just gotta have that cup of Joe. For most Americans, they drink it at home, though millions get it out, on the go, at the office, or if your lucky, you'll sit down and enjoy it leisurely at your local cafe, the way I like mine, and I don't mean at Starbucks which I only do in a pinch when there's no better alternative. To me and millions others, Starbucks is too commercial, it's the "Bottom of the Barrel" and akin to McDonald's of the Coffee World.
    I Love my morning Coffee, the Coffee itself, but it's not just the coffee, it going to the cafe, chit-chatting with the counter girls, maybe bumping into a friend or two, or having a conversation with a cafe regular like me.
      I'm happy to get my Coffee, jump onto my Laptop, read the News, my emails, Surf, do a bit of writing, Or a lot!
      And that first sip, it Taste so Good. I just Love it, "warm and Comforting" that Morning Coffee is. Don't you just Love it? I do! How many Millions do? Americans, Italians, the French, Swedes, an-on-and-on, 1 Billion people every day, Two or Three, who knows. OK, I just did a little research (I wouldn't have been able to do this Pre-Internet Days). OK, about 150 Million Americans drink about 225,000,000 cups of coffee every day. Worldwide about 1.5 Billion people drink about 4.8 Billion cups of Coffee a day. That's a lot of friggin coffee. In the United States alone we drink about 480 million cups a day, almost a 1/2 billion cups of Coffee consumed a day in the U.S. or almost 3 1/2 Billion cups of coffee a week, tallying up to about 172 Billion Cups of Coffee a year in the United States of America. Wow!
      In Italy, your morning Coffee could be either an Espresso or Cappuccino, but after 1130 A.M. Italians no longer would drink Cappuccino or Caffe Latte any longer in the day, and they laugh at Americans who order a Cappuccino in a restaurant after Dinner.
      


For me, my morning Coffee has just gotta be a regular. Nothing else will do. Well maybe an occasional Cappuccino which was my morning coffee for years at what used to be my favorite Caffee for a couple decades, Caffe Dante. I Loved my Cappuccino, but many a time, I sat there in Caffe Dante wishing I had a Regular Cup of Joe. The cappuccino doesn't last as long as that Cup of Joe, plus it's "Twice the Price," and when you go out for about 800 Coffees a year, as I do, the price of the Cappuccino plus tip can add up to quite a lot more Money. I've figured it out, to about $750 difference between getting a Cappuccino as opposed to a much cheaper American Coffee. Yes I was spending about $2500 a on coffee when I was having about 1.2 Cappuccinos a day and 1 regular coffee.  Now that I drink mostly just American Coffee (Regular), about 2.2 cups a day, with just an occasion Cappuccino, I spend about $1,750 a year, for a "Savings" of about $750 a year since I switched. In the 7 years that I've drastically reduced my Cappuccino consumption I have saved $5,200 .. Pretty dam good. And I've saved it and put it in the Bank. Yes besides the taste, this is a good reason to love that Regular Cup of Joe.
     A regular American Coffee is more satisfying, just the right balance of roast Coffee Beans brewed in the drip method with just the right amount of water. I add some Milk, no sugar, and for me, that is my perfect cup of Morning Coffee. You can keep your high priced Cappuccino, Espresso, and those ridiculous things they serve to Amateur Coffee Drinkers at Starbucks. It's all Marketing which most Americans are easily Brainwashed into. The same reason that "Ridiculous Sitcoms like Two and a Half men and other sitcoms are popular. And the same reason why that "Awful Garbage Hip Hop" is so popular. Most Americans have "Horrible Taste," are Followers, and easily Brainwashed. Sorry, but this could be the only reason why Millions would pay Millions of Dollars every day for "Abortionated Drinks" like Caramel Lattes and the like, and such "Awful Tasteless Noise as Hip Hop."
      Ok, I've made my point. Back to my Morning Coffee, and it's just gotta be a "Regular." In New York, a "Regular Coffee" is King. No matter that many Cappuccinos, Espresso, those ridiculous Starbucks Concoctions are drunk everyday. In comparison they make up just a small percentage of the many various forms of coffee that can be made. Regular American Coffee is king, whether in your home, on the go from a Deli, after Lunch or Dinner in a restaurant, or even in, yes Starbucks. More than 85% of the millions of cups of coffee made every single day in New York, day after day, 365 of them a year, 85% of them are the good old American Classic, American Coffee. A Regular.




Daniel Bellino Zwicke