On weekday mornings and afternoons, you'll see crowds of business people waiting out the door at Culture Espresso for a taste of the high quality coffee and perhaps a chocolate chip cookie or two. Before Culture Espresso opened its doors in 2009, it was nearly impossible to find a coffee of this caliber in Midtown
The business was opened by Australian coffee lover Adam Craig (who now runs a coffee shop in Amsterdam) and trained chef Jody LoCascio. They've since brought on other serious coffee players, including General Manager Johnny Norton.
As for the coffee, they have worked with a number of coffee roasters over the years (including Brooklyn's Stumptown) before settling on Heart Roasters, a small batch roaster from Portland, Oregon.
The What:
The coffee scene in Midtown has grown quite a bit since 2009, but Culture was the first of the third wave coffee shops in the neighborhood. This is the kind of place you would have expected in the hip neighborhoods of Brooklyn not the corporate streets of Midtown Manhattan.
That's why people are so surprised to find it (and taste Culture's amazing coffee) on our Midtown Sights & Bites tour. In addition to excellent lattes, flat whites, and superb cold brew, Culture also bakes the best chocolate chip cookie in the neighborhood (and arguably in the city). Other pastries come from local bakeries like Dough (whose doughnuts we also taste later on this tour).
The people who work a few blocks from Bryant Park are lucky to have this here, but the team at Culture realized other areas of Midtown were also in desperate need of a good coffee. So they expanded from the original shop on 38th Street to two other coffee shops further west on 36th and 38th Street.
Seating here is tight, but most patrons take their coffee to go. The ones who do sit and chat with the baristas find a really cool welcoming community of coffee lovers.
The Why:
This truly started the third wave coffee culture of Midtown. It's a surprising oasis in the middle of the chain-heavy shops and bustling business energy. Here,. it feels like a community where you can relax for a bit, grab a great cup of coffee, and appreciate the little things in life.
The Where:
Culture Espresso
72 West 38th Street
New York, NY 10018
(212) 302-0200
Other Locations:
Culture 36
247 West 36th Street
New York, NY 10018
(646) 861-3553
Culture 307
307 West 38th Street
New York, NY 10018
(646) 864-1963