February 23rd, 2020 Seven Grams Caffe, 76 Madison Avenue, Madison Square Park *This review is not sponsored or in collaboration with any affiliation. All opinions are my own.
Ordered: 12oz Cappuccino ($5.00) and Tahini Brownie* ($4.25) = $9.25 (+ tip)
Quality of coffee: Seven Grams’ Signature Cappuccinos are lightly dusted with cocoa on top, making for a sweet addition to their coffee. Foam art is very nice, if that’s something that interests you. Espresso quality isn’t too intense so if you like lighter feeling coffee that still has a punch of energy, this will do it. They also pride themselves on their selection of artisan bakery items. I tried their Tahini Brownie (indicated by the *) which is known to be one of the favorites of this spot. As far as I know, all (or most) of their bakery items are vegan and many are gluten free.
Quality of service: Average but still very quality. Baristas are nice and it's not a very busy place so they have more incentive to be themselves rather than the forced smiles you may see at a large chain like Starbucks or Peet’s. Baristas laugh and with the customers, especially if they know them (which is possible, the location is set in a neighborhood).
Chain? Not a chain, but there ARE three locations in New York! One in Madison Square Park (76 Madison Ave), 275 7th Ave, and 175 Varick St.
Atmosphere: As soon as I walked in, I noticed the lighting and the space. There is plenty of seating for customers to chat with friends, have interviews (there was an interview happening next to me when I sat down), and to work on your laptop (lots of this going on). The lighting makes the space seem bigger and more productive. Because of the great location, there is a mix of tourists stopping in from their outings for the day, families in the adjacent neighborhoods, businessmen and women working on presentations, and teenagers looking for an Instagram-worthy coffee spot. They have a playlist right off the Top 100 charts. I thoroughly loved hearing every song because the music wasn’t distracting and actually complimented the atmosphere nicely.
Like mentioned before, this shop is VERY trendy...therefore there was never not someone walking in. About every 5 minutes someone would walk in, but because the baristas work fast, they were gone within 3-4 minutes (if they weren’t staying to work).
As for aesthetics, they’ve hit the bar. The space has long wooden tables in the front of the register that seat up to 10 people, with magazines on the tables for customers to look through while they enjoy their morning cup of coffee. There is additional seating along the wall facing the counter, meants for one person or two people per table. There aren’t a lot of outlets, so make sure to charge your device before spending a great deal of time here.
Some of my favorite features of this spot are the wooden tables with stools, the hints of white brick, wooden shelves that hold bags of coffee and packaged bakery items for sale, and the letterboard style coffee menu above the ordering counter.
Student Discount? None
Hello Sunday Coffee go-ers! It’s been one hell of a week (actually two weeks but whatever) Where do I even start? If you kept up with my Instagram posts last weekend (Valentine’s Weekend) then you know, it was one crazy time. I don't think I made a blog about that but if you're interested, comment below. But let’s fast forward to the week following. On Monday, we had school off (thank you President’s Day!), so I used my day to recover from the weekend I just had. This consisted of hours upon hours of homework and downtime. On the following Tuesday, I had my usual 8am class followed by a full workday filled with note taking on classes I hate, then a Macroeconomics lecture. That night was grind night--because I knew damn well I wasn’t going to do homework the next day (I’ll get to that). Wednesday was possibly the longest day of my life. I had a full class schedule that day, with back-to-back classes and tutoring starting at 11am. I didn’t eat anything until 5pm, so naturally I was incredibly hangry, and by the time I finally got back to my dorm, I only had an hour or so to rest before I had to get ready. If you go to NYU, then you know what Wednesday night was, if you don’t, I’ll explain. February 19th was V100 for NYU, a private concert at Terminal 5 where our school’s program board books incredible artists. So this year we got Chief Keef and Roddy Ricch (yeah, I’m still wondering how we got Roddy too). Overall, great show and I was so hyped. I was supposed to working load-out for the concert, but Terminal 5 hired union workers to do my job for me, so basically I just got a free ticket to see Roddy Ricch and got to hang out in the VIP area. Amazing. Thursday, I almost did something I never do...skip class. But I didn’t (I really should have though). Thursday was also the day I began to feel sick. It’s been “go-go-go” since I’ve been back in New York, and specifically the last two weeks, and I could feel my body start to fail me. I suffered through 3 lectures, napped after class, and then went to a club meeting that night.
I decided that this weekend I would be the most productive I’ve ever been. So Friday, I got busy. Took notes for several hours, filmed videos for class, submitted an assignment for Advanced College Essay that I have little to memory of doing, and finished a job application. Gold star for me, if I do say so myself. On Saturday I woke up at 9, with the intention to wake up at 7, and made a hell of a breakfast. I’m starting to get handy in the kitchen, thank god. And around 2 or so, headed to The Bean coffee shop to work on Macroeconomics notes and problem sets, which I finished in record timing. I changed locations to Kimmel after this, where my friend Jessica met me and I worked on Music History notes for the remainder of the night. Except I really didn’t, because this is when my brain and body started to shut down and I couldn’t focus on the 50 pages of reading I needed to get done. I got through about 10 pages before I gave up. It happens, it’s fine. Now it’s Sunday. Y’all know this is my favorite day. You also know that I have a very explicit rule that I don’t do homework on Sundays, because they are MY day to myself. Where I can just enjoy the company of myself, or with friends, relax, and work on things that are going to make me a better person and a better career woman--not necessarily a better student (that’s Monday through Saturday’s job). So today I woke up around 9:30, put on my leggings and sweatshirt (because what else would I wear on a Sunday), and made a small breakfast consisting of a bagel with cream cheese and bacon and some throat coat tea. After planning out my day and listening to a podcast, I walked 25 minutes to Seven Grams to get coffee and work. The plan was to stay there for 2-ish hours...but I must’ve gotten lost in the work because I looked down at some point and saw 4:00pm. I was there for 4 hours. As I finish up today’s blog, I’m sitting in Kimmel eating a turkey wrap and drinking iced tea, hoping to continue my productivity for the next few hours. Also hoping that this cold I’m developing doesn’t stay long. I have a zero-tolerance policy for sickness.
On the agenda for the remainder of the day:
Submit some internship applications for this coming summer
Work on the Wishful Singing Tour video (longgggg overdue, I know)
Work on my website
Schedule some much needed appointments
This is where I wrap it up. Next week, Saltwater coffee. Be there.
Dad, how was your coffee this morning?
Piper Page
Saturday Morning Coffee