My wife and I were in Manhattan, New York for an 8 day vacation staying at the Hotel Beacon on Broadway. Good coffee shops are hard to find . . exceptional ones even harder ! After very average coffees & service at a couple of cafes in Manhattan on the weekend we knew there had to be better. My wife found this Bluestone Lane location online and this place was going to be our first port of call early on Monday morning. In fact it was just a 10 minute walk here discovering fun new places along the way.
When we arrived around 8.30am the staff were all wearing facial masks ( in New York City it was mandated to wear facial masks in public etc during our stay ) but we still felt their happy smiles. We were offered to sit at a table inside the very cosy cafe. A happy very interesting server named Matthew ( we assumed he was the manager ) came over to say hi. There was a QR Code for the menu stuck on the table top but these guys also had a very sophisticated online ordering system off their own website.
My wife placed our breakfast order and paid on her iPhone. We were still getting used to some East Coast terminologies as we discussed with Matt the type of coffee we should order . . a Flat White ( Aussie term we don’t hear in Southern California ), a Latte ( always our fav back home ) or a Cappuccino ( which Matthew recommended as the model they made which suited our tastes the best ). We went with 2 x CAPPUCCINOS ! Sticking with their digital ordering system displayed on our iPhones my wife went with SCRAMBLED EGGS, BACON & TOAST with Jam ( thick multigrain gluten free too ) while I wanted HARD POACHED EGGS, BACON & TOAST with VEGEMITE . . that’s when we realized there was an AUSSIE CONNECTION here.
Of course Matthew had earlier introduced himself as an expat West Australian and a working theatre actor. We were informed that an Aussie ( from Melbourne ) named Nick Stone started Bluestone Lane on the West Coast about 10 years ago. HOW COOL ! After further research on Wiki we discovered that Bluestone Lane has cafes & coffee shops at 51 locations all over the USA. Our incredible looking Cappuccinos arrived courtesy of Matthew who made them perfectly.
WOW there was something special going on here…our cappuccinos tasted as good as anything anywhere anytime ! So good we later bought a 12oz bag of Maverick whole roasted coffee beans ( their house blend ) to take home. Our breakfast order arrived thanks to Meriel the food runner and looked so cute . . plated individually ( because every item was ordered as a side ). WHOOPEE . . I had been having VEGEMITE withdrawal symptoms after just 3 days away from home.
My hard poached eggs were perfect, the delicate delicious strips of bacon were like prosciutto. My wife totally enjoyed her perfect texture scrambled eggs and loved the wispy bacon like me. The thick multigrain toast ( 2 slices ) was delicious with vegemite or jam. We came back here every morning for breakfast or coffees. All the staff we interacted with here ( Matthew, Rachel, Matt, Sylvie, Amanda..an Aussie from Sydney, Bryan & Meriel ) was great and provided EXCELLENT SERVICE every visit.
My wife and I visited the Guggenheim Museum and had a fabulous lunch at Bluestone Lane Upper East Side inside the beautiful church next door. We also visited Electric Lady Studios ( Jimi Hendrix ) in Greenwich Village and enjoyed a lovely lunch at Bluestone Lane Collective. The high standard of our coffees, food and service at all locations never wavered. Most coffee shops in the USA which we have encountered copy the Starbucks dumb down model . . take your order at the counter and then yell out your name to come & get it in a paper cup . . not Bluestone Lane who know how to pamper you at your table. It’s like going to see your personal coffee therapist . . you leave feeling REAL GOOD every time !
