Over the last several years the coffee culture in New York has improved dramatically, and it’s now possible to procure a serious cup of coffee in just about every neighborhood. Though I’m not myself a coffee drinker (one of the very few, it often seems!), I married into a family of coffee fanatics, and can happily recommend the following places with their enthusiastic approval.

• Brooklyn Roasting Company: With locations in DUMBO, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Greenpoint, and the Flatiron District, Brooklyn Roasting is a growing presence in New York and offers Fair Trade, Organic, and Rainforest Alliance certified sustainable coffees. Our local branch is in a huge industrial place, with plenty of room for lounging, working, or admiring all the coffee beans waiting to be roasted. In the summer months they carry La Newyorkina paletas, a family favorite.
• Café Grumpy: Retail locations in Greenpoint, Chelsea, Park Slope, the Lower East Side, Fashion District, Grand Central Terminal, and Lolita. My in-laws, who live out of state, love Grumpy’s coffee so much that we used to buy and ship them bags of beans before Grumpy began offering online coffee bean subscriptions.
• Abraço: A beyond-tiny coffee storefront in the East Village offering excellent coffee and espresso but not seating, wifi, or a bathroom.
• Mud: What began as a beloved coffee truck now continues with two brick and mortar East Village locations.

• Blue Bottle: A San Francisco import with locations in Williamsburg, Chelsea, Bryant Park. Boerum Hill, Hell’s Kitchen, the High Line, Rockefeller Center, and the Upper East Side.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: A Portland, Oregon import with locations in Greenwich Village and the Ace Hotel.

• Roasting Plant: Locations on the Lower East Side and in Greenwich Village.
• Birch: Locations in the Flatiron District, West Village, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Long Island City, Murray Hill, the Financial District, and the South Bronx
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Locations in Soho, Noho, the Financial District, Hudson Square, Tribeca, Chelsea.
• Ninth Street Espresso: Locations in the East Village, Chelsea, Midtown, and Gowanus.
• Third Rail: Locations in Greenwich Village and the East Village
• Box Kite: Locations in the East Village and on the Upper West Side.