300 Square Feet of Italy: Zibetto Espresso Bar
Gattopardo, our friend from Genoa, visits New York four or five times a year to woo new clients with his artisanal prosciutto. Until March of this year, he liked to stay in a hotel on the Upper West Side, but as he began telling everyone this summer, “Now I stay as close as I can to Zibetto. It is my little nugget of Italy, and I could not stomach New York without it.” When we heard an echt Italian pledge his love and hotel dollars so ardently, we knew we had to see for ourselves why.
Zibetto is a closet-sized, white marble and tile room with a long, chest-high, L-shaped bar and nary a seat in the entire place. This is true a caffè Italiano, where espresso ($2/$3) is the default beverage and where breakfast means a cornetto with jam ($2.50). The restaurant’s best drink is its simplest: a concentrated, slightly fruity espresso that is smooth enough that it really should be drunk unsweetened. But if you need a hit of sugar, there is plenty of the stuff on the marble counters–and no packets of pink, blue, or yellow in sight. Cappuccinos ($3) and lattes ($3.50) are also wonderful, as are the shop’s caffe freddo (iced coffee, $3), prepared with crushed ice in a Boston shaker–quite possibly the best cold espresso we have ever had.
On a recent visit, we asked Gattopardo to translate the name of the cafe, at which point he pulled us in close and whispered, “It means a kind of cat from Africa that likes to…,” and here he smiled and looked around the room, “Make its own very special kind of coffee.” We smiled back, perplexed, and nodded. But then it dawned on us–this “cat” must be the civet, and the coffee therefore, must be the infamously expensive kopi luwak. Chocolate pound cake ($2) is about as close as you’ll come to civet pellets here, but if Zibetto’s name is intended to link it conceptually with the absolute gold standard of java, they have the coffee to back it up.
Zibetto, 1385 Sixth Avenue (at 56th Street), no telephone.
Thanks for the tip. Always looking for good coffee. Interesting about kopi luwak. We stay on the Upper West Side despite my protests. The recent large rate hike at the Newton will hopefully move us downtown.
Comment by Marco — October 18, 2007 @ 9:49 am
Oh dear, that chocolate pound cake looks like a sinful blessing!
Just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for your post on the honey-sage loaf at Arte Around the Corner a while back. It’s become my favorite bakery since moving back to NYC recently! Everything I’ve had there, from lemon oil cake, ginger-pear bread, and of course, the various honey loaves, have been nothing short of bliss
Comment by Kathy — October 18, 2007 @ 11:02 pm
[…] Looking for great Italian coffee in Midtown? Zibetto’s is your place. [NYCNosh] […]
Pingback by Midtown Lunch » Midtown Links — October 19, 2007 @ 10:59 am
Zibetto’s the real skinny in mid town. Baristas friendly and proficient. Coffee 8+ on scale of 10. 9th St Espresso might have ‘em beat.
Comment by Marco — November 4, 2007 @ 9:31 am
Best Italian espresso I’ve tried in America. I don’t even know why you even bother naming 9 street espresso. The have nothing to do with Italian espresso. They pull a 3 shot in a single espresso, with makes the espresso to burn because it has to much coffee. I’m noticing more and more Americans in zibetto, with makes me happy.
Comment by Zubi — November 20, 2007 @ 5:31 pm