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The Cupcake Cafe on 9th Avenue and 39th Street in New York City
 The Cupcake Cafe closed its original bakery on 9th Avenue in New York a few years ago, only to reappear in two new locations, one being right back on Ninth Avenue.
These new locations include a trendy spot in Books of Wonder on fashion-smart West 18th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, and a highly unusual cafe on 9th Avenue at 39th Street.
The 9th Avenue location features one of the city's best cappuccino and espresso bars, a surprising addition to a cupcake emporium. Located across the street from the NY NJ Port Authority, the cafe is a "must stop" destination before a long trip. It's an even a better stop for a relaxing, pre-theater snack as it is not that far from Broadway.
In addition to seriously brewed coffee, the cafe is artfully decorated as a depression-era (1930s) hideaway by combining beat-up, antique furniture with state-of-the-art cooking, brewing, and refrigeration equipment. Hidden inside of its antique refrigerators, for example, are new units, but you'd never know it. Old coffee grinders abound (one is stuffed with a basketball), but all coffee is prepared and brewed using premium, Italian systems. Delicious!
 The Cupcake Cafe has three dining areas, all shabby chic, with the center area overlooking a huge, 1930s bakery case that's now refrigerated. Jazz and other period music wafts through the atmosphere, making you feel like you've stepped into an old film as a down-on-your-heels detective, a cocky, cub newspaper reporter, or maybe a chorus-line hoofer spending her last dime. All that is missing are customers taking long, lazy drags, 1940s-movie-style, off non-filtered cigarettes.
Everything about the cafe is entertaining and in good, old-fashioned taste. Did I mention their cupcakes? Their small and large cupcakes are served cold to preserve the frosting. All are topped with delicate, butter cream frosting, festooned with pretty flowers. The cake itself is well-paired with strong coffee as it is not sweet and it doesn't crumble.
The Cupcake Cafe is a must-see-and-experience place, with fabulous cappuccino at around $3.50 and small cupcakes at $2.50. If you stop by on a sunny weekend, make a point of strolling one block over to The Hells Kitchen Flea Market.
OK, take a look around and make a point of visiting in person!
If you are curious about their original location, see our earlier article on the Cupcake Cafe written in April, 2002.
Questions? Just ask!
Karen Little
Article and photo by Karen Little. First published on 8/12/2007. All rights reserved by www.Littleviews.com.
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