Cafes

Since we've been in the neighborhood here at the south end of Park Slope, two cafés have opened nearby, Kahawa a little more than a month ago, and Slope Cafe just about a week ago.

Kahawa I've reviewed here briefly before. Located on 5th avenue at the corner of 15th street, it has some good pastries and acceptable, if not memorable coffee. They have long hours but they have that feel of a place that was put together with a few of the pieces missing. And lately, they've just been closed all the time.

Slope cafe, on 4th avenue at the corner of 10th street, right by the F/G stop, claims in their menu to use pretty much every type of grass-fed, fair trade, hormone free, organic and homeschooled coffee bean, egg, vegetable, and meat you can find. On three quick morning stops so far, they've made pretty great breakfast sandwiches, but with your basic orange American cheese. Croissants in the case were individually wrapped in plastic from a mass-market bakery, and the first time I made the mistake of ordering an iced coffee, the girl at the counter just put hot coffee straight from the machine into a plastic cup of ice, leaving me with lukewarm, ice-free and diluted coffee.

I'm not sure if Kahawa is closed for good, and I hope that Slope Cafe gets their act together. Kahawa was the closest place for coffee open past 8, and Slope cafe is right by the train. But you can't open a new place like this without planning on losing money for a certain amount of months or years, so I hope they're both ready to weather whatever bumps they are going through. And I'm looking forward to Slope Cafe learning what to do with their coffee. (The hot coffee is actually pretty good, from Unique Roasters, who I never heard of before.) stop into both of these places (if Kahawa opens its doors again,) and offer some encouragement and voice your opinions about what they are getting right and what needs to be improved.

-SdJ