HungerPass Sunday Restaurant Review with CoffeeBerry Café and Eatery

The HungerPass team visited 90th and Amsterdam’s new kid on the block — a gem of a restaurant called CoffeeBerry Café and Eatery. CoffeeBerry owes its origins to Avigayil Strauss, a certified personal trainer who found a way to keep Kosher while keeping the calories at bay. CoffeeBerry’s mission is to reintroduce traditional Kosher dishes in a leaner, organic, farm fresh form, while punching up the flavors, and introducing new ones such as Indian, Italian, Greek, Mexican, and even Canadian that are not typically found in Jewish cuisine. Since 2015, Strauss has brought her contemporary, health-conscious revision on “heavy, calorie filled meals” to the Upper West Side’s Jewish community, with the help of 25-year restaurant veteran, Rafael Abarca, as Manager and Chef.
We had the pleasure of sitting with Abarca during a busy lunch service, and getting the opportunity to experience firsthand the wonderful hospitality and uniquely global twist on food that CoffeeBerry has to offer. It’s important to note that because everything on the menu is certified Kosher, the restaurant is periodically overseen by a mashgiach (lit. “supervisor”), who makes certain that the foods being served are suitable for consumption by the Jewish community.
The restaurant offers everything a diner might need, from a quick smoothie on the go, to a sit-down meal. The staff is very welcoming and friendly, and take great care in providing their customers with the most personally catered experience. They make you feel as if you belong to a greater community, one in which all cultures and cuisines are appreciated.
The interior features cool adobe beige walls, accented with a brick red, and decorated with whimsical wrought iron renditions of recognizable buildings from the neighborhood. It has the look of an offbeat local bakery, and its laid-back atmosphere belies the exciting aromas and flavors that emanate from behind the counter and kitchen. CoffeeBerry also offers an array of homemade baked goods that taunt your sweet tooth from behind the glass case, where they falsely assume they’re safe. Also featured are gluten-free options, vegetarian choices, and an assortment of exclusive teas.
Shortly after wrapping up our interview, Abarca treated us to a cooking demonstration; one in which he prepared the restaurant’s signature dish, The Benny Benedict. He brought us into the kitchen where he gently slid whole cage-free egg yolks into a boiling pot of water. We watched patiently as they buoyed up to the surface as white, billowy clouds. Canadian bacon was swapped out for a slice of smoked salmon, which in my opinion went better with the lemon-spiked, chive-studded hollandaise sauce and creamy avocado. All were harmoniously grounded on a crunchy, chewy slice of golden toasted challah. The choice of bread stood up to the rich egg yolk, creamy hollandaise sauce, and buttery avocado. Finally, with a little sprinkling of coarsely chopped parsley, and a small side salad of deep green and purple market greens with cherry tomato coated with a robustly flavored vinaigrette, the meal was complete.
When prodded with my fork, the yolk inside the perfectly poached egg gushed forth as a sunny yellow cascade that pooled the middle of the plate. The salmon, especially, balanced the other ingredients by giving the entire dish just the right amount of salt to render it unnecessary to season any further.
The beverage of choice was an Englishman in N.Y., a smoothie recommended by Abarca himself from the wide assortment of healthy smoothies offered on the menu. It’s a pleasant mélange of mixed berries, pomegranate juice, coconut milk, nutmeg, vanilla syrup, and cinnamon. The smoothie was a refreshingly light and creamy delight that paired rather nicely with the previous myriad flavors from the remixed “Eggs Benedict”.
Before going on a stroll through nearby Central or Riverside Park, or after taking in a performance at Symphony Space, CoffeeBerry Café and Eatery is a definite recommend.
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