Max Caffe

Happy hour is best spent at Max Caffe. There is simply no contest. It's the winner, with only two possible hours during the week to celebrate - Wednesdays and Fridays from 5:00 - 6:00. This signifies that all wines are 1/2 price!

Max also wins the ambiance contest - comfy, vintage-style chairs and couches, grouped around scratched and worn coffee tables (read: a good trip to the thrift store). A scuffy wood floor, giant mirrors and big art on warm red and brick walls. Mellow bossa nova pipes through the spacious room. Lights lower as six o'clock nears.



Friday evening James and I had a (ahem) business meeting, starting there shortly after 5:00. I had the sweet Nero D'Avola and shared my favorite Antipasto di Verdure, a plate of - clearly - heaven-sent grilled crisp and buttery zuchinni, asparagus, yellow peppers, and carrots, paired with fresh, soft and salty mozzarella and crusty italian bread. See what I mean by no contest? Happy hour is normally spent getting increasingly sloshed and hungry at the same time. Oh, not here. Buzz comes slowly, in style and comfort.

Max is a coffee house, cafe and wine bar. Thus, it is suitable for all hours of the day. Also, it is two blocks from work, so I have tried all the various hours, sampling their excellent cappucino, panini, wine, and antipasti. But hmm...have not yet consumed dessert there...

You will leave feeling...discerning: After just one glass at Max, my friends have come up with brilliant observations - once Katie mused that, "Strangeness supercedes structure." Mull over that - it can be applied to almost any situation. Emilia and I have dissected our boy situations over countless glasses of the Montepulciano, always emerging with absolute clairvoyance. Or feeling...better.

Max Caffe
1262 Amsterdam Ave (at 122nd St)
Morningside Heights, New York
212-531-1210
http://maxsoha.com/caffe_home.html