BY Andrea Riquier
Lucky Downtown patrons got a taste of Italy at the Manon Café on Trinity Place last week. Illy Coffee’s Master Barista Giorgio Milos visited the café as part of a yearlong trip through the United States to train other Illy baristas and spread information about espresso to coffee-loving customers.
“Culturally speaking, the United States is very different,” Milos explained. “I see people walking with these enormous cups in paper bags. Here it is more about consuming, but in Italy coffee is about recharging and socializing.”
Manon on Trinity Place is one of three New York City cafes to offer chocolates made by Leonidas Chocolates, a Belgian company best known for their pralines. At Manon, every coffee order comes with a complimentary small piece of chocolate, explained Yodit Gebreab, one of Manon’s baristas.
Many of the customers who lined up for an espresso discussion with Milos said they visit Manon regularly, and some cited the free chocolate as the reason. Mary Collette, who works nearby as a construction manager, confessed that she usually goes to Dunkin’ Donuts.
“But every once in a while I like a latte,” she said.
Milos’ terms were simple: ask a question and receive a free sample of espresso – but he surprised many customers with an additional gift of a can of espresso beans. Joe Matarazzo, a construction worker at the World Trade Center site, said he has an espresso machine at home and looks forward to brewing it himself, though he likes to visit Manon midday for a double espresso.
Through the afternoon, Milos deftly answered questions about the caffeine content of espresso, the sustainability of Illy’s coffee sourcing, and the best machines for brewing espresso. And while Gebreab hovered nearby, ready to provide free samples of chocolate with a winning smile, Milos cautioned his patrons to drink espresso first and eat chocolate later, because, he said, the oil in chocolate can interfere with the taste of the coffee.
“My passion, my life, my love, is coffee,” he told a customer.
And how was the espresso?
“Fantastico,” said James Mallory, an local architect.
