Photos by Kate Beaudoin
A stone’s throw from where Au Breve remains closed, the owner of the East Village’s latest coffee shop is optimistic she can hold her own. “I’m on the side street and I’m near all the theaters,” says Ginny Taylor, “so customers see me first.” Indeed Fourth Street Central is smack in the midst of the East 4th Street Cultural District, adjacent La MaMa, KGB, New York Theatre Workshop, Paradise Factory, the DUO Multicultural Arts Center, and the Kraine Theater, among others. (Not to mention the new guitar shop and underground cruising den.)
Though the new store may still be a bit sparse, its menu offers screaming deals for breakfast and lunch: $4 for a fried egg sandwich and a coffee, and $6 for homemade soup with a half grilled cheese. And the question every feigned New Yorker wants answered: Is it local? “Yes—from the grocery store on the corner,” Taylor deadpans.
Fourth Street Central has a wide-eyed menu in its pint-size shop, offering everything from espresso to smoothies, cupcakes to oatmeal, pasta salad to hard-boiled eggs. The coffee prices aren’t unlike a cart: $1.50 for a small black coffee, $3 for a double espresso, and $4 for an iced latte.
Taylor serves Lavazza coffee because “I thought I’d give the Italian coffee a try,” she says. “People have been complimenting me on it, so I think I might stick with it.”
Fourth Street Central, 63 East 4th St., between Bowery & Second Ave.