The Syracuse New Times has featured Cafe Kubal this week, and for all the obvious reasons: coffee, coffee, and coffee. You simply cannot get a better cup of coffee or bag of coffee beans in Syracuse than Cafe Kubal’s for all the reasons outlined in the New Times article: intense attention to every detail, consultation from nationally ranked barista Chris Deferio and the implementation of his suggestions, carefully chosen sources for the beans, on-site roasting so you can buy your beans and use them up within the 10-day optimal freshness period, and much more.
Does everyone love Cafe Kubal coffee? Of course not! We’re a big diverse city with lots of people who have a diversity of taste in… well, everything! And that’s great. But if you haven’t tried coffee at Cafe Kubal, you’re missing a treat that can be different every time you go in. They continue to develop new drinks, improve on the old ones, and bring in new beans. Making the leap from the fairly dilute coffee that is typically served at an average Syracuse restaurant to Cafe Kubal’s coffee drinks can be a bit of a stretch. Some of the drinks are quite strongly flavorful while others are considerably more subtle. So when you go in, let them know it’s your first time. Tell them what you normally like to drink, and see what they suggest you try first. If you’re considering brewing their coffee at home, discuss with them the best ways to bring out the flavor of these beans. Sometimes a simple adjustment to you usual method will surprise you with a more pleasurable coffee at home.
Cafe Kubal and its Roasteria and Cupping Labare both located at the Eastwood Plaza, 3501 James St., Syracuse, NY. The cafe’s summer hours are Mon-Fri 6:30am-6:00pm and Sat 8:00am-2:30pm. The Roasteria is open from 9-5 M-F.
Their newest beverage offering: Iced Shaken Rosemary Latte! They make their own rosemary syrup with real rosemary herb and organic cane juice and prepare it with a tail shaker.
Bean sale: buy one and get one half off. From 6/23-6/28 ONLY! This sale only comes around once in a while, so take advantage while you can.
In an earlier post, I introduced you to the Narali bean that Matt Godard is selling over at Cafe Kubal. His connection with the grower is closer than what’s usually found between cafe owner and the source of the beans. Well, as promised, here’s what Matt has to say about it: Continue Reading »
We’re avid readers of Anthony Bourdain’s books. Two of them have impacted our family somewhat dramatically. The first was Kitchen Confidential. Aside from being just a great read, it was also the third book our then-early-adolescent son read. He read it cover to cover, but it was at the third chapter that he came running to announce that he wanted to be a chef. Why? He pointed to the title of Chapter 3: “Food is Sex”. That did it. A couple culinary degrees under his belt, he’s now in charge of the mignardises in a restaurant in New York.
But the book that continues to inspire me is A Cook’s Tour, and specifically the chapter, “Where Food Comes From“. Read it, and you’ll understand why he says that where our food comes from is not always pretty. But it’s the larger concept behind that chapter that makes me think a lot and sometimes do strange things.
Strange thing #1: I make coffee in a 70-year-old vacuum coffee pot.
Did you ever search for something for years, even decades, and then… you found it? It’s so wonderfully gratifying when that happens, no matter how seemingly insignificant the object of the search might be. For my part, I spent most of my adult life searching for The Mother Cup… Continue Reading »
Matt and Rachel Godard were celebrating the opening of their Cafe Kubal last Saturday, so we stopped by to see how he was coming along with the latte art. Sure enough, he was ready for filming! Thanks to Dan Hunter, who kindly did the filming, we have a video so you can see how this is done.
While Matt and Rachel took care of customers, Dave Chu played flamenco and classical guitar, sitting on what has to be the original beanbag chair (a bag of coffee beans).
The other day I happened into Cafe Kubal, where Matt Godard is roasting some of the finest coffee in upstate New York. Who should be there behind the bar but Chris Deferio, the man I think of as The Ithaca Latte Artist:
I’d seen him in action at the Carriage House Cafe, where he’s the head barista and director of coffee education (now there’s a job!). Well, he’s been teaching Matt a thing or two, which means that even when Chris is back at his regular job, we in Eastwood can still watch our latte turn into something beautiful as well as delicious.
We have a lot of fun in the Walkable Eastwood email group. Some of the most avid contributors are those who have moved away and miss Eastwood. Patty’s living in the Bahamas with her husband Bill, but she was dying for some of the fresh-roasted coffee beans from Cafe Kubal we’d been raving about. Wouldn’t you know - Sheila was just about to take a cruise that was stopping in the Bahamas! So she did what any good neighbor would do: she bought some fresh beans and hand-delivered them to Patty. Now if that isn’t neighborly, I don’t know what is.
By the way, Matt and Rachel at Cafe Kubal can send their beans anywhere in the world. They once had an order from Taiwan that they happily filled.
Walk into Cafe Kubal, just three blocks from the corner of James and Midler, and you immediately know where you are. There is no other cafe like it, for where else will you find not only precisely these beans being roasted in this particular antique roaster, but also the work of The Craftsman, Ron Cosser, who carries on the artistry of Gustav Stickley, fronting the counter that holds your just- made cup of cappuccino? In addition to coffee drinks and teas at reasonable prices, you’ll also find Austrian- style pastries made with butter that’s flown in from Austria! Cafe Kubal is located in what’s commonly known as Sacred Melody Plaza, but the plaza recently got a new lease on life and is now officially the Eastwood Plaza.
Matt and Rachel Godard
It’s businesses like these that create a sense of place, that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging. We welcome businesses to Eastwood that are, whenever possible, locally owned and operated, for it’s the people from here who understand the needs of the people who live here.
