Joe

NYU students and East Village hipsters congregate at Joe, just off Union Square. You can’t miss it, just look for the giant red marquee letters spelling out the word “coffee” in lights, just inside the doors. At the counter, friendly baristas pour house-blend lattes and silky steamed soy Americanos, perfect with one of Joe’s gooey vegan chocolate sea -salt cookies or a fat cheese scone. Joe is part of a family-run NYC chain with other branches in the West Village, Grand Central Station and the Upper East Side.

Joe Coffee, 9 E 13th Street, NY 10003

Enq (001) 212 924 3300, joenewyork.com

Blue Bottle Coffee

At Blue Bottle, patience is rewarded with one of Manhattan’s best cups of coffee. This Californian import specialises in pour-over coffee, with baristas slowly pouring hot water over the beans in individual ceramic cups lined with filters. People-watch while you wait – at the Rockefeller Center branch, TV execs from NBC’s Upstairs at the Square take their coffee breaks at Blue Bottle, huddling around the sleek marble counters over single-origin Guatemalan espressos and perhaps a jar of house-made granola or a saffron-flecked Snickerdoodle biscuit.

Blue Bottle Coffee, 1 Rockefeller Plaza, NY 10111

Enq (001) 510 653 3394, bluebottlecoffee.net

The Fat Radish

A tranquil cafe by day and a fashion-pack party spot by night, The Fat Radish has fast become a Lower East Side institution. It’s a beautiful spot to linger over a Laughing Man French press coffee or a lazy brunch. The light-filled room is all white-washed brick walls, big plants and off-duty models nursing their hangovers. Weekend brunches can be as saintly or sinful as you want – from a plate of market-fresh seasonal vegetables, to pumpkin pancakes drizzled with bourbon maple cream.

The Fat Radish, 17 Orchard Street, NY 10002

Enq (001) 212 300 4052, thefatradishnyc.com

Cafe Minerva

Cafe Minerva is an elegant, European-style cafe and restaurant in the West Village. The room is dominated by the brushed-steel bar in the centre, topped with a gleaming copper espresso machine and glass domes filled with pastries. Linger over a Dallis Brothers coffee (one of New York’s oldest coffee roasters) at one of the tealight-topped, bistro-style tables that line the white walls, where chic locals tapping away on their laptops and Hollywood starlets are interviewed for magazine profiles.

Cafe Minerva, 302 West 4th Street, NY 10014

Enq (001) 212 242 4800

Toby’s Estate

Aussie import Toby’s Estate Coffee has been a huge hit with caffeinated New Yorkers since opening in 2012. Inside this cavernous Williamsburg coffee shop, there’s a working coffee roaster and cupping room, where you can take classes in latte art and espresso making. There’s often a line, especially on weekends when the nearby Brooklyn flea market and Smorgasburg street food market are in full swing, but the unflappable baristas take their time making perfect pour overs and silky lattes. It’s also one of the few places in NYC you’ll find a flat white.

Toby’s Estate Coffee, 125 North 6th Street, NY 11249

Enq (001) 347 457 6160, tobysestate.com