Indeed, DeGruccio’s grandfather had opened a grocery store in the same space back in 1935. It closed in 1955 after an A&P opened nearby, but the counters, walls and fixtures were kept as close as possible to the original look. Otherwise the shop has a pastoral ambience, with oversized glass windows that can’t help but give one the sense of being in a menagerie.The late-morning, early afternoon winter sunshine brightens up the dark pine floor, revealing holes patched up with copper.The mismatched assortment of tables, chairs, benches and a turn-of-thecentury school chalkboard which boasts the daily specials, look to have lived for generations in someone’s attic. A worn Victorian couch lures lovers to tiptoe away into the corner. Snapshots of celebrities, musicians, and fashion models are placed about as a reminder for DeGruccio of a former life when he worked as a fashion photographer.
And then there’s the joe. Second Stop uses the acclaimed beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a Portland, Oregon-based company with a roasting factory in Red Hook, which is widely drooled over and discussed by people who drool over and discuss such things.
Order one of the house blends—two or three are offered daily, including the Guatemala Finca El Injerto, Honduras Finca El Puente and Ethiopia Mordecofe. A small will cost $1.50 and a large is a dollar more; and the staff of hard-core baristas is eager to brag about any of featured daily brews. If you’re looking for espresso, Second Stop serves the Milanese brand La Marzocco Linea, which is tweaked to spec by the folks at Stumptown.
It sells a wide array of bagged coffee to take home, but this place is meant for grabbing the bench seat along the window and enjoying vegan or traditional muffins, cakes, cookies and brownies that are baked daily on the premises. Bagels from Bedford Avenue’s BagelSmith are served as well—on the weekends, you can add smoked salmon, tofu cream cheese and avocado for $7.50.
The soft, tortured sounds of Leonard Cohen, Antony and the Johnsons and Cat Power are representative of the shop’s unobtrusive soundtrack. Customers linger for a while in part because of the openness of the large main room. “I want a place in the neighborhood, a center of activity, for people to hang out,” says co-owner Craig Kafton, who recalled spending his days and nights at Biblio’s coffee shop/bookstore when he lived in Tribeca. He said, “That place saved my life.”
I can’t say whether or not Second Stop will save a life, but the shop should make it more enjoyable, cup-by-cup.
> Second Stop Café
524 Lorimer St. (at Ainslie St.), Brooklyn, 718-486-6850
