Along with shops on practically every New York City street corner — more than 220 locations and counting — Starbucks is planning to open a massive, 15,000- to 25,000-square-foot, Eataly-style coffee center.
The mammoth space would be similar to Starbucks’ Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, the first-of-its-kind coffee shrine the java giant opened in its hometown of Seattle.
So far, Starbucks has scoped out Fifth Avenue, including the GM Building, and spots in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, but no deal has been inked and the company is still on the prowl for “the right fit,” sources said.
On another caffeinated note, Starbucks will also be opening more of its Reserve coffee shops this year, sources said.
The first one is at 525 W. 26th St., and the strategy is for Reserve to hold its own with “serious” coffee chains like Blue Bottle.
David Firestein of the Shopping Center Group, who has represented Starbucks since he brought its first shop to the Upper West Side more than two decades ago, declined to comment on the chain’s plans.
To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Orwasher’s Bakery, the Jewish bakery famed for its artisinal breads, is opening its first cafe on the Upper West Side in April.
The 1,100-square-foot cafe will have 15 seats inside and, pending city approval, an equal number on an outdoor patio when it opens at 440 Amsterdam Ave. at 81st Street.
The bakery — beloved for “New York rye” and pumpernickel, among others — makes its breads on site and will also offer a “highly curated” menu of seven or eight sandwiches made with fresh-baked baguettes as well as salads, said Keith Cohen, who bought the bakery in 2007 and then went to Paris to learn how to make a proper baguette.
The bakery will keep its shop at 308 E. 78th St. Its breads are also available at various farmer’s markets, ranging from Park Slope and Greenpoint to Mamaroneck.
Eataly is slated to open its 42,000-square-foot space in 4 World Trade Center by late summer, along with other eateries, including Choza Taqueria, which is opening its fifth location.
Choza plans to open three more locations in the next 15 months on the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side/Columbus Circle and Hudson Yards, said co-owner Ross Burack, a broker with Winick Realty Group.