On way to Starbucks, I stumble across an authentic Italian coffee shop

At Coffee Break, an Italian cafe on Main Street in Hackensack.

Editor's note: Restaurants and cafes open and close regularly on Main Street in Hackensack, where the second major apartment-building boom in the city's history is under way. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The only company owned Starbucks in Hackensack is on the ground floor of a busy medical building with a parking lot from hell -- far from downtown.

On the way there this afternoon, I stopped to take photos on Main Street, and discovered Coffee Break, a cafe that serves Italian coffee, breakfast and lunch.

I ordered a double espresso and chatted briefly with the owners, a couple from Calabria (the toe of the Italian Boot).

Coffee Break's menu offers crepes, panini, salads, croissants and other items.

A double espresso at Coffee Break was $2.65.

More comfortable chairs are set in the bright window, across the street from a Main Street mural, below.

 

Main Street Gateway Mural wraps around the corner.

Coffee Break is at 71 Main St., Hackensack.

Delhi Palace, an Indian restaurant that serves halal meat, opened recently at 136 Main St., Hackensack, with small and large dining rooms. 

Across the street from Delhi Palace is Quench, which offers smoothies, salads and other items.

Bowl of coffee at Le Pain Quotidien, sale on holiday blends at Starbucks

The communal table at Le Pain Quotidien on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Last Sunday, I took a break at Le Pain Quotidien in Manhattan, and learned the bakery with a full menu is based in Belgium, not France, as I had thought.

I sat at the communal table in the branch at 1131 Madison Ave. (84th Street), and ordered a large cafe au lait ($4.95).

The waiter brought me a bottle of water, a glass and the coffee in a bowl.

Le Pain Quotidien wants you to cup your hands around the bowl and warm them as you lift it to your lips. Nice.

This morning, the small Starbucks Coffee in Hackensack was as busy as stores I've visited in Manhattan.

Sale at Starbucks

At my Starbucks in Hackensack on Saturday, I had five bags of coffee beans I bought during an online sale ground Turkish for my drip coffee maker.

As I waited on line, I saw end-of-the-year sale signs offering one bag of Starbucks holiday coffee free with the purchase of one bag.

That's a good deal, so I went back today and bought two 1-pound bags of Christmas Blend Espresso Roast ($14.95), and had the beans ground Turkish.

The Hackensack Starbucks at 360 Essex St., near a large medical center, is open 7 days from 5:30 a.m. or 6 a.m. to late into the night (1-201-457-3323).

A Starbucks Ground Christmas Blend is among the holiday coffee offered in a year-end two-for-one sale.

Lactose-free search, cheap sake, discounted coffee beans, baguettes

At the ShopRite in Paramus, Lactaid-brand 100% Lactose-Free milk is far more expensive than the store brand, even when on sale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After the bigger Costco Wholesale opened in Teterboro, I haven't been able to find Kirkland Signature 2% Lactose-Free Milk.

The lactose-free house brand showed up for the first time in February at the old warehouse store in Hackensack -- three half-gallons for $7.99 or about $2.66 each, much cheaper than any other brand.

Then, ShopRite lowered the price of its store brand lactose-free milk to $2.99 from $3.49.

On my last few trips to Costco, I've had to settle for a 96-0unce container of Lactaid-brand 2% Lactose-Free Milk for $4.99, a dollar less than at ShopRite.

Now, I'm back to buying half-gallons of 1% lactose-free milk at ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east, Paramus.

On Tuesday, I purchased two half-gallons of the ShopRite brand and one of Smart Balance Fat-Free Lactose-Free Milk, which was on sale for $2.99, a reduction of $1.80.

ShopRite also had two Golden Pineapples on sale for $2.50 each. A bunch of fresh cilantro was 99 cents.

Mitsuwa Marketplace, the pricey Japanese supermarket at 595 River Road in Edgewater, is offering boxes of osechi for New Year parties -- sushi, kelp rolls, sweet omelets, fish and other food --that are priced from $260 to $413.

Sake for cooking

I shop at Mitsuwa in Edgewater once or twice a year, but make few purchases at the Japanese supermarket known for sticker shock.

You can easily spend $50 for a pound of beef or giant blue-fin tuna, even the farmed variety from Spain.

Imagine paying a premium for raw fish with more harmful mercury than many others.

Better to boycott over-fished blue-fin tuna, as I've been doing for many years, as well as Mitsuwa's annual blue-fin tuna cutting demonstration, if the store still puts on the event.

My only purchases on Tuesday were two 1.5 liter bottles of sake, which I use for cooking, on sale for $6.99 each, a discount of $3.

Sho Chiku Bai-brand sake is produced in California, not Japan, and has an alcohol content of 15%.

The colorful label shows that 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

One change I welcomed on Tuesday is that Mitsuwa finally accepts American Express credit cards.

But the store no longer operates a free shuttle to Edgewater from Manhattan.

A 1-pound package of Starbucks whole coffee beans was sold at deep discount on Cyber Monday. When the beans are ground Turkish, the resulting powder yields a robust cup from my drip coffee maker.

Dark-roast coffee beans

I've been buying Starbucks whole coffee beans for use in my drip coffee maker since 2013.

On Cyber Monday, Starbucks.com offered bags of whole bean and ground coffee at the biggest discount I've seen, and repeated the offer on Sunday.

Shipping was free both times, and I got $25 off a purchase of $60 or more on each order.

Today, I received the second shipment of five 1-pound bags of whole coffee beans, all dark roast, that I'll take to the store at 360 Essex St. and have ground Turkish.

I paid $7.11 to $9.43 for each pound of coffee beans, which normally retail for $11.95 to $14.95.

Balthazar baguette

On Wednesday, I stopped at Balthazar, 214 S. Dean St. in Englewood, for three crusty baguettes, which are still $2 each, as they were when the French bakery's retail store opened 13 years ago.

Each baguette is just under 2 feet long, and they are crispy when the humidity is low, as it was on Wednesday.

I cut each baguette into four sections, slice them in half for sandwiches and freeze them. The frozen bread thaws in the toaster.

I'm on a no-bread diet, but allowed myself three small ends or heels with my dinner of whole-wheat pasta with sardines, salad and a couple of glasses of Chianti Riserva from Trader Joe's. 

Obese family shops for sweets at Balthazar Bakery in Englewood

This obese man and teenager, along with an obese girl who might have been the boy's sister, were among customers buying pastries on Wednesday afternoon in the crowded retail shop of Balthazar Bakery in Englewood, where Memorial Day weekend shoppers had to wait on a line for service. 

A 4-inch Mango-Passion Fruit Tart was $4.50.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

My visits to Balthazar Bakery on South Dean Street in Englewood have become routine.

Every two or three weeks, on a Wednesday afternoon, I stop there for two baguettes, still $2 each more than a dozen years after the wholesale bakery's retail store opened.

I usually find one or two customers ahead of me.

Then, I get back into the car and drive a half-mile or so to Jerry's Gourmet & More to sample cheese and olive oil, and buy restaurant-quality takeout dinners.

This past Wednesday, I encountered more than a dozen other customers lining up to buy pastries and bread for the Memorial Day weekend.

I couldn't find a space in the small parking lot, and yelled at a woman who bounded out of a Mercedes-Benz in the handicap-parking space, "You're handicapped?"

She said she would move soon, but that her autistic child was inside the car, which she left running.

Close quarters

I parked across the street in the lot of a building under construction, risking my life to cross the street -- a twisting two-lane, one-way speedway -- to reach the bakery.

Inside the small retail store, the line included an obese man with gray hair and a teenage boy choosing pastries that they certainly didn't need.

Nearby, an obese girl, presumably the boy's sister, waited for them to pay, and they left together.

Like SUVs and other large vehicles that take up more room on the road, increasing traffic congestion, this trio took up more room in the cramped store, making my wait even more uncomfortable than usual.

Struggling with weight

I was uncomfortable on two scores:

Looking at fat people isn't my favorite pastime, reminding me of my struggles with weight since I was a teenager.

And my will power is sorely tested by all of the great pastries displayed at the counter of the French bakery.

Customers at Starbucks on Essex Street in Hackensack on April 28.

Just when I thought I'd found an alternative to Starbucks

Moon Doggie Roasters on Maywood's West Pleasant Avenue could be an alternative to Starbucks.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I found a discount coupon for whole-bean coffee at Moon Doggie Roasters on the Verizon Web site -- of all places -- and headed over there this afternoon.

I've had coffee in the bright Maywood cafe before, but in the the last couple of years, I've enjoyed Starbucks Coffee all over the metropolitan area, including the company store on Essex Street in Hackensack, where I live.

I've sipped Starbucks at turnpike service areas, in many Manhattan locations and even in the Chappaqua, N.Y., store former President Bill Clinton patronizes when he goes out to walk his dogs.

Self-service coffee-bean purchases and grinding. Prices are listed on a nearby sign.

Self-service coffee beans

When I stopped in this afternoon at Moon Doggie Roasters, the owner wasn't there, and I asked an employee if I could use the coupon.

He said I could, and gestured to the bins of coffee behind me and two grinding machines. But the scale was on his side of the counter.

A self-service coffee-bean purchase was the first departure from my experience at Starbucks, where the beans are already in 1-pound bags and the employees grind them for you.

The employee told me where I could find bags, but the place was out of the Brazilian coffee I wanted. 

So, I choose an organic, shade-grown coffee from Guatemala for $15.98 a pound.

But after several tries with a scoop and handing the bag to the employee to weigh twice, I couldn't get exactly 1 pound of beans, and had to settle for less. 

The discount was 50%, up to $6. I got the $6 discount on a purchase of $14.83, but had to pay cash.

I asked for a receipt, but the employee said he needed it, and could I take a photo with my phone.

A sign on the register. 

I'll stick with Starbucks

I selected a Turkish grind for my beans from Moon Doggie Roasters, but I haven't tasted the coffee yet.

Still, the convenience of buying beans at Starbucks Coffee with a credit card or a store card, earning me rewards for free food and coffee, can't be denied. 

Moon Doggie Roasters, 108 W. Pleasant Ave., Maywood; 201-556-0111. Free street parking.

Hackensack cries out for a second Starbucks

The 10-year-old Starbucks on Essex Street in Hackensack has received a makeover, providing more seating and a less-cluttered feel. Two overstuffed chairs were replaced with a counter and four stools, above right.

New tables and chairs, plus photos and track lighting, are among the changes in Hackensack. The Starbucks is near Hackensack University Medical Center.

The Starbucks on Palisade Avenue in Englewood is bigger than the lone Hackensack outlet, even though Englewood is a smaller city. Art was added recently to one corner of the store.

Given all the litigious lawyers in Hackensack and how they draw out their arguments to pump up legal bills, you'd think one of them would have long ago made a motion to get Starbucks to open a second store in the county seat.

Starbucks already has served the medical profession for 10 years at its store across town, near Hackensack University Medical Center. 

The store was just renovated, getting new tables and chairs, track lighting and photos.

Mesh shades also were installed to prevent occupants of one table at the front of the store from roasting in the setting sun. 

Main event 

Hackensack, at 4 square miles, certainly could use another Starbucks to perk up its sleepy Main Street shopping district, which is near the Bergen County Courthouse and law offices.

Starbucks could find a second home in one of two empty storefronts -- the former John's Coffee Shop on Sussex Street and the shuttered Limon Marketplace on Main Street.

The building where John's Coffee Shop served many lawyers and judges is owned by the Breslin and Breslin law firm at Main and Sussex streets.

Judges, lawyers, jurors and administrative staffers at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack are potential Starbucks customers.

Starbucks, 360 Essex St.,  Hackensack; 201-457-3323. 

Web site: Perk up Main Street