A new perk for the Heights by Adam Garrett-Clark As the school year approaches and students begin their annual hunt for warm caffeinated refuge from the bitter cold reality of homework, a new option in the center of the Heights has emerged. Milan Cafe, on W. 177th Street just west of Broadway, has all the makings of a staple neighborhood coffee shop/hangout spot. The wireless Internet is free. The setting is hip, and aside from the expected lattes and cappuccinos, customers can order sandwiches, bagels and pastries. Owners Humberto Garcia and Melissa Duran said they opened the café after noticing that the area, central Washington Heights, was lacking in both a local coffee shop and a public place to use the Internet.  The cafe is Italian in theme, using imported Italian coffee beans and even Italian chocolate for its hot cocoa.
Since its opening in early May, owner Duran said the coffee sales haven’t been what she would like, but she expects as the weather cools down and school begins, that will change. Lately their biggest seller is a fresh brewed cup of iced tea, lightly sweetened and served with a thick lemon wedge. Duran said she normally goes through about 20 cups a day. The café also serves an iced coffee, which can be made with either American coffee or the more popular thick Italian espresso version. The croissants, donuts, muffins and danishes are all fresh baked and delivered daily to the location from a bakery in Yonkers. Sandwiches, which can be ordered on rolls or sliced bread, are also made with bread baked that day. The most popular is the El Rancho: roast beef, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, onions and barbecue sauce. In addition to free wireless Internet, Milan Cafe has a laptop available to rent for $1 every ten minutes. Aside from students, many families with small children find the environment welcoming, Duran said. One family, she said, will come in almost once a week to play board games. A few children’s books sit on the bookshelf and the hanging flat screen television has been known to occasionally be tuned to “Noggin,” the 24-hour kids’ cable channel. The child friendly atmosphere is due in large part to the café’s unofficial hostess: two-year-old Milan, Garcia’s daughter from whom the café takes its name. The space is small but comfy. Patrons can curl up on cushioned seats as they peruse a small bookshelf stocked with books of interest compiled by Duran or gaze out the window overlooking W. 177th Street. A flat screen television hangs on the west wall opposite a wall of exposed red brick. The cafe's décor has an unmistakable sense of style. Interestingly the color scheme – dark brown, and a pale green and yellow – were designed to mimic the colors of the peel, outer flesh and core of a kiwi. Most of the aesthetic choices were made by Garcia who has an eye for that sort of thing according to his partner Duran. “You should see his apartment,” she said. Milan Caffe: 708 W. 177th Street, between Broadway and Ft. Washington Ave., 347-726-8865 The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.
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