Say it isn't so!!

Very sad news on Eater, my favourite cosy coffee shop, DT:UT, is closing in just over a week. June 24th will be the final day. Sob!

I’ll be extremely sad to see it go; it holds a special place in my heart, when I first moved to New York and was a total Billy-No-Mates I whiled away many a lovely weekend afternoon lounging on the battered sofas, checking out fellow loungers while pretending to read. Halcyon days!

It’s also the place I lost my S’mores virginity. I believe there’s still a scorch mark on one of the coffee tables commemorating the occasion.

For those of you not in the know, S’mores are DELICIOUS. They’re made of Graham crackers – which probably most resemble Digestives – toasted marshmallow and pieces of Hersey bar - which is intended to resemble chocolate(1) – all splodged together in a delicious dessert sandwich. See below.

Ahhh, I remember my first time very well, I was beside myself with excitement and, in a fit of S’mores related fervour, managed to flick a flaming marshmallow off the wooden skewer I was holding.

I was with Melissa and Ash and recall time seemed to stand still as we followed its fiery arc until it landed about three feet away in a gooey flaming puddle on a coffee table, much to the horror of a little girl of about 8years old, expertly toasting her own marshmallows – hers were a uniform golden brown, whereas my efforts tended to be raw on one side and charred on the other, perfecting S’mores is harder than it looks - with her mother, across the room.

Fortunately she was my only witness as DT:UT was having an oddly slow hour that day. The place is almost permanently packed, so it’s not closing for lack of business. Nope, it’s that old chestnut, the landlord is doubling the rent and they cannot afford to renew. Sigh!!

Yes, I’m bitterly disappointed DT:UT is closing. I mean look at the place, it just oozes charm.

It practically screams come on in, stay a while, put your feet up and have a lovely cup of coffee and perhaps a blueberry scone. It’s a far superior coffee loving experience than your average sterile Starbucks. Pah!!

Footnote:

(1) One of the cruellest tricks playing on unsuspecting British ex-pats living in New York is that Cadbury allow Hershey to package their chocolate in Cadbury wrappers. You cannot IMAGINE the horror when you bite into it, expecting to taste the signature velvety smooth taste of Cadbury, only to experience something more akin to the dog drops we used to feed our Labrador. Bleugh!!