Taking Coffee With Catherine: Anxiety Woman Goes to Bird & Branch

I must have expressed on this blog, at least once, my disdain for Times Square.  I didn't mind it so much when I was younger, but it gets all the more irritating to pass as I live on.  I cannot control myself from saying "Nope,", and "I don't want to be here", when I find myself passing the area.    It's an artificially lit outdoor crowded circus: what's to like?  And I mean the clown kind of circus, not the Piccadilly kind, though I've gone off Piccadilly Circus nowadays as well.  IF I'm seeing a Broadway show, I must go there as a necessary evil, but even then I'd rather not linger outdoors.

There are a few side streets off Times Square that I can tolerate, because side streets in general are usually by nature quieter, even with theatergoer spillage.  So, to find a cafe right in "Hell's Kitchen" that is not (yet) a chain, and had welcoming space to sit and relax and have my cheat coffee, was a life bonus.  Welcome to Bird & Branch!

I think I've mentioned my cheat coffee days before.  Though I love tea, sometimes I crave coffee, but it rarely agrees with me.  I try to have a latte of some sort once a month, so the craving is settled, but my health isn't destroyed.  On this occasion, I was suffering from the remains of another cold - the gross kind where dairy is out of the question.  So I chose a Blackbird, a signature drink of theirs that contains macadamia milk and blackberry syrup.  It was gorgeous, though I will say you have to be in the mood for that blackberry flavor.

Just me, a fox. and a bird living in harmony.

When I arrived, there were a few people on one side of the shop, and an empty table that could sit four people comfortably.  As always, I prefer to sit in a less populated spot, and with my need to blow my nose grossly, I thought a slight quarantine would be best.

I felt as if I were far removed from the busiest part of Midtown.  Got some writing done, felt like I was on a mini-vacation...until a man and his daughter? came and sat down at my table without asking.  Why do people do this?  There was at least one other table open, but they had to just plop down during non-rush hour and spoil my peace.  Without asking.

Do I expect too much?  Possibly, but it just took me out of my happy mood.  I just don't get why people can't even ask.  It's making my efforts to find nice cafes in New York nearly impossible.  How do they know I'm not contagious?  (I might have been, the cold was a few days old at that point.)  Also, what if I'm meeting someone?  I just don't understand the lack of courtesy.  I never will.

I do want to return, to try their pastries which looked amazing, and their tea because I must.  I'll just have to get one of the smaller tables or learn how to give Zenobia-like looks of death (not that that deters Freddie, so never mind.)

If you're not a complete neurotic like me, or even if you are, do visit Bird & Branch if you're in the area.  The name itself makes it worth it, as does its menu.

Love planty plants in my cafes.

Pretty and pristine at once.

YOU CAN BUY STUFF!