Good Coffee and European Style at Cafe Martin

If you're looking for a great cup of coffee, there are many places in the Slope to satisfy your caffeine cravings. 

But if you're also on the hunt for a European-style setting, and an owner who will greet you by name, remember your order, then proceed to brew coffee by hand for you, look no further than Cafe Martin, on Fifth Avenue between Fourth and Fifth Streets. 

Proprietor Martin O'Connell opened the shop about a year ago, after breaking off ties from his sister Anne's Parisian-style coffee shop, Cafe Regular, located just a few blocks away. Rumor has it that he resisted modernizing the cafe with Wi-Fi and electric cash registers, but it's clear that he prefers not to discuss the matter.

"That was a long time ago, in a previous life," he replied when asked about his involvement there. 

And a few lives he's certainly lived. O'Connell was born in Limerick, Ireland, where his parents owned a bar. He spent some time bartending there before coming to America in 2001, where he briefly debating opening a bar of his own.

"I spent a lot of time in bars, but decided against opening one," he said. "The hours were easier: early morning as opposed to late nights, and I prefer it that way."

O'Connell is a real craftsman when it comes to coffee, and even though he's self-taught, he can brew up some of the finest French Roast and Espresso around. He takes real pride in his work.

Martin uses Strongtree Coffee, a small upstate organic roaster that he prefers because they're "small, and more customer-focused, which is essential to success."

It's clear that this philosophy is one he practices as well. To his loyal customers, Martin is a welcome, consistent sight every morning, serving up coffee using the "pour-over" technique, one cup at a time, along with pastries from Choice Market in Clinton Hill and hard-boiled eggs. 

So why do his customers keep coming back?

"It must be my bad attitude," he joked. "People like different places for different reasons. I'm glad I can fill a niche in some people's lives."

His charming little cafe, with its wood-topped, usually newspaper-strewn tables, will soon have even more to love: wine and beer will soon be joining coffee on the menu.