Nook, An Adorable Living Room Cafe

The name Nook seems a misnomer given the location’s vast exterior expanse of dark glass and brick, but when you walk into the bright, high-ceilinged interior, it all becomes clear.

Occupying the corner portion of a newly-constructed building on Irving Ave & Troutman St, this homey Bushwick cafe is appealingly divided into sections including two partially-separated living room nooks on one wall and even a raised tatami room,

complete with shoe cubby and kitted out with low stools. The attractive, curvy, wood furniture is handmade by the owners and most is available for purchase.

Nook, which opened on April 23rd, 2021, seems not to have been hurt at all by opening during the darkest days of the pandemic. In fact, on a recent visit, nearly all of the large number of seats was occupied with laptop campers. When I happened back that way after a few hours sojourn elsewhere, many of the same people were visible in the window, working away on their laptops. There is also some outdoor seating.

Coffee is provided by Caffe Vita, whose roastery is a hop, skip and a jump away on Johnson Ave. According to my records, I haven’t consumed their dark-roasted brew since 2012 (!), when they opened their first East Coast branch on the Lower East Side. The drip at Nook still has their signature roasty tang but was tolerable enough to consume the entire cup. Service is friendly and they also stock Evil Twin beer and have a large menu of food items, although most of it falls into the good-for-a-coffee-shop category. The owners are very invested in the space and run events practically every night, from trivia, to live music, to comedy, to community clean-up events.