Made in NYC Companies

Cafe Grumpy

Behind the Scenes at Greenpoint's Hottest Coffee Roaster

"I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee." ~ Flash Rosenberg

The light and airy feeling inside Café Grumpy at Greenpoint generates an inviting atmosphere—a great place to study, hang out with friends, or grab a book from the café’s book-exchange. Caroline Bell, the founder, and husband/co-founder, Chris Timbrell, opened their Greenpoint café in 2005 and expanded rapidly, opening up two other stores in Park Slope (2009) and Chelsea (2006). A fourth store is currently being built in the Lower East Side.

What makes their Greenpoint café so special, however, is that it contains a vintage roastery, the machine that transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to expand and to change in color, taste, smell, and density. After installing the roastery two years ago, Café Grumpy was able to begin having more control over the freshness and flavor profile of their beans. Bell and Timbrell would have installed the roaster sooner were it not for a lengthy permitting process caused by the architects and engineers involved, as well as the Department of Buildings. Bell says, “They were all unfamiliar with coffee roasters and catalytic oxidizers. I think they [were] used to seeing pizza ovens and not coffee roasters!” The roastery is now an integral part of the café. Its 25 employees dedicate time developing roast profiles to bring out the dynamic nuances in the beans they purchase from environmentally responsible farms. After roasting, they then cup each batch separately in order to maintain consistent quality.

Edison Price Lighting

High-end, Energy Efficient Lighting at the foot of the Edward I. Koch Bridge

“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.” ~ Aaron Rose

Edison Price Lighting is a family owned business, established by Edison Price in 1952. In its early years Edison Price Lighting used to fit the stereotypical image of a traditional manufacturer; a mass producing company that built its products in large volume via an assembly line, according to inventory. Now, Emma Price, Mr. Price’s daughter, is the current president of the company. Production is based on the needs of their lighting design clientele, which seeks Edison’s signature products: high-end, innovative, energy-efficient architectural lighting fixtures, both designed and manufactured by the company in New York City.

The company’s current manufacturing approach follows the “Just-in-Time” philosophy, enabling it to produce a continuous stream of new products, as well as fulfill significant orders on short notice. Edison maintains a reputation as a flexible and reliable supplier. Their employees, approximately 100, are divided according to tables each dedicated to assembling a type of lighting fixture. Edison capitalizes on orchestrating its manpower—if one workshop unit is not needed to manufacture a specific type of lighting to fill an order, employees relocate to another site to manufacture another product. Edison employees are trained to work at any capacity and remain flexible in what they need to accomplish on a given day—this flexibility, Edison’s ability to adapt, is key for the company’s continued independence.

Buttonwood Corp.

Out with the Old, In with the New Buttons in Brooklyn

“Once you have missed the first buttonhole you'll never manage to button up.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Hoffmans have been manufacturing buttons, beads, buckles and toggles for over fifty years. In 1939 Murray Hoffman began making plastic buttons when he opened his business in Manhattan’s Garment Center. After WWII, Mr. Hoffman met a Czechoslovakian émigré, Mr. Licht, who introduced him to the owner of a lumber mill in New Hampshire. This was a critical connection for Mr. Hoffman since it led to the manufacturing of wood buttons, rather than plastic. Achieving success with his new wooden buttons, Mr. Hoffman renamed his company Buttonwood Corp. Today, Mr. Hoffman’s sons, Steven and Dennis, are the company’s president and vice president.

Buttonwood Corp. used to manage a large industrial site in the South Bronx where they had 40-50 employees. In the 1990s the company was able to buy out its competitors and grow into this large manufacturing 18,000-square-foot space. By 2001, however, Buttonwood was forced to downsize and move into its current Brooklyn location. They had to throw away a substantial amount of wood and machinery to fit into their new, smaller 2,000-square-foot factory, Steven Hoffman explained. While their production site is in Brooklyn, their showroom remains in the Garment Center in Midtown Manhattan.   

One is immersed into an ethnic enclave walking down Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. While absorbing the Eastern European culture —viewing signs written in Russian, hearing bits and pieces of the language being exchanged—one will find a strip of three stores, located between Brighton 12th and 13th Street, that belong to Olivia Sobolevsky and her family. Olivia’s family emigrated from Ukraine to Toronto in 1976 and began producing chocolates similar to those found in Ukraine. Their chocolate and smetanik business expanded into a larger assortment of baked goods and pastries when they started selling their products nationwide in 1983; growing even further into a wholesale market. In 1990, after opening a produce business on Brighton Beach Avenue, the family started La Brioche Bakery.

A strong whiff of fresh pastry fills the store from the wall to wall presentation of baked goods upon entering La Brioche. There is a tremendous range of cakes, biscuits, and pastries made from old family recipes passed down through the family over generations. The ingredients used in the pastries are natural and fresh; the lack of artificial flavoring is evident as you bite into a piece of their famous smetanik cake. This multiple layered sour cream cake is a delicious assembly of hand rolled dough, layered with sour cream and crunchy walnuts, topped off with condensed milk and more walnuts. The rich flavor, enhanced by the high degree of freshness, lingers in your mouth—it is no wonder why La Brioche’s smetanik was featured on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” with Alex Guarnaschelli. La Brioche’s napoleon cakes and rugelach pastries are among their top signature foods as well.