They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil...and

...to put in the coffee...or is that in Holland? Nope! It's right here in Brooklyn at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Cafe (Bergen Street just off Smith Street...take the F to Bergen and voila! There they are! And you are, too!) I often need to find discreet places to meet with brokers who are considering joining my firm. Brokers typically don't want word to hit the street that they are thinking of moving from one firm to another. Brooklyn may be the largest borough but it acts like it's a small town. And I prefer to meet them where we can have an open and candid discussion about their goals, my goals and those of the firm. And so...this wonderful and painfully small but somehow perfect cafe has become one of my favorite places to meet with people...where else can I get a hot espresso with a scoop of ice cream in the dead of winter with a snow storm approaching? Nowhere...seriously...except in my kitchen. But the ice cream I made this weekend is not in my Brooklyn kitchen...it's in my Ocean Grove kitchen. And the Lavazza is in Brooklyn so, never the twain shall meet! The twain being vanilla ice cream and espresso...in the same cup at the same time. So...Affrogato at Leeuwen Ice Cream cafe...and meetings with top brokers...it's all good!