Warehouse district! Restaurant corridor! Warehouse district! Restaurant corridor! Either way you look at it, Randolph and Halsted in Chicago is one of the best areas to store your … whatever, or find the newest and best places in the city to eat. But even better than that, you can spend a long and quiet afternoon sipping what is undoubtedly the best coffee you’ve ever tasted served by the friendly and eclectic staff.

Ironically situated across from the corridor’s only Starbucks, La Colombe has its own coffee roaster – a beautiful and interesting artifact unto itself – a music selection influenced by whomever is working the counter that day, and a table with long benches in back for the various artists and architects who inhabit the area. Word of joy: the milk they use is from an area farm and is so delicious, you’ll never want anything else in your latte. Word of warning though: there’s no wifi.

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Is rap music ‘music’? Is pop art ‘art’? Here’s another insoluble: suppose a pastry chef uses flour, water, sugar, chocolate, frosting, and other yummy fixins to create a cake. When the cake is presented, is it a piece of art?

Now suppose an artist uses exactly the same ingredients and steps to create the same cake, but puts a title on it like, ‘Man’s Inhumanity to Man’ and puts it in a museum? Is it art? Now go to the Bittersweet Cafe on Belmont in Chicago and ponder these questions whilst indulging in the city’s next best thing to living in the heart of Paris. A literal showcase of macaroons, tarts, biscotti, and even gelato awaits you and your arguments for or against. In the end, who cares? Bittersweet is a gallery unto itself. Espresso by Illy.

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Amongst the most important luxuries in my life are great coffee, chilled atmosphere, and compelling design. The guys at Belljar coffee, in Sydney’s Newtown, have combined them perfectly into their new cafe in Alice street, just off bustling King street.

Belljar’s interior was designed by one of our favourite stylists, Tim Neve , who has given it a ‘campervan kitchen’ feel, which works well in the small space. The coffee is something else; with Ange and Sam, who run the cafe, sourcing boutique roasts. With a vintage record player laying out cool jazz, there’s little wonder Belljar is becoming the go-to place for those in the know in Sydney.

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Attention all hipsters: Stumptown Coffee Roasters are setting up shop in the land where cafes rein king: Amsterdam. Adding to its Portland, Seattle, and New York locations, this all-too-trendy coffee boutique is due to open its European doors on 1 May.

Stateside, this independent coffee roaster has a massive reputation for pushing out copious amounts of caffeinated goodness to an ever growing, cult-like following. In Amsterdam, the bar is planning lots of espressos, a few tastings, and daily cuppings. It promises to be a great way to recover from those neighboring coffee shops.

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Sometimes vegan cuisine leaves you feeling like you have been eating drywall. The food at ‘SNice, a vegan delicatessen in Brooklyn’s Park Slope is different– tasty treats that just happen to also be vegan. There is no shortage of quotation marks on the menu. ‘Meatball parmesan’ subs, sesame ‘chicken’ wraps, and bagels with ‘cream cheese’ describe the dish to the uninitiated, but after one bite, you’ll go from Omnivore’s Dilemma to Vegan Evangelist.

Follow your meal with a vegan carrot cupcake or a non-dairy malted. While some desserts leave you feeling weighed down or sugar buzzed, ‘SNice offers treats to leave you light and sated, and not wanting to curl up and take a nap under your desk. You might also want to swing by during brunchtime on Sunday – their wicked servers like to deliver a little sass with their tasty tofu scramble.

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Craving for some stellar joe while traipsing around Melbourne? Then 65 Degrees is definitely your cuppa. Set to add to the already funky Melbourne cafe scene, this recently opened coffee joint boasts friendly service, a laid back atmosphere, and, most importantly, what those-in-the-know are calling some of the best cup of coffee the city has on offer.

But don’t be fooled. While the cafe is new, the guys that run the joint are anything but novices. Brothers Jim, Con, and Peter Haralambopoulos, once owners of the well-respected 7 Grams cafe, boast a champion barista, world latte art winner, and award toting coffee that they roast and blend themselves. With skilled lads running the spot, solid and balanced handcrafted coffee, and handsome lattes, what more can you ask with a cuppa?

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71 is the kind of place which is small enough to miss, but once you see it, you realize everyone somehow knows about it. It’s set three steps down from the sidewalk level, and it’s always packed, except for week late nights and mid-mornings. Even though their service is not the friendliest — like any other spot in New York that’s too cool for school — 71 has a noticeably loyal clientele. Lots of writers hang out with their computers, while photographers check out the scene, and artists meet up with their reps. Besides hot and cold drinks, including their own coffee, they also offer a great selection of pastries, sandwiches and my friend Nicolas’ favorite chicken soup ever.

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On those rare occasions when I feel the need to treat myself to an absolutely mind (and wallet) blowing meal, I love to come here. The restaurant is housed in an old diner (the old trailer style diners) which makes for some fun ambiance. Plus, the menu changes every week, so there’s never a written menu. The waiter comes out with a pen and writes the entire menu down on the butcher paper covering your table. Aside from all that, the food is absolutely unbelievable!

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Passionate about gelato? The second best to going to Italy is going to Grom. More than $4 for a small cup? A long line? It’s so worth it, trust me. They opened a store in ice cream battleground, the West Village, but my choice is the more quiet and chilled Upper West Side store. A secret tip to a short wait is to never go there after dinner. Early in the day is the short cut to a cup of Extra Noir chocolate. Or any other taste of your choice.

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This café, cookie shop, ice cream place in Cobble Hill Brooklyn is all about flavor, aroma and family. Their cookies and ice cream are absolutely to-die-for, and the place is so well-designed, painted in vintage colors with old family pictures printed on the walls, that you’ll want to indulge yourself for more than just a few minutes. Try their Whoopies and Lucia cookies. They’re my favourite.

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On my recent visit to Barcelona, my love for Animal Farm led me to the Plaça de Geroge Orwell. There I discovered Oviso. The tiny café features hand painted walls and low wooden benches, where inhabitants enjoy great coffee for €1 and discuss music, beer, photography and the hordes of tourists that bustle just beyond the quiet square.

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Look closely at the froth of this latte and you’ll see a portrait carved out amongst the grains and milk. It’s a truly a work of art and it’s a feature of the coffee served at Richmond, Melbourne cafe Flavours of Lakhoum. Check, please!

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