Southampton Sant Ambroeus

When I lived in the West Village, I never really understood all the hype around Sant Ambroeus.  It seemed sterile, old-fashioned and all together too expensive.  I'd been a few times for lunch meetings, seen a few celebs and begrudgingly paid $25 for a tuna salad that had been composed of underipe tomatoes and overly oily, yet very dry fish. So it was to my surprise on Sunday when I stopped into the location on Southampton for a pre-homeward bound drive coffee fill-up that I found myself liking the place. Sure, I'd wanted a cup to-go... they don't do to-go.  And sure, I'd wanted skim milk... they don't do skim milk. But actually the whole vibe kinda made sense in the context.  We were standing up at their coffee counter and sure, maybe the barista wasn't Fresh Off the Boat Italian, but he was certainly of the Long Island Hair Gel variety.  And the coffee was truly fantastic.  A creamy cafe au lait served the perfect temperature did me right.  As I sipped, I took in the vibe - something did feel distinctly Italy in there - not making up for all of the  formalities and rules, but accounting for them.  I left caffeinated and satisfied, sure to return next weekend.