This Pavement is designed for socializing, and there’s quite a bit of college-like, between-classes socializing in the back. But unlike the problem of lingering laptop zombies in some coffeehouses, the bustle here feels a bit like a train station in India. It’s not entirely relaxing, if that’s part of what you’re looking for in a day’s coffee break.

That said, the problem isn’t the descaling requirement but that the machine is shutting down. My version allows you to continue usage until you find a convenient time window to descale, which is ideal.

The irony is that the descaling part is actually a feature: too many espresso machines just hide the detail for these needs and let you pull gradually crummier and crummier espresso shots until you want to throw away the machine and replace it well before its end-of-life. (See: Nespresso.)

Isn’t it’s how some places are “meant to be”? To get a quick shot and then leave?

Or is it more like “this place is clearly designed for people to lounge around, yet the atmosphere is telling me to scram in five minutes”?

Applause are to be made for a restaurant caring about the coffee they serve. I’m delighted that it likely tastes good.

What CR is getting at is that we’re applauding a restaurant for making good coffee. First, we are embarrassed that we’re proud of that. Second, this restaurant in particular is known for doing ways differently. Very differently.

Truth be told, I suspect any brew method known to us currently would be a letdown for Noma. I’m guessing CR doesn’t want them to serve brewed coffee. Rather, they should be inventing a new way to conceive the coffee experience.

Perhaps Noma is just now learning to walk with coffee and they’re planning on learning how to run with it, soon. I hope so. I’d love to taste coffee that is coffee, yet isn’t!

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m now energized to find a way to make coffee in a way that leaves us with something other than a brew as we know it! There’s never a coffee think tank around when you need one…