Italy (via Brooklyn) in Newburgh Caffè Macchiato

There's a little bit of Brooklyn in Newburgh

by Brian K. Mahoney and photographs by Jennifer May, January 25, 2008

Two blocks south of Broadway on Liberty Street, across from the Washington’s Headquarters historic site, Caffè Macchiato is sited in a somewhat inauspicious location. The neighborhood is on the uptick from the general economic desolation that infects Newburgh’s Broadway corridor, but slowly—Liberty Street is only a few blocks from the Hudson, yet it is far removed from the sanitized restaurant row now thriving on the waterfront. While some progress can be seen in the area, Caffè Macchiato is still sitting in the heart of a city awaiting its renaissance. Co-owner Edwine Seymour confesses that part of the overall experience that he and Barbara
Ballarini, his wife and partner, are trying to engineer at Macchiato is to “transport people away from being in Newburgh.” That said, the caffè’s continued survival since it opened in March 2005 is a hopeful testament to the possibility of what Newburgh might become—if it attracts more adventurous souls like novice restaurateurs Ballarini and Seymour.

The caffè’s location doesn’t seem to hurt business. On the numerous times I’ve visited Macchiato it’s been abuzz with activity—steam hissing as milk froths for cappuccino; patrons bussing each other’s cheeks in animated greetings; the filter-basket arm of the espresso machine thumping another used cone of grounds into the trash; a young woman stopping in for a coffee to go and a croissant, the waiter asking after her boyfriend’s recent camera purchase. The vibe is deep neighborhood: People come in and plunk themselves down at the mismatched tables and wait for the cheerful, unhurried staff to take their order.

And everyone knows Ines, a born charmer, Ballrini and Seymour’s five-year-old daughter.

The 30 seats have nearly always been full when I’ve eaten at Macchiato, filled with nattily yet casually dressed folks who would not look out of place promenading in Williamsburg. This is perhaps not surprising, given that Ballarini and Seymour moved up from Brooklyn to open the caffè a little over three years ago. Having first searched in Manhattan and Brooklyn for an affordable spot for their business, then Beacon, the couple settled on their Newburgh location almost as soon as they spied the narrow storefront. “We just moved in not knowing anything about the neighborhood,” says Ballarini.

They spent four months restoring the space with Ballarini’s father Sandro, a carpenter. He flew over from Italy to help his daughter and son-in-law construct the interior, building a dark-stained wooden bar that takes up most of one side of the room, topped with display cases for the caffè’s lauded pastries. The final, wonderfully quirky touch is the bathroom, painted a bright, warm blue and filled with foot-tall religious votives.
Ballarini and Seymour, both immigrants to the US—she’s from Italy, he’s from Haiti—met in Brooklyn through mutual friends eight years ago. At the time, both were working as journalists—Ballarini writing for an Italian newspaper, Seymour working as a photographer. The couple, who had little restaurant experience, claim they’ve always loved to cook and eat. They would create meals for 15 to 20 friends on a regular basis in their Brooklyn apartment. (Ballarini is the cook; Seymour the pastry chef.) According to Ballarini, friends would often ask, “When are you going to open your own place?”