Does One World Cafe count?

Azafran Cafe, on the JHU campus, is definitely upscale.

i like one world but i wouldn't consider it "upscale"

ze mean bean?

b strikes me as a cafe, although i don't think i'd go there for just a cup of coffee.

sascha's?

If One World Cafe ever cleans their restaurant, which always looks FILTHY, I'd consider it a contender. But the last time I went in there (august 09) with some friends who were in town, it was disgustingly dirty... and that's not even talking about the waitstaff.

What about Teavolve?

Good suggestion. EL

I went to Piedrigotta(sic?) the other day for something sweet, and they have a lot more than just bakery items.
However they have no beer/wine,and it's not really table service but?????

specific tactful

Same with Stonemill, Hue. Good food, tasty desserts and good coffee, but no beer/wine, etc.

What color does the door have to be painted?

I mean, I think the trouble is that you're looking to create a very narrow category, and I don't see the purpose. Then again, I don't drink coffee.

if only Starbucks had a liquor license, oh no, did I just type that, never mind.
...wait... Actually, I wouldn't mind a "little something extra" in my latte in the morning ;)

What about Village Square Cafe in XKeys?

What about Great Sage in Clarksville. I know, it's vegan, but, some of their food is very good.

Cheap Jim makes a point about various criteria making this category too narrow. But I don't think those criteria are dispensible

Something that might seem like an arbitrary qualifier -- a choice of counter or table service, availability of both wine and coffee -- is what makes the idea of such a place so appealing.

I mean, are there American cities where people could reel off three or four examples of such a place within a block of their home? Does cafe culture still exist even in Europe?

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what about XS in mount vernon?

I just remembered Marie Louise.

Does cafe culture still exist even in Europe?

Let's send RoCK on a road trip to find out.

Of course cafe culture exists in europe? Perhaps not in Baltimore but certainly in other Us cities, cafe culture is alive and well.

cafe culture most certainly does still exist in the EU.. Even though cities like Paris have had some close across the city there is still on on every corner.

We in the US have a much different definition of a cafe they those across the pond.

*sigh* this topic makes me miss Louie's Bookstore Cafe.

Yes, yes, yes, cafe culture still exists in Europe. We went to Belgium and the Netherlands in the fall and came home wondering how anyone gets anything done over there--it is so pleasant to sit in a cafe with a great Belgian beer and watch the world go by. And people of all ages seem to enjoy it.

Spoons in Federal Hill? Or, b Bistro in Bolton Hill?

I think 49 West Coffeehouse in Annapolis fullfills the requirements. http://www.49westcoffeehouse.com/

I am eagerly awaiting this Top 10 because living abroad got me hooked on cafe culture. As a singleton who is often looking for somewhere to go just to get out of the house for a while when nothing else is going on (I don't often sit still), cafes are great. I love going to Donna's when I have nothing else to do and sitting and reading for a while at the bar. Seems creepy to do it in a bar and restaurants don't seem quite right either. Bring it on!

(captcha is Don snippy which I wouldn't have included except for the bruhaha going on elsewhere on the blog)

Bonaparte Breads in Fells

They do exist elsewhere. The wife and I thoroughly enjoyed one such when we vacationed in Curacao a couple of years ago. Wilhemina Plaine Cafe in downtown Williamstad was the perfect spot,so much so that we went every day foe breakfast or lunch. Delightful

$4,380 Foothold Capthca

Does cafe culture still exist even in Europe?

Let's send RoCK on a road trip to find out.

If EL will let me turn in my expenses to the Sun, I can leave on Monday.

Does it have to be upscale?

I mean, Evergreen in Roland Park is cool, but it ain't upscale.

On the other hand, that expresso joint out next door to John Browns' Store on Falls Road is upscale, but it ain't cool.

Is upscale cool? Is cool upscale? My brain is on fire.

The City Cafe in Mt.Vernon. Completely renovated. Great Food. Reimagined.

Well RoCK, if the Mrs. joins you, the Examiner could pick up half the tab and then The Sun would proactively re-prioritize its priorities and leverage its core capabilities across new and emerging platforms and fund this junket, I mean important piece of investigative citizen journalism. Sure, things might get a bit dicey while you're sneaking Mr. Jefferson onto the airplane, but the Parisians will welcome him with open arms, along with his Yankee Doodle Hipster Mom and Dad. As you make your rounds of cafe society, engaging in polite debate, the Europeans will come to realize they had us all wrong. Socialists will be lining up to buy you a cup of coffee and keep your wine glass filled, when word gets around about the bright shining American Conservative.

Of course, you'll need to keep us posted with daily wire reports. Matisse and Picasso traded their paintings for dinner in Montparnasse; you get to blog for your supper. And who knows, perhaps The Sun will decide it's high time they reopened some of the Foreign Bureaus.

RoCK keeps the Paris Desk, YumPo would be perfect for Milan (how high are those heels?), and Lissa could cover all of Scandinavia. Dublin and Belfast go to Bourbon Girl. We would look forward to special bulletins from MD Cannon as he makes a pilgrimage to Canterbury. RayRay and Cleatus could share Berlin, though they wouldn't know what to make of either one of you. Eve, how does Amsterdam sound? Pretty flowers and sensible people. Dahlink, seems you have a good handle on Geneva. Word on the street is that Owl Meat is already under deep cover in Dubrovnik, awaiting instructions.

Bucky and PCB Rob currently have foreign desks. Professor McIntyre, you can stay put or set up shop where you wish, but you will be inundated with more copy than you dreamed possible. Sam Sessa, you could send us great video from London; somebody there owes you a tour.

Now, to find a warm, sunny, light-hearted place for Joyce. How about the topless beaches of Santorini? Sitting there in the dark, volcanic sand with
your laptop, you can keep us updated with all manner of observations a la Grecque.

OK, so that's not everyone, but the rest of the regulars, and I'm looking at you hmpstd, Hal, and Trixie, will need to stay in country to maintain the defense of this blog, its mission statement (no topic is off-topic), and our Critic of Record. The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

a clear candidate is Marie Louise Bistro, 904 North Charles St., though it's called a bistro.

Cleatus, there was a time when upscale was the antithesis of cool.

Captcha: Beatnik poseur

Leonora - Love your captcha! Sounds like something on a t-shirt.

Laura Lee--I love it! Although my former stomping ground was Zurich, I wouldn't turn up my nose at a posting in Geneva.

Yes, but would Leonora be allowed to wear her t-shirt in Hampden? I'm just saying....

Is the post in Madrid still available?

Sorry Dahlink, I forgot that. Either way, good chocolate.

BankStreet, all of Iberia is wide open. We will need you to report back on what exactly real tapas are.

ok, LL. I'm totally packed and ready. Where do I pick up my tix?

Joyce, you know how your luck is. When you arrive in Santorini they'll have a fluke snowstorm. :-)

LOL, Hal, you are so right!

When I lived in Madrid, *many* years ago, I couldn't afford the more expensive bars, but soon learned that once could eat fairly well on the ubiquitous tapas. Sometimes they were slim (a few potato chips with a beer or a trio of olives with a glass or wine). In the more pricey (I started to say "better," but each had its own charms) joints, I'd enjoy a plate of callos (tripe), pulpo (octopus), or an empanada (meat- or fish-filled turnover). In my experience, a tapa was seldom an elaborate focal point -- rather, it was a simple and gracious extension of hospitality.

I must say, I was never offered 11 pears. That had to wait for captcha.

Lora Lee, another brilliant piece of writing! Sorry I didn't see it until now. But what about you? What will your destination be?

Lora Lee? Sorry LL, don't know where that came from. Well actually I do. See I have a friend named Laura, and her mother would pronounce it Lora, and well, it just kind of stuck in my head. Not that you really needed all that...

No problem, Trixie. I've heard that pronunciation plenty of times, though it was an assault to my ears when I first moved to Baltimore.

As for my destination, I think I'd prefer to stay freelance, a roving correspondent, a reporter without portfolio, lingering as I like at Wherever Cafe with my duffel bag and a cuppa. Perhaps MAG could join me, as I seem to have unpardonably overlooked him in the initial assignments. jl also, though I suppose Milwaukee could be deemed an exotic outpost.