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Making Big Moves in Downtown Plattsburgh
A new coffee shop offers opportunities for downtown Plattsburgh
Stories and Photos by Angela MacMurray
Plattsburgh has found itself another loop hole in the bizarre incidence of chain coffee shops engulfing college cities nationwide. Smooth Moves, a bright new coffee shop with plenty to offer is the newest addition to downtown Plattsburgh.
Located at the corner of Durkee and Broad Streets, this tiny bistro is warm and welcoming. With 59 different coffee flavors, it is difficult to find yourself just one favorite. A full menu list is available with delightful lattes such as pumpkin cheesecake pie, chocolate raspberry truffle and Irish crème delight. These hot lattes are just a few that have been named by customers who have created the drink mixture. Smooth Moves guarantees if a customer creates a new drink, they will not only add it to their list, but will allow the creator to give it their very own descriptive namesake.
“I went in there for the first time and was overwhelmed with the many choices available."
The Entrance of the Building facing Broad St. |
The shop goes above and beyond the complexities of a truffle latte. Just recently, the owner, Joe Kovacs, has decided that the shop could expand beyond coffee basics. The store now offers daily soup specials ranging from cream of broccoli to potato chowder and bacon. "The workers from social services next door kept telling me they wanted soup, so we began making it," Kovacs explains, regarding the expansion of the shops menu.
However, the shop offers even more than the lattes and fresh sandwiches. Each of the 59 flavors of lattes can also be made into milkshakes. Smooth Moves also offers fresh fruit smoothies and old fashion slush puppies. Keeping in favor of cold drink specialties, Smooth Moves offers customers a new drink called Bubble Tea. The tea is served chilled and holds balls of tapioca in the bottom of the drink. Smooth Moves is in the only shop in the area known to serve the tea and currently offers the drink in seven different flavors, with more flavors coming soon.
“Why support someone in Albany when I can support locally?”
Lisa Overstrom, a junior at Plattsburgh, recently became a fan of the new shop. “I went in there for the first time and was overwhelmed with the many choices available. I couldn’t decide. So, the owner asked me if he could help, and he picked out one of the more popular latte choices for me. It (chocolate raspberry truffle) was sooo good!” she recalls. She added that she believed the tiny bistro was “necessary for the small businesses in the area to survive; it's shops like these that help keep them alive.”
Supporting local business seems to be motto Smooth Moves is willing to follow. Co-owner Joe Kovacs explained how all of the coffee brewed in the store is made in Peru. “Why support someone in Albany when I can support locally?” Kovacs explains.
This shop is just an example of one of the several surviving small businesses coming to the Plattsburgh area. Comfortable couches are available, as well as tables and countertop space, for those seeking sanctuary and a gourmet treat. Kovacs, a Vermont native, explains that he was trying to capture a more relaxed “Vermonter” feel inside the shop. “We want customers to come in and feel at home, not like they are in the cafeteria,” he further explains regarding the layout of the café.
A glimpse inside the shop. |
Alongside the comforting sensation of the shop, it is also colorfully decorated with various artwork. A soft green hue covers the walls and serves as a soothing backdrop to the variety of works displayed inside the shop. The artwork is mostly for display, but depending upon the artists, it can be displayed with intent to sell. Recently, the shop displayed artwork created by local art-contest winners belonging to the Behavioral Health Services North group.
In regards to the new business, Joe Kovacs says the shop has different crowds coming and going. "During the afternoon lunch hour, a lot of office people are coming in, but at night, the atmosphere changes. That's when the college kids come in most," Kovacs comments. However, Joe says he mainly works the evening shift, when the college students generally come in for coffee and milkshakes. "At night, the atmosphere is much more relaxed, and I always make sure to change the radio station."
Have you visited Smooth Moves?
Just what is Bubble Tea?
Originally created in Taiwan during the 1980s, bubble tea has spread globally. It first came to Chinatown in NYC and is more commonly found in spots along the Western coast of the United States.
The actual terminology of "bubble tea" relates to two different types of the flavorful tea. One type is based off of milk while the second type is more of a fruit-flavored base tea. Both forms however have the common tapioca pearls at the bottom of the drink. The most ingredients consist of milk, a mix of tea, sugar and giant black tapioca balls.
Bubble tea has been called a variety of names in relation to it's unique texture and taste. Aside from the bubble tea nickname, the concotion has also been known as boba, pearl tea, milk tea, or bubble drink. Regardless, the tea has been changed over years and new flavors are continuing to be made regularly.
Though the drink is commonly served cold, it can also be served hot. Bubble tea can also be served without the giant black balls of tapioca, though avid bubble tea drinkers suggest trying the drink just once with all of its necessary ingredients.
Bubble tea is carbonation free and has less sugar content than regular soda. So, go out and find yourself a local bubble tea salesman in your area. And don't forget, the tapioca balls make the experience!