The NYC Cafe That Claims To Be America's First Espresso Bar

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On its website, the New York City bakery Ferrara writes that it "became America's first Pasticceria & Espresso Bar in 1892." It's a bold claim that requires some historical unpacking to verify. Is there documented evidence that proves Ferrara was actually the United States' first espresso bar, or is this just creative marketing?

To start, the claim that Café A. Ferrara opened in 1892 does seem legitimate – at 195 Grand St. in Little Italy, to be precise. Per the company's own record, Antonio Ferrara and his business partner Enrico Scoppa were on the market for a place to hang out after the opera where they could play the Italian card game scopa (no relation). They decided to create a place where they could do just that. Early on, it was an Italian bakery that made a variety of pastries, cakes, and cookies in-house while also serving coffee.

Ferrara's nephew Pietro Lepore came to the United States years later and began working for his uncle. He married Scoppa's daughter and eventually took over the bakery fully, buying out Scoppa's share after Antonio died in 1937. Under Lepore stewardship, the bakery grew its mail-order business while first focusing on torrone, a nougat-based confection with a long shelf life. It would become one the most iconic Italian American bakery brands, selling not only torrone but also panettone, cannoli (which you should ask for the right way), cheesecakes, and more. That said, while there's no doubt that Ferrara has a long and important history, its claim of being America's first espresso bar is more dubious.

First of all, another New York cafe still in existence places its own opening date a year earlier. Caffe Roma (originally Caffé Ronca, after its founder) is a pastry shop and cafe which has been serving desserts and coffee since 1891. Granted, in its marketing materials the business neither claims to be an espresso bar nor the first Italian cafe of its kind.

Perhaps slightly more damaging to Ferrara's claim, however, is the timeline of the creation of espresso machines. Though it's true that an Italian inventor named Angelo Moriondo created the first steam-powered coffee machine in 1884 (a precursor to modern devices), single-shot espresso (and the wartime cappuccinos they helped create) wasn't invented until after the turn of the century. As such, the idea that anyone in New York City was selling espresso in the 1890s is patently false.

According to Erin Meister, author of "New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History," the city's first espresso machine arrived in 1911 at Barbetta, an Italian restaurant that opened in 1906 and remains in operation today. In 1927, another espresso-focused spot took the city by storm, with Caffé Reggio opening and becoming, by its own claim, the first American cafe (not to be confused with a coffee shop) to serve cappuccino. Though it's no longer used to make coffee, Caffé Reggio's original espresso machine is still on display there in Greenwich Village.

All that being said, it seems that Ferrara's claim to be America's first espresso bar involves some imaginative interpretation of the word "first." Despite that, it remains true that Ferrara is a historic and important bakery and coffee shop in New York City and was ahead of its time when it was conceived in the 1890s. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of Ferrara installing an espresso machine earlier than Barbetta or Caffé Reggio, or exhibiting signs of what would become known as an "espresso bar" later on (the concept became more commonplace in the post-World War II period), but we're not sure it matters.

Allowing for a bit of creative marketing, let's not take anything away from Ferrara — or Barbetta or Reggio, for that matter. All three are historic places in New York City that are well worth a visit. You can sit and have a lovely meal in the case of Barbetta, or enjoy some amazing pastries alongside a modern espresso or cappuccino at Ferrara and Caffé Reggio. At the end of the day, we should all be able to say "saluti" to that.