Photo courtesy of Teagan Durkin
To justify a healthy dependence on caffeinated beverages and a frequent habit of visiting coffee shops, I’ve decided to launch the Cafe Curator. Following a previous TCR article on Endo Cafe, which can be found in a past publication, each Cafe Curator will explore and report back on various cafes. Afterall, no one has time to waste on bad coffee.
New Holland Coffee Company, established in 2005, is only closed on Sundays. Open from 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM, this cafe stays active far later than most others scattered throughout the Lancaster area. There are four locations, but the one I visited is located in Lancaster, PA at 29 East King Street. For Franklin and Marshall College students, this is roughly a thirty minute walk. It’s not too arduous to make one sweaty, thus ruining any aesthetic cafe outfits, but is just enough of a stroll to make one really need a little sweet treat. And sweet treats are plentiful at New Holland. Along with fresh brews roasted daily, including sweet chais and hot cocoa for those, like myself, who are too scared to commit to a full coffee past 3:00 PM, there are also a selection of breakfast and lunch options: acai bowls, smoked salmon toast, grilled mozzarella on ciabatta, and chipotle turkey wraps to name a few items.
As I ventured to New Holland under the deluded pretense that I would be studying, I stuck with a drink and a small sweet treat. The chai, served in a simple but cute in-house mug, was sweet, hot, but a tad too milky. No complaints, though, as I quickly burnt my tongue while sipping. A danish, laden with chocolate and powdered sugar, was the selected sweet treat.
It was delicious.
Visiting later in the afternoon, New Holland was busy but not cramped. I ended up sitting next to several adventurous toddlers, who turned a corner into a parkour jungle gym. However, given the ample table space, and various nooks and crannies where one can hide from future Olympians, this uncoordinated gymnastics routine was more entertaining than annoying. The general ambience is fresh, with clean architecture, enormous windows, and a light color palette, though this is balanced by arching ceilings and plants everywhere.
A minor critique is the lack of WiFi. Although free WiFi is promised, and readily available with the password on the wall, I was completely unable to access any connection. Even after walking around, waving my phone in the air like a stranded hiker desperately trying to survive, I had fewer bars than a wannabe SoundCloud rapper.
Other people were able to study, though, and one very chic person sipping a latte looked like they were studying for the LSATs, with an aura of intensity radiating off of them. Also, the lack of a reliable WiFi connection could also be taken as encouragement for individuals to connect with each other. Put down your screen, throw your laptop into the street, smash your iPad over your knee, and then enjoy a nice conversation over danishes and coffee.
Sophomore Teagan Durkin is the Opinions editor. Her email is tdurkin@fandm.edu.