Welcome to Writes & Bites — a series where Creative Writing MFA student Arianna Gundlach periodically reviews a place in New York City you could write at and tackles a writing topic that has been weighing on your mind. This week we look at Ariston Flowers & Café located at 78 Fifth Ave., right across from the University Center.
Hello, wonderful readers and writers. I’ve been expecting you.
Writing at the University Center is sometimes just not a vibe, and that’s okay. The UC’s library “no food, no drinks, no cutting, no art supplies, no phone calls” policy is just a little too uptight for me. And at peak hours, the dining center with its new sea of tables and chairs can be rather nightmarish. But venturing out to another coffee shop with a mysterious amount of seating (only not to get a seat), is also a risk. If you’re looking for something vibing, reliable, and close by, I have something right across the street.
Facing the UC is a storefront that may be disguising its true nature from you — that is if you can’t read the large, backlit sign announcing “Ariston Flowers & Café.” But with roses carving out a heart in the window, I don’t blame you: the flowers fill your eyes and captivate your full attention. I didn’t register the space as an actual café the first few times I walked past either.
Three mint green tables are outside with centerpiece succulents, which I imagine are cute and functional during warmer weather. Your first steps inside set you smack-dab in a plant paradise. Roses hang from the ceiling on spider web-like threads that you can only glimpse in the light. Around you are roses, orchids, lilies, poppies, and potted plants. Big, tall, short, and small. Anything you could name or ask for, in any color. However, everything is expensive and unfriendly to the student budget. Don’t fear, dreaming and inspiration are free.
If you are shopping for real, the preset bouquets and arrangements are toward the front. Plants on the shelves get larger as you look up. And if you’re lucky, they might even hand you a long-stemmed rose as you’re heading out the door (yes, this happened to me). If you’re going to buy something, I’d recommend a plant you’re confident you can keep alive, whether you’re a good plant parent or the plant is simply low maintenance.
When you’re tired of the florists looking at you like, “Are you going to buy anything?” maneuver yourself away from their gaze and into the café. Trust that the flowers will follow.
The café has two levels with the downstairs having a wide range of seating (easily 10 or more tables), from intimate high tables mounted against the wall to larger square and rectangular options for friends and families. I love a café that prioritizes seating; this is hard to come by in New York City. More plants and flowers sit on small ledges along the red brick wall on the left side of the space. Cut branches form a makeshift trunk and blossom into a tree-like display with white frosted limbs and hanging red and pink floral orbs. It looks more elegant and avant-garde in person than it sounds.
The menu is on the pricier side — especially the food. Drinks include caffeinated staples, tea, hot chocolate (milk or white), frappes, lemonade, smoothies, and apple cider. The most exotic option seems to be an espresso tonic, but there isn’t a focus on specialty drinks. Breakfast and brunchy foods are available, including croissants, muffins, cookies, cakes, sandwiches, salads, toast, and soup. A variation of food to sustain you at any time of day, especially when you need a tasty pick-me-up. Drinks for dining-in are served in sizable white mugs and food comes on solid white plates.
The hot chocolate is decent and deliciously presented with a tower of whipped cream and endless swirls of chocolate syrup. My MFA partner in crime and picky chai connoisseur Sally Deen also recommends the chai latte. The bacon egg sandwich tastes remarkably similar to the Starbucks double-smoked bacon, cheddar & egg sandwich but for around $3 more. However, that’s what you come to expect from boutique cafés nowadays. There’s a 10% student discount, but that isn’t much when the bill is $20 total.
When you have your food and your drink, I’d recommend the upstairs with its little hideaway vibes. The L-shaped second floor has nine two-seat tables, one long table, and a small table with two pink chairs in the bookended right corner. Six of the two-seaters have a gray couch on one side — something cushiony is always my preference. The cutest choice is one of the pink chairs under the foliage wall and LED sign that reads “Everyday is in full bloom.” And the most motivating option is at the eight-seat long table under a robust feathery centerpiece, where you’re surrounded by others getting down to work. Outlets can be found against the right white wall, and public Wi-Fi is readily available.
The best part of sitting upstairs is the bird’s-eye view of what’s below. You can see people catching up with friends, families treating their kids, singles enjoying some splendid alone time, and students intensely studying: pens and notes sprawled across the table, headphones on, a large mug of something hot and reassuring, and fingers perched over laptop keys. Not to mention your chance to absorb the perfectly arranged urban wonderland before you: flower and brick, foliage and concrete, sweet drinks and savory food.
The thoughtful balance of elements creates a one-of-a-kind texture to the space. Texture, in this case, is an un-replicable appeal and charm. Ariston has an obvious appeal, but if someone asked you what that is, it might be hard to pinpoint something singular and concrete, beyond the “vibe.” Writers also have a special texture running through their work, which can be hard to nail down, but still deserves careful thought.
Most of the time, a writer’s texture cannot be easily described. It’s a synergy of elements that make you sigh happily, “Yes, this feels right for this book.” But then you’ll probably ask, “Well how do I achieve that?” It sounds impossibly inherent, I know. And while I do think it’s organic and partially waiting inside you, just dying to come out — I also believe you can nurture it from the root.
So what’s the root, you ask? Probably characters, right? Maybe plot or worldbuilding? Or perhaps the nitty gritty like interiority and physicality? But no, we need to think more basic, starting with the story you’re choosing to tell.
I like to call this intention: what kind of story you’re telling and how the craft choices you’re making serve this story. When choosing a story to commit to, I find the most powerful one (and the easiest to commit to in the long run) to be the story only you can write. The one that kicks and screams inside you to be let out onto the page. For a while I was jumping from shiny idea to shiny idea, but neglecting the story that had taken up residence inside me that I always thought was too hard to write. Choose the story that needs you, desperately.
Once you’ve chosen and your intention is set, your texture continues with (and is above all) what YOU bring to the story. This is your perspective, experience, authenticity, your twinkle as a professor of mine once called it — everything you carry inside you. To meditate on this, try writing self-contained entries outside of your main story, whether this is a diary entry in a character’s headspace, a rant, or a random situation. This lets you explore depths with zero expectations, and you can find the best bits of you that can be transplanted into the larger work.
Understanding what you bring to the story helps you recognize how to infuse this “twinkle” into your craft elements. This manifests largely in voice, which I believe is a balance of intention, word choice, and sentence/paragraph structure. You can hear when things are hitting right, when elements are falling into place, when a smooth cohesion sings from page to page.
And there’s your texture.
Let it flow through you into every crack and crevice of the story you need to tell. When other people read it, they’ll be able to sense it too. Because John Green is not like Suzanne Collins and Suzanne Collins is not like Jenny Han and Jenny Han is not like you. Your style, your texture, your twinkle is unique and all your own, but is worth reading if you’ve nurtured it from the root.
So when you find yourself at Ariston Flowers & Café, head upstairs with your whipped cream topped hot chocolate and a warmed breakfast sandwich. Absorb the urban wonderland around you and let all the elements meld together in your mind. Appreciate the texture of the space, then find yours on the page. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Ariston Flowers & Café
78 Fifth Ave.
(212) 929-4226
| Commute 1 minute from the UC walking (right across the street). | Hours Mon-Fri: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat: 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. |
| Tech Public Wi-Fi available. Some outlets (definitely upstairs). Tappable pay accepted. | Layout Front: flower shop Downstairs: 10+ tables. Tables for large and small parties. Order here and return dishes. Upstairs: Mostly two person tables. Long stretch of couch. One long table. Feels more secluded. Bird’s-eye-view below. |
| Gems Flower shop café; breakfast and brunchy foods; upstairs and downstairs seating; well-balanced urban and natural vibes. | Noise Level Relatively noisy. |
| Atmosphere Plenty of seats available before noon, starts filling out after that. “Hip” cover music that comes across as slightly bizarre (somehow they made The Weeknd folksy). Upstairs is chiller than downstairs. | Rating 3/4 Stars – based on The New York Times star system: “ratings range from zero to four stars. Zero is poor, fair or satisfactory. One star, good. Two stars, very good. Three stars, excellent. Four stars, extraordinary.” |
| Be Aware 10% student discount. 4% cash discount. Boutique coffee shop prices. Expensive flowers and plants. |