Caffeinated Weekends - Ground Support

I really need to remember this place, for it's a breath of fresh air in the middle of the bustling, sometimes overwhelming, hyped-up shopping and gallery hopping experience that defines Soho on West Broadway.  Ground Support, 399 West Broadway near Spring (no website), in fact, is located in a former art gallery.  By downtown New York espresso bar standards, it's huge and airy, with a skylight that permits the bright sun (when lucky enough to have such a day) to spotlight one of the customer tables.  It definitely seems to be a neighborhood "regulars" kind of place, both for breakfast and lunchtime noshing and/or caffeine fixes.

There's a long zinc bar for sit-downs, and four large wooden picnic tables, accommodating a number of computer workers during the times I was there.  Ground Support serves Ceci Cela croissants as well as interesting muffins from somewhere else I can't remember the name of.  I tried a whole wheat cherry pineapple muffin, which was incredibly filling but seemed virtuous.   And their coffees are Intelligentsia.  

Sandwiches were being made nonstop by two people behind the zinc bar.  Veg sandwich was heavy on cauliflower, not what I expected in a veggie sandwich but, with feta cheese and an interesting aioli among other things, made for a crunchy change of pace.  Everything was super fresh, and they have a variety of clever sandwiches and salad.  Cookies, too, of course. 

Bref, it's roomy, very relaxing, a good place for a light meal as well as your caffeine, and the baristas are patient and enthusiastic (when I couldn't make up my mind, I was encouraged to try the muffin for something different). Plus, there are outside benches for optimal only-in-Soho people and dog watching (or are the dogs watching the Soho people?).