Rebhi Rabah Changing the Sign

When NP first started a reader posted a query on our forum page asking where others got their coffee in the area. Months later that question failed to generate any responses. That forum query appeared in the BB (Before Bristen’s) era,  long before The Glass Shop, and long before Franklin Avenue became a coffeehouse mecca.  If you had told us back then that a subsequent poll on coffee shops would draw almost 3oo responses we would think you were joking.  Back then if you wanted a good cup of coffee you either had to brew it at home, or do as The Pulp and The Bean’s Mohamed Fisher used to do and travel over to Park Slope’s Connecticut Muffin to get his of joe.  Upon realizing that he was making this trek back and forth between Park Slope and his Crown Heights supermarket three or four times a day, the entrepreneurial Fisher began wondering what was the purpose of taking his dollars elsewhere?

But before deciding to open The Pulp and The Bean, Fisher first thought that rather than

Rebhi Rabah and Ryan Towers in action

trekking to Connecticut Muffin, why not have Connecticut Muffin come to him?  So he set out to persuade the shop’s proprietors to open a location on Franklin Avenue.  After being rebuffed by his first choice, and then a second option, Fisher broached the topic with his brother Tony about opening their own shop, and from there The Pulp and Bean was born.

The Pulp and The Bean is smaller than its counterparts, Bristen’s and Breukelen Coffee House.  Bristen’s is a full sit down restaurant that boasts access to a backyard in the summer.  Similarly Breukelen’s patrons enjoy leisurely sips at the stools looking out onto Franklin Avenue, one of the four tables dotting the wall, or two couches in the back of the coffee house.

Not to be outdone, The Pulp and The Bean is equally inviting for those grabbing a cup on the go, or taking refuge from the cold.  The employees are friendly, witty and for reasons still unclear to this writer have an unwavering affinity for daytime soap operas.

During NP’s visit we noticed a diverse array of Brooklynites dropping in that ranged from a refreshing frisky couple enjoying a mid-afternoon date, Medgar Evers administrators talking shop over a sandwich, an area techie working on a website, and west-Indian nurse’s aide fresh off her 7am – 3pm shift finding relief from the cold in a soup and salad combo.

As soothing as the stay at The Pulp and The Bean was, there were other less savory details to be ironed out that day, breaking the news to the losers in the poll.  I was so traumatized by the pleas for mercy and fainting that took over the BCH crew upon learning the news, that I couldn’t bring myself to informing Bristen’s Eatery.  NP’s poll had broken enough hearts for one day.

En fin, the readers have spoken.  The Pulp and The Bean is the people’s champ, so drop on by and grab a bite or beverage.