I’ve traveled the world and enjoyed coffee in some of the world’s finest cities. None of it matches the coffee and espresso served at Antoinette’s Patisserie right here in my hometown of Hastings on Hudson, NY. Kus Beham is Antoinette’s captain of the caffeine, a flavor visionary who buys his own beans, roasts them in his own facility, and serves them in an atmosphere that blends people of every socioeconomic class as effortlessly as it does cappuccinos and lattes.

Kus likens his work to that of a musician laying down a soundtrack. Anyone who has been to Antoinette’s and sampled his Giaco Bean brand of coffee knows just how magnificent his symphony has become.