FiDi’s Sophisticated Australian Cafe Black Fox Opens for the Midtown Crowd

A Financial District coffee shop favorite has opened in Midtown, bringing its reputable Australian-style coffee, sleek design, and above-average lunch fare uptown.

Black Fox Coffee Co. has opened just one block from Grand Central, at 45 E. 45th Street, between Park and Madison avenues, with coffee that borrows influence from Australia in drinks like a flat white and matcha lattes with housemade nut milk. The coffee here is well-regarded for its internationally sourced bean selection, with this location pulling from George Howell, Coffee Collective, Heart, 49th Parallel, and Luna.

But just as successful as its coffee is its food. The menu is a bit more upscale than other coffee shops around town, with dishes like smoky scrambled egg sandwiches, avocado toast on sourdough, and spicy breakfast burritos. Pastries — especially a standout chocolate chip cookie — are made both in-house and sourced from bakeries.

The menu at this location was designed to be eaten while standing, in part because of the new location’s size. The 850-square-foot space is designed for coffee on-the-fly and, for those who time it right, one of five seats at the cafe’s windows. Modeled after the European espresso bar, the counter-service cafe encourages standing among marble, brass, and walnut countertops.

Owners Daniel Murphy and Gary Hardwick first opened Black Fox in 2016 on Pine Street. The Australian duo parlayed early success into a location inside 85 Broad Street for WeWork users and building residents, followed up by this Midtown location as well as a new quick espresso bar at 110 Wall Street.

This new location also has an expanded retail section, with coffee and more. Black Fox Coffee is open daily at 6:30 a.m., until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and at 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.