Takes Java to New Heights
  Hint: Check Out the High Tech Espresso Machine
 By Sally Deering
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Barely open a few weeks and already Ground Connection at Harborside Plaza 10 in Jersey City has people streaming through the doors for espressos, coffees, Danish, muffins, sandwiches and salads. Owner Scott Gillman, who has been in the restaurant business for several decades and owns Markers restaurant also located at Harborside Financial, sees his new coffee bistro as a place where people can get a freshly brewed cup of expresso made-to-order and friendly service from the minute they walk in to the moment they leave.
“Our espresso is Toby’s Estate coffee in Brooklyn, one of the greatest coffee roasters in the country,’ Gillman says, amidst a flurry of customers lining up at the counter to get their daily javas. “Every cup gets hand-steamed milk and each espresso gets made with a different temperature according to its size.â€
Ground Connection is considered a modern day coffee shop offering small batch specialty coffee, full leaf and herbal teas, cold-brewed coffees and teas on tap. Sandwiches, sides, soups, pizzas and baked goods are prepared daily.
“Part of the reason we call it Ground Connection is the connection we want to make between our employees and our guests,†Gillman says.
The best place in the northeast for seafood is New England, right? They even named a chowder in honor of its seafood niche.
Prior to this, Gallo workshopped his play Two-Man Kidnapping Rule at MST. It was later produced by the New Ohio Theatre in New York, and published in Smith & Kraus’s anthology 2012 Best Men’s Stage Monologues and Scenes. As a solo writer/performer Gallo appeared in the original production of his one-man show My Italy Story at Penguin Rep in Stony Point, NY, which later had its debut Off-Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre in New York, starring Danny Mastrogiorgio (“…a compelling page turner.â€â€”The New York Times). An avid storyteller, Gallo won a StorySLAM championship at The Moth in NYC. 
