Eat of the Week: A column about what I'm eating right now.
Maybe it’s the incredibly instagrammable lattes and perfectly styled plates of avocado toast, or perhaps the melodic Aussie accents - whatever the reason, the Mott St coffee shop Two Hands has no doubt experienced a meteoric rise in popularity since opening back in 2014. Just around the corner from my boyfriend’s then-apartment in Chinatown, it went from being our local spot to pick up a flat white on the way to work to one with a line of tourists - from uptown Manhattan to across the ocean - waiting patiently out the door.
Ricotta hotcakes with pear
With a new outpost that will eventually serve dinner (though the kitchen currently closes at 4pm), I was curious to see if they had enough hipster mojo to keep the crowds coming all the way down to a much less edgy Tribeca. Turns out, they do! We luckily nabbed a table for brunch around 9:50am on a windy April Sunday, minutes before people started piling in.
The bright and airy decor, with tall cacti and other lush greenery, gives the restaurant its signature laid-back vibe. They’ve also managed to attract a similar clientele, who skew just slightly older, with the requisite number of fashionable Tribeca babies in tow.
I ordered the ricotta hotcakes, with pear garnish - which melted on my tongue like a lovely Australian cloud (that's a thing, right?). The menu also features other downtown brunch trends, like a breakfast bowl of cauliflower and kale, and smashed-avocado toast with poached eggs.
Like its Chinatown sibling, Two Hands Tribeca will have no problem keeping the instagram set coming back for more. I'll just have to wake up extra early if I want to chill with my flat white.
The short of it
- Food: 4/5
- Ambience: 3/5
- Tip: Get there before 10am before brunch on weekends, or check it out on a weekday
- Address: 251 Church St.