Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
When you see the word cake on a brunch menu, odds are it is off-limits for those practicing a gluten-free diet. I imagine celiacs dream of pancakes every Sunday morning. Well, hallelujah, there is an option available at the trendy new brunch mecca Two Hands Bar & Restaurant.
This Australian-owned restaurant is a larger and more food-focused location of Nolita’s Two Hands, which garners long lines for its flat whites and avocado toasts. Here, the menu is much more extensive and even includes a dinner option.
One of these days I’d like to try their evening menu, but I could tell by the bright and lively interior, that brunch is the way to go here.
We expected the menu to include the usuals – eggs benedict and smoked salmon bowls. But we were pretty surprised when we learned the first item on the menu (ricotta hotcakes) were completely gluten-free. And so was the sweet potato waffle!
I’m not gluten free (although my wife is) and I was completely perplexed how something so fluffy and delicious could not contain any gluten. The main ingredient is the ricotta (gluten-free flour holds it together). The large hotcake is browned to the edge yet the interior is cheesy and doughy (although not with actual dough).
It’s topped with a tangy whipped ricotta, seasonal berries, and pecans for crunch. Of course, as any brunch cake (gluten free or not) should, it’s served with a side of maple syrup.
Even if this cake was not gluten-free, I’d still be raving about it. And that’s the only reason I can understand why a brunch restaurant would choose to have its sole pancake option made without flour. For once, the gluten-free eaters win out here. And us gluten eaters must thank them!
| TWO HANDS RESTAURANT & BAR |
| 251 Church Street (between Leonard and Franklin Street), Tribeca |
| twohandsnyc.com |
