6 words or less: Exposed Brick, Bow-ties, Foodie Pride

Location: 130 Franklin Street, NY, NY

Hours: Weekdays 7am-6pm, Weekends 9am-5pm

Open Since: December 2014

Amenities: Bathroom, Seating for forty, Wifi, Delicious Snacks

Must Try: Cortado and a snack (either avocado toast or the scrambled cheddar biscuit)

Roaster: Counter Culture

Owner: Arnon Magal

Gotan in TriBeCa end-caps one of the cutest triangular street corners in the neighborhood.  A row of bright blue Citi-Bikes and the Franklin Street Station entrance faces its store-front.  Behind that so-very-urban window-view, owner Arnon and coffee director Faryal have built a space where TriBeCa-ites know they will receive delicious brews and snacks crafted under their meticulous, deliberate care.

Like so many people in coffee, owner Arnon came to New York City to pursue a different career–his was real estate.  Always a foodie–he can recall his first experience eating foie gras as a 12 year old– he discovered the many layers of the coffee experience, first opening Little Collins a shop in Williamsburg before opening Gotan.  The avocado toast and the scrambled cheddar biscuit–two favorites available all day– both rank as some of the best coffee pairing snacks/light meals I’ve had in all of my reviews!

Faryal Jahangir, Gotan’s coffee director, started in coffee as many New Yorkers did, serving and drinking it in a deli or a bodega.  As the New York coffee scene exploded, as third wave roasters found the eastern shore, Faryal discovered that she too loved coffee.  She began to train a Counter Culture, a North Carolina-based roaster with an HQ in New York, learning about the layers of fruit, body, and acidity which lighter, more carefully developed roasts bring to the coffee experience.  She trains the coffee staff with passion and a friendly dimpled smile.

Just as Arnon has enacted and carefully trained a staff to produce consistently delicious breakfast, lunch and snacks in the kitchen, Faryal has stewarded the coffee staff in pulling smooth, bright shots of Counter Culture’s espresso blends.  They pull shots from a machine called the ModBar.  From the front, much of the equipment is invisible, the espresso puck dialed in under a simple silvery swan neck.  The concept has removed the espresso machine wall that often prevents customers from seeing the  barista at work.

Both Arnon and Faryal are clearly driven by their passion for food/coffee, but also by their passion for the way these crafts can  remove walls: the walls between the barista and the coffee drinker, walls between the clients and the staff and the walls we all put up as we survive our daily walks through the sea of humanity in the city.  As soon as you enter Gotan, you’ve entered a space where you can find a seat, find a brew/snack you’ll like and let your walls down.