Exciting news that, on the whole, is surprising that it doesn’t happen more: a good cafe by the sea will open. Well, 50 steps from him. It’s also something. This is a new branch, the second in number, for HOC, which is known to everyone as a cafe that was located on the border between the vineyard and Neve Tzedek about four years ago. Just recently they renewed in a new and exciting branch on Trumpeldor Street, only about 50 steps from the orange sweet potato sculpture (also known as “Beyond the Boundary” by Zadok Ben David), which is going to make us even happier in the sunny months of summer.
Vessels in the colors of the sea. HOC coffee. Photo: Tamuna Djanashvili
HOC is one of the quality and serious cafes in the city, and so are the prices there. Because when you specially import coffee beans from the best roasters in the world, and use a coffee machine that is the Ferrari of coffee machines, and employ experienced and professional workers – it costs money, we understand that. But HOC is a no-compromise place that deals with the nuances of perfection in our favorite drink, so we can understand the costs. And how is it expressed? Espresso will cost you 14 NIS, while Flat White, the equivalent of cappuccino, will cost 17 NIS.
“We wanted to create places with a similar essence, but which convey a different experience – with different food and coffee menus, using different beans to prepare the coffee, and with planning and design that are adapted to the place and the building,” tells us Amir Raifer, the owner of the HOC together with his wife, Shiraz Raifer, and their partner Oren Adrai. “The goal is to produce a variety that won’t feel like a chain, and to distinguish each branch we open with its own DNA. Of course, the guiding line is the very high quality standard we maintain in everything we do.”
Light, shadow, salad, eggs. HOC coffee. Photo: Tamuna Djanashvili
So if you haven’t figured it out by now, the iconic scrambled sandwich will remain the property of the other branch. And although we were a little disappointed when it didn’t appear on Trumpeldor’s menu, the Gouda and Cheddar toast (44 NIS) made her forget very quickly. Besides the wonderful and decadent toast, you will also find a divine egg salad sandwich (42 NIS), a rich green salad (43 NIS), and muesli with homemade granola (43 NIS) on the menu. In addition to these, there are excellent sweets that are baked on site, and harmoniously accompany HOC’s coffee. “We thought a lot about the location and the audience when we built the place. The food on the menu was chosen so that it would be convenient to pack for take-away to the beach, for example, and the coffee beans are less ‘punk’ than those served in Tabor, so as not to create a very different experience for the regular customers than the coffee that was here before us, Cafe Trumpeldor.”
The design of the Trumpeldor branch is also different. If Tabor has a Japanese, clean and minimalist design line, Trumpeldor maintains the clean minimalism, but goes in Nordic directions – dark wood, terrazzo marble and black metal furniture. Even the utensils are different and adapted to the colors of the place, when the cups were made especially in collaboration with the ceramic artist David Seth from Studio ‘Odka’, so that they fit exactly the way they want to drink, smell and experience the cup of coffee.
Mosley in front of the sea? Not bad. HOC coffee. Photo: Tamuna Djanashvili
The new HOC sits in a beautiful preserved building, and shares the ground floor with the beloved Bar 51, in short, a building of big stars that we would love to spend most of our lives in. In addition, we will reveal to you that these days HOC is working on the opening of an even newer branch, which will also include a bakery, in Florentine. Don’t worry, of course we’ll be here to update when it happens.
Trumpeldor 6, Sunday-Saturday 08:00-18:00