Two Fold Doubles Down on Quality in Tampa

Inside Two Fold at The Garrison in Tampa, Florida. All images courtesy of Two Fold.

A new all-day cafe called Two Fold Coffee & Kitchen is now open in Tampa, Florida, splitting its focus between a multiroaster specialty coffee program by day and a curated natural wine bar at night, each accompanied by chef-led menus of scratch-made food.

For daytime service, Two Fold General Manager and Beverage Director Phil Schiller selects coffees from an international roster of roasters, including several whose coffees he has served during his decades in the industry.

“It just so happens that a lot of the coffees I am interested in are based overseas, primarily in the Nordic countries,” Schiller told Daily Coffee News.

The opening menu includes coffees from Oslo-based Tim Wendelboe and Brooklyn-based Loveless Coffees and Sey Coffee. More than geography, Schiller prioritizes complex, vibrant coffees. The same approach informs the wine selection. 

“The fact that most of the wines we source are from small makers that focus heavily on biodynamics really just fit directly into [the] types of coffees I want to serve as well,” Schiller said. “I tend to bring in very fruit forward, expressive wines, and that’s pretty in line with the coffees I also serve.”

A 2-group Modbar Espresso AV undercounter system preserves an open sightline between baristas and customers. Coffee for espresso is ground on dual Mahlkönig E80W Grind-by-Sync grinders, distributed with a Nucleus NCD Pulse and tamped by a Puqpress automatic tamper. On the back bar, a Curtis G4 batch brewer fitted with a Litmus Coffee Labs UFO Spray Head sits alongside two Orea Z1 brewers for manual pourover service.

Two Fold Owners Jason and Emily Smith, who are also affiliated with the Tampa firm Watermark Design Build, designed the warm-toned cafe with an academic feel, using dark wood, soft lighting and comfortable seating. 

“From the beginning, we wanted to create more than a coffee shop,” Emily Smith told Daily Coffee News. “We wanted to create a place where people felt comfortable staying awhile. More than anything, we wanted the space to feel lived in — not overly designed — so whether someone is meeting a friend, working for a few hours or simply enjoying a great cup of coffee, it feels like a place they want to come back to.”

In the kitchen, Two Fold chef Andy Nasser oversees a morning menu of scrambles, bagels and toasts, including banana-bread French toast with brûléed banana cream and candied pecans. After 11 a.m., the menu shifts toward lunch and dinner with items including shrimp toast sliders, a smoked barbecue pork belly sandwich, salads, udon noodles and gnocchi.

Two Fold occupies part of The Garrison House, a coworking and community venue with shared work areas, private call booths, meeting rooms and a large covered patio.

The Smiths previously opened Foundation Coffee Co., starting with a coffee trailer and patio in Riverview in 2015 and adding a Tampa Heights cafe in 2016. Schiller was their first hire at Foundation, which the Smiths said they sold in 2019 before turning their attention to the business that became Watermark Design Build.

Schiller later launched Klen Coffee as a cold-coffee concept in Asheville, North Carolina. After relocating the business to Florida, he converted it into an espresso pop-up that operated until Jason Smith invited him into the Two Fold fold.

Roasting is not in the immediate plans for Two Fold, where the intent is to remain as nimble and versatile as the hummingbird in the company logo.

“I personally think that Tampa has been in need of a structured multiroaster concept for some time,” Schiller said. “We’re more than content to just feature and serve some of the best roasters in the world. But down the line, anything can happen.”

Two Fold Coffee & Kitchen is located at 301 S Falkenburg Rd. in Tampa.

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