Chef David Gingrass decided it was time to reinvent his Hawthorne Lane restaurant. The result is Two, a warm and inviting space with some excellent menu items and the perfect location in SoMa. The name derives from the fact that Two restaurant has two chefs -- Gingrass and Bridget Batson -- and it's the second restaurant at 22 Hawthorne Lane.
Location
- 22 Hawthorne Street (at Howard)
- Telephone: (415) 777-9779
- Reservations (via Open Table)
- Map & Driving Directions
- Valet for $10
- Parking at nearby 5th & Mission Garage
Public Transit
- BART Station: Montgomery
- MUNI Station: Montgomery
Bus Lines
- #9X,9AX,9BX (Formerly #15)
- #10 Townsend
- #14 Mission
- #30 Stockton
- #45 Union-Stockton
Public Transit Information
Ambiance
The first thing you notice – if you’re not too hungry to blitz right by -- is the landscaping outside the restaurant's front door: bronze ant sculptures crawling across a pile of smooth stones.
Inside, the organic theme continues with bamboo paneling and coconut lamps, which could almost be described as “tiki” if tiki didn’t have such amusement park connotations. The atmosphere is elegant and warm. Had it not been for a scheduled afternoon meeting, my lunch companion and I would have lingered and enjoyed.
Food & Bar
Everything we tried was tasty, from the grilled Dungeness crab to the caramelized Brussels sprouts. The latter dish made a Brussels sprouts lover out of a former Brussels sprouts hater.
The menu ranges from clam chowder, to black olive and goat cheese pizza, on up to carnivorous choices like New York strip and roasted pork. Two has specialty cocktails, mixed at a centrally located bar where you can perch and count shards of decorative coconut hanging from the lamps. The wine list is solid and includes a “Fifty Under Fifty” price-range category.
For all of you tropical iced tea fans, Two has an unsweetened, tropical blend. Iced tea lovers come in two camps: traditional black tea or flavored. I’ll drink either, but am partial to tropical -- a holdover from spending time in Los Angeles, I suppose. It’s always a treat for me to find tropical tea in San Francisco restaurants.
2007 - Prices, items and events are subject to change. Always check with venue directly for information and updates.
Service
On the day we were there, the service was exceptional and friendly. We trickled in at the tail end of a busy lunch hour, and our server was anything but frazzled. The host staff was exemplary and polite with a couple of tricky customer services situations we witnessed. Two was an excellent experience all around.