Laughing Man Coffee & Tea—a.k.a. Hugh Jackman’s coffee line—has opened its jewel box of a café at 184 Duane, in the space that had previously been the site of Project No. 8‘s pop-up and Pomme Tribeca. As you can tell from my photos, its small size makes it hard to take anything besides a close-up, and yet when I walked in it seemed larger than I remembered (possibly an effect of having stuff on the walls or seating in the window).

The café—known as Laughing Man Marketplace—will serve the full range of traditional espresso drinks, including the Australian favorite, flat white; drip coffee, besides featuring a single-origin coffee on a weekly basis; tea and tea latte drinks; and hot chocolate. At this point, Laughing Man has no plans to serve food. You can buy beans, teas, hot chocolate mix, as well as coffee and tea paraphernalia, as well as branded souvenirs (mugs, hats, shirts, etc.). More seating is available in the storefront next door—it’s Laughing Man’s headquarters—at least for a while.

There’s something about Laughing Man I need to clarify; it should’ve been in the initial post, but who’s going to read that now? Basically, Laughing Man Coffee & Tea is but one arm of Laughing Man Worldwide. I’ll let co-founder David Steingard explain: “Laughing Man Worldwide is the mothership. It has two main goals: support entrepreneurial economy, creating jobs and wealth. At the same time, we want to give back in a philanthropic way, so we decided to incubate companies. The first one is Laughing Man Coffee & Tea; it’s 50% owned by Laughing Man Worldwide. Laughing Man Worldwide, which receives revenue from Laughing Man Coffee & Tea, gives all of its revenue to charity. For other companies, we’ll offer Laughing Man branding or co-branding, give them PR or our e-commerce engine, legal or PR assistance…. In return they have to subscribe to our philanthropic model. How much they give will be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

As for the café, it may be the first of many. “It’s a great model that we’re going to be able to franchise,” says Steingard.  “I’ve gotten a couple emails already from Chicago, Tennessee, all over.”

Laughing Man Marketplace is at 184 Duane (between Greenwich and Hudson); livelaughingman.com. Currently, the hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to around 4 p.m. Sundays are to be determined.

NOTE: To comment on Laughing Man Marketplace, please go to its page in the Tribeca Citizen Restaurant Guide.

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