Rhythm Zero Blends Craft Coffee & Museum-Level Curation

These days, major café chains are too often characterized by the same ‘vibe’: a nondescript, modern, and, at times, sterile atmosphere.

Blue Bottle happens to offer a prime example. The California-born café bears the look of an Apple store — with its bright, open spaces, absence of distinguishable decor, and homogenous wooden finishes. More recently, Blank Street Coffee has spread through New York City’s boroughs with its ultra-limited seating and small footprint, boasting a name that literally suggests nowhere.

Cultural critic Kyle Chayka coined the term AirSpace to describe this aesthetic phenomenon, where not just coffee shops, but bars, boutiques, and offices have become eerily similar — decorated with minimalist furniture, industrial lighting, and a “faux-artisanal aesthetic,” to use his words. However, nearly ten years after his viral think piece, that era of design is losing steam as people seek establishments that feel less generic, more unique, and, above all, human.

With just three branches — located in Greenpoint, the West Village, and Williamsburg — Rhythm Zero presents an alternative vision of what coffee chains could be: spaces where art and life intermingle. Since opening in 2022, the chain has garnered a cult following for its one-of-one interiors, creative specialty drinks (like the Coconut Americano), and the tight-knit community nurtured by its owners.

To partners-turned-co-founders Alex and Ivana, coffee culture and art philosophy are not disparate realms. “They’re closer than we think,” Ivana explained as we sat in their living room, just a few steps away from their first location in Greenpoint.

Upon entering Rhythm Zero Greenpoint for the first time, I was greeted by a towering portrait hung above the espresso bar. Painted by a student of the 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt, the piece is one of three renditions from the period. Greenpoint regulars have grown to adore the painting — so much so that when the owners considered swapping it for another, customers immediately asked where “she” had gone.

“We found her in a thrift store,” Ivana said. “We tried to switch her out with a different painting for a few days, but people started asking, ‘Where is she? Where is the lady!?’ She’s really a part of what people connect with at Rhythm Zero.”

From wall to wall, every piece of furniture and art carries a special significance to Alex and Ivana. When the café first opened, Ivana began curating the space herself, but it quickly became a collaborative effort with a roster of local creatives.

Across from the centuries-old Rembrandt sits a contemporary piece by artist Theo Pinto, whose studio is just around the corner. Pinto’s striking gradient canvas is flanked by the travertine Serpentine Sconce by Farrah Sit, who happens to live in the neighborhood. Along the back wall, a chaise by designer Athena Calderone — who resides in Cobble Hill —is arranged beside an antique folding screen. One doesn’t need to know the full roster to understand that local is king here.

Sprawled across the café’s communal tables, stacks of old and new art books come directly from the owners’ personal collection. Shuffled by the many hands of their customers, some covers show scuffs, while others are stained with coffee dribbles.

Scan the room and you’ll find people reading, writing, catching up, and getting caffeinated. “A lot of artists, freelancers, writers, photographers, and creatives,” is how Ivana described the crowd. “It’s very mixed, but I think we all share the same point of view.”

What’s on the speakers? Usually Erykah Badu or Sade, she added.

“We started doing everything in-house — literally bringing stuff from our actual house into the business,” Ivana said. In the same way that much of the decor inside Rhythm Zero comes directly from the owners’ home, the couple’s apartment is scattered with art, objects, and furniture that once resided in their cafés.

In their living room, another piece by Theo Pinto came directly from the West Village location. Below it, a wooden chair by New York-based studio Monolith was recently transferred from the Greenpoint branch. This fluid exchange imbues Alex and Ivana’s apartment with the eclectic energy of a showroom while giving Rhythm Zero the cozy feel of home.

Being former finance professionals, Alex explained, “We like rules in our work ethic, but we don’t like rules in design — or even in fashion. For example, they used to say navy and black couldn’t go together. It’s the same with art. A lot of people don’t want to mix different woods, like oak and walnut; they want to stick with one. Like Ivana says, you just need to relax and play with all the pieces.”

Though Alex credits Ivana for the design direction of Rhythm Zero, he understands fashion as a space where his creativity thrives. Dressed in a double-breasted blazer over an Aime Leon Dore x Yankees sweater, Alex quickly got to work styling a mannequin he keeps nestled in the corner of the room.

His impromptu fall look included a Barbour Jacket, vintage wool trousers, and tasselled Crockett & Jones loafers — true classics. However, when it comes to working behind the counter, Alex shared that he always falls back on his New Balances, as he pulled a clean pair of Action Bronson “Baklava” 990s from his wardrobe.

Right now, Ivana is loving her Bandit x ASICS Novablast 5 runners — a recent collaboration inspired by one of the couple’s favorite artists and designers, Isamu Noguchi. Rhythm Zero shares a unique relationship with the emerging running label, whose first flagship opened just a couple of blocks away from the Greenpoint café.

When Bandit got the opportunity to open a West Village location, it quickly became a joint venture. “One day, Alex and I were staying late, and Tim, one of the founders, came in and opened the door. He said, ‘I found a spot. You have to be a part of it!,’” Ivana shared. “We didn’t even question it. We said yes right away. They’re inspiring to us, how they grow their community and business,” Alex added.

Having immigrated from Serbia, the couple liken their mixed approach to style to New York’s “melting pot” spirit. Indeed, the Big Apple is where people of all different creeds, classes, and cultures meet — a place where experimentation is the name of the game.

Their business shares its name with one of Marina Abramović’s seminal works. The original Rhythm 0 was a six-hour performance staged in 1974. “I was reading her book, Walk Through Walls, which covers several performances, and I just felt such a crazy energy in Rhythm 0”, Ivana explained. Alex noted that while Abramović remains a polarizing figure, her work has been especially embraced in New York.

One day, while Ivana and Alex were away, Abramović showed up unannounced at their West Village location. “I remember we were in DUMBO — our manager called us and said, ‘Marina Abramović is here!’”, Ivana recounted. The two rushed over to the West Village location and sat in conversation with the artist for hours. “It was a really full-circle moment for us.”

Alex and Ivana share a few things in common with the legendary performance artist. Firstly, Abramović is also a Serbian and moved to New York at a similar stage in her life. More importantly, the artist’s boundary-pushing work illustrates exactly what the couple sought to achieve with their business: to integrate art into the rhythm of everyday life.

Ivana sees their business as part of a new wave of coffee culture — one that connects artists and creatives with the local community through coffee. “You can enjoy a curated, gallery-like space while still having your coffee,” Alex added. “You can experience all of that as part of your normal daily routine.”

Perhaps a museum doesn’t need to be a fortress with spotless halls — it can be a communal space where people share drinks and connect. Maybe a design showroom doesn’t have to be an empty furniture display meant to be admired in passing — it can be a space where you linger and get to know the pieces. Finally, coffee chains don’t have to be stripped of local culture and character to feel ‘new’.

It’s the overlapping creativity of the owners, baristas, and local community that makes a café truly special. More than a coffee shop, Rhythm Zero is a living experiment in New York’s melting-pot ethos. As Alex and Ivana described, at the core of Rhythm Zero is the rule-breaking proposal that the worlds of fine art and daily routine can coexist in the same space if you let them.