The Chef Behind Gem Wine Has Opened a Seriously Chic Café-Slash-Grocer-Slash-Homewares Store in NoLita

As a chef, Flynn McGarry is asked fairly often what the most memorable dish of his childhood was. And, as a chef, his answer surprises people. It’s not an elaborate roast his family did every Sunday, a pasta that he mastered at an improbably early age, or some apple pie made from a secret generational recipe. “It’s, like, the chicken salad from Joan’s on Third,” he says, laughing.

Joan’s on Third is a famed grocery store-slash-café in Los Angeles, where McGarry grew up. He went to those kinds of places a lot: for instance, Sqirl in Silver Lake, where you could get jams, cheeses, and bowls along with a French omelette; and Gjusta in Venice Beach, which has a deli, bakery, café, and market. Then he moved to New York City. Suddenly, he couldn’t find a passable equivalent: a casual place where you could order a salad at a counter to eat there, or grab some prepared foods to take home, or just do some shopping—for artisanal jams, gourmet olive oils, antique flatware or ceramics made by local artists. “It’s not quite a full restaurant, but it’s also not quite a full retail store,” McGarry explains. (He points out Roman and Williams’s RW Guild, where a homewares store operates alongside buzzy restaurant La Mercerie, as the closet example.)

The idea long sat at the back of his mind as he ran the fine-dining restaurant Gem and casual Gem Wine, both of which garnered critical acclaim and a cult following among the downtown Manhattan set. Then, at Gem, he found himself switching out his serviceware and plates to correspond with the seasons, traveling quarterly to source antique items from Connecticut and Hudson Valley and hosting lowkey tag sales when it was time for a refresh. “It really felt like another way to connect with our audience who came to the restaurant and maybe loved a fork—and now they can buy it for their house,” he says. Eventually, his most loyal clientele started asking the same thing: When was he going to turn this into something?

The daily specials at Gem Home.

Photo: Sean Davidson

Well, this Sunday McGarry opens Gem Home, a home goods store on the Lower East Side with a casual café and a groceries section. Walk in, and you’ll see an early 20th-century metal vase from Kyoto and sterling spoons found in Denmark, alongside raspberry jams from the Berkshires and Marmite butters. There’s also glassware from David Mellor and linens from Autumn Sonata, as well as custom hand soap by Ffern, bottled in ceramics by artist Shane Gabier. Peruse it all before walking up to the counter to order a black cardamom brown butter roll (or whatever is on the specials chalkboard that morning).

There’s not much rhyme or reason to Gem Home’s menu, McGarry admits. It will be hyper seasonal, with McGarry himself sourcing ingredients from local farms or picking up produce from the Union Square farmer’s market. Most of the dishes will be vegetarian, as he only buys meat from two specific farms. The common culinary thread, however? “It really is, like, what do I want to eat today?” he says. If it’s cold, maybe that’s chicken soup. If it’s warm, maybe it’s a salad with a homemade vinaigrette. If it’s somewhere in between? A confit lamb sando could hit the spot.

Homewares (including custom hand soap by Ffern in bottles by artist Shane Gabier) and artisanal goods line the shelves at Gem Home.

Photo: Sean Davidson

If you choose to eat in the space, there’s a quaint dining area in the back. Its vibe is like if Donald Judd designed furniture for a 1970s Laurel Canyon bungalow: with its long, simple wooden tables (which McGarry built himself), Louis Poulsen lamps, and red rugs that act as wall art, it is both minimal and welcoming. “I think there’s such great warmth that came from the mid-century,” McGarry says. Meanwhile, he admired the “utilitarian” furniture designs of the modern art master.

McGarry—who build the tables and shelves for Gem Home himself—was inspired by the utilitarian furniture of Donald Judd.

Photo: Sean Davidson

Yet McGarry admits that you may not want to get too attached to anything at Gem Home. His menu, goods, and even interior accents will change with the season: “What you buy around Christmas is going to look very different from what you’re going to buy in June,” he says. “I’ll always be thinking: How do I want this to look right now?”