Manhattan Wine Bar Gem to Close, Move Into Bigger Space

Gem Wine, a popular wine bar from the chef Flynn McGarry, will shutter on September 16 to move into the former Gem Restaurant space that closed last month. It will reopen at its new location at 116 Forsyth Street, at Broome Street, on September 20. The new spot will have double the seating of the 350-square-feet original, tables for reservations, more outdoor space, “a real kitchen,” a bigger menu, and more wines to choose from, says McGarry on Instagram. The original Gem Wine location at 297 Broome Street, near Forsyth Street, will become an events space for private dinners and pop-ups.

Raising Cane’s is expanding to the East Village

Fresh off opening its first New York location in Times Square, Raising Cane’s has another restaurant coming. The Louisiana-based chain is opening at 20 Astor Place and Lafayette Street on September 13, a spokesperson for the company tells Eater. The Noho restaurant measures 4,500 square feet — about half the size of the Times Square flagship — and will serve the company’s usual menu of chicken fingers and Texas toast.

Queens boba shop Sweet Cats coming to Union Square

Sweet Cats Cafe, a dessert shop and arcade with a viral following online, is coming to Manhattan. The business is opening its third location in New York City at 21 East 17th Street, near Broadway, Commercial Observer reports. The cafe’s original location is in Fresh Meadows, Queens; it became popular online after expanding to Flushing in 2021. The newest location, in Union Square, opens this fall.

An Edi & the Wolf owner is now the chef at Hancock St.

Fans of the former Edi & the Wolf, the East Village Austrian restaurant that closed after nearly a decade this year, can take note that former co-owner, Wolfgang Ban, is headed to Hancock St. in Greenwich Village, where he’s the new head chef. Ban’s menu, which rolls out Saturday, will include items like schnitzel, spaetzle, and elderflower salad, the New York Times reports. Ban, along with Eduard Frauneder, were partners of the East Village restaurant, once considered one of the better places to eat in the area prior to its closing in 2019.