Cadence, the East Village Vegan Restaurant, Is Closing | Eater NY

"An East Village creative soul-food spot known for its Southern vegan twists announced via Instagram this week that it is closing, saying the decision was made related to a "significant rent increase." The lease isn't up for a couple of months, so the restaurant will remain open until the end of the summer. The Instagram post stated: “...was built to honor the richness of Black culinary tradition and the beauty of plant-based Southern cooking. What we created here, with our community, has meant more than words can capture.” First opened in 2021 as part of Overthrow Hospitality under chef Shenarri Freeman, the restaurant highlighted the intersection of Black foodways and plant-based cooking, earned a positive New York Times review that year and even announced plans to take over the neighboring storefront to meet demand. Freeman received two James Beard nominations for the restaurant, and in 2021 Eater New York awarded it the best solo dining experience of the year for its bar seating with dishes like its deep-fried lasagna. The operation has since been overseen by chef Haley Duren, who will continue to host events in the East Village space through the lease's duration and—according to the post—already has a new restaurant gig. Freeman later opened Ubuntu, a West African restaurant in Los Angeles that has been listed as temporarily closed for renovations since the summer of 2024. The restaurant was part of founder Ravi DeRossi's Overthrow umbrella, and its closing follows a pattern of quick-turn concepts and storefront flips (Amor y Amargo, Soda Club, Al-Andalus) that have marked his recent projects; the space itself had previously replaced a short-lived Indian spot called Night Music, which debuted in 2019. The announcement comes amid a broader slowdown in the pandemic-era wave of vegan and meatless offshoots—Eater observed in 2023 that “when it comes to vegan dining, New Yorkers’ appetites have changed,”—and follows recent closures or moves of other plant-based or related concepts like Modern Love and Fat Choy." - Emma Orlow