GEM
General store · Lower East Side ·
Tasting menu restaurant with Scandinavian vibe and fresh flowers
Tasting menu restaurant with Scandinavian vibe and fresh flowers
"Chef McGarry's unabashedly ambitious techniques with seasonal ingredients result in a remarkably vivid culinary vision." - The MICHELIN Guide
"Note: Gem has closed, but may reopen in the future. In 2018, a 19-year-old Californian opened a tasting menu restaurant called Gem on the Lower East Side. You were locked into one of two nightly seatings for an aggressively vegetable-forward, 12-15-course tasting menu priced at $155. That was cool. It really was. Even back then, the chef, Flynn McGarry, made you feel like you were dining in the future, but also in his living room. He put hyper-seasonal vegetables on display without forsaking meat entirely, all in a flower- and art-bombed space that feels more like a fun hang than a restaurant. But now, in 2021, you can experience all of that without committing to a tasting menu. The a la carte options change almost daily, depending on the farmer’s market, and each and every dish will blow you away. Some standouts from a recent meal included emerald green ramp tortellini in broth, lamb and oyster tartare with fried capers, and an entirely vegetarian schnitzel made with cabbage and maitake mushrooms. While all of that was being consumed, the chef was sitting a table over, having dinner with friends, jumping up every few minutes to take a dessert order or help in the kitchen. We left the restaurant excited for vegetables, meat, and for what the future of dining out could look like." - Arden Shore
"Flynn McGarry’s Lower East Side restaurant Gem reopens on Thursday after the chef took a hiatus over the summer for travel." - Serena Dai
"Chef Flynn McGarry of Gem will provide a new potato salad with squid and lovage, an inventive potato salad that specifically features squid and lovage as key ingredients." - Stefanie Tuder
"Gem is recognized for its standout dishes and has quickly become a favorite among food critics." - Carla Vianna