Cadence reopens tonight in new 7th Street home

Cadence, the vegan soul-food restaurant, reopens tonight in its new larger space on Seventh Street. 

As previously reported, Chef Shenarri Freeman's popular spot moved on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue — from No. 122 to No. 111. 

The new space means Freeman and company can accommodate larger parties and serve about 60 diners at a time (vs. the dozen or so seats at No. 111).

Cadence opened in the spring of 2021 and drew praise from Pete Wells at the Times, who gave the place high marks.

The former Cadence space will be turned into a raw vegan restaurant, said Ravi DeRossi, the owner of the plant-based Overthrow Hospitality. The storefront next door, where Cadence was going to expand, will become a vegan wine and dessert bar.

Proletariat, another Overthrow property, is also on the move ... the craft beer bar left St. Mark's Place for a larger home at 21 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. The opening date is pending.

Proletariat and Cadence on the move to larger East Village spaces

Proletariat closed last night after service at 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The craft beer bar is moving to a larger home at 21 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square — the former Porsena space. (Porsena closed in August 2020 after 10 years in business.) 

Ravi DeRossi, the owner of the plant-based Overthrow Hospitality, recently told us that "the new, bigger snd better version of Proletariat" will feature a full dinner menu, with vegan versions of burgers, bratwurst and fried chicken sandwiches as well as "a much larger list of rare, new and unusual beers curated by Ramon Hung of the original location." 

DeRossi said the new space is ready to go — they're just waiting on the liquor license. 

Meanwhile, Overthrow's Cadence is also on the move...

The vegan soul-food restaurant overseen by Chef Shenarri Freeman at 122 Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue also closed after service last night. 

DeRossi told us via email that Cadence is moving across Seventh Street to the space adjacent to Ladybird (The storefront had been serving as a second outpost for Ladybird and was previously several other concepts for Overthrow.) 

The larger Cadence is expected to debut on May 4, he said. 

And what will become of the now-former Cadence space? DeRossi also planned to annex the adjacent storefront. 

"The Cadence space will be turned into a raw vegan restaurant and the space next door, where we were originally going to expand Cadence, will become a vegan wine and dessert bar," DeRossi said. 

Cadence opened in the spring of 2021 and drew praise from Pete Wells at the Times, who gave the place high marks, noting: "In the increasingly crowded world of vegan and vegetarian restaurants, Cadence occupies a niche of its own."

Ladybird No. 2 debuts on 7th Street; Cadence expansion continues

The second outpost of Ladybird, the vegan tapas and wine bar, is now open at 111 E. Seventh St. 

As we reported early last month, Ravi DeRossi's plant-based Overthrow Hospitality decided to open another Ladybird in the open space in the building instead of launching a new concept. Ladybird II takes over for DeRossi's Saramsam, a Filipino restaurant that debuted last September and quietly closed in May. 

Across the street, DeRossi is also opening another space for Cadence, his hit vegan soul food restaurant that debuted this spring, next door to the current sliver of a location No. 122.

The new Cadence outpost will be open a little later this fall.

Cadence chef Shenarri Freeman has been praised for her creative cooking. In early August, Pete Wells at the Times gave the place high marks, noting: "In the increasingly crowded world of vegan and vegetarian restaurants, Cadence occupies a niche of its own."

"Both [Ladybird and Cadence] are at capacity almost every night of the week. It just made sense to expand them, either that or relocate them to larger venues," DeRossi told us last month. 

Ravi DeRossi is doubling down on Ladybird and Cadence on 7th Street

You're not seeing double at 111 E. Seventh St. — there are now two outposts of Ladybird, the vegan tapas and wine bar, at this address.

And this won't be the only restaurant from Ravi DeRossi’s plant-based Overthrow Hospitality to open a second space on this block between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

DeRossi is also opening another space for Cadence, his hit vegan soul food restaurant that debuted this spring, next door to the current sliver of a location at 122 E. Seventh St. 

He is known for dabbling in various vegan concepts with his chefs. "I really love opening new restaurants and working with young chefs to create these new concepts," he told EVG via email.

However, here, he decided to stick with formulas that are working. 

"Both restaurants are at capacity almost every night of the week. It just made sense to expand them, either that or relocate them to larger venues," DeRossi said. "We have opened three new restaurant concepts [Soda Club, Etérea and Cadence] in the past five months — I didn't have the energy for a fourth right now."

Ladybird II, which DeRossi expects to open (with a new brunch service) in about three weeks, takes over for Saramsam, a Filipino restaurant that debuted last September and quietly closed in May. 

This was the third restaurant that DeRossi tried in the space, following Fire & Water and Night Music. Tony Mongeluzzi, the first chef for Fire & Water, unexpectedly passed away in September 2018. The chef for Night Music left NYC at the start of the pandemic.

"We had a string of bad luck," DeRossi said. "With the success of Ladybird next door, it just made sense to expand. Definitely not the most fun decision but hopefully the smartest decision."

As for Cadence, the new space next door will be ready in about two to three months (they recently applied for a new liquor license). 

Chef Shenarri Freeman has been praised for her creative cooking. This week, Pete Wells at the Times gave the place high marks, noting: "In the increasingly crowded world of vegan and vegetarian restaurants, Cadence occupies a niche of its own."

Openings: Cadence debuts on 7th Street

Cadence, the latest vegan entry in Ravi DeRossi's Overthrow Hospitality group, debuted last night at 122 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. (First mention here.)

As Florence Fabricant reports at the Times, the chef, Shenarri Freeman, "is interpreting the Virginia Southern and soul food of her youth through a contemporary plant-based lens."

And...

Here, a compact dining room with a chef's counter and seating outdoors are the backdrop for Ms. Freeman's smoked grits with torched oyster mushrooms, a black-eyed pea and garlic pancake, maple buttermilk cornbread, stuffed collards with Aleppo rice, roasted purple yams with blackberry coulis and toasted marshmallows, and a seasonal fruit cobbler. Plant-based stand-ins are used in place of real dairy, as in the ice cream for the cobbler and the rosemary butter on the grits.

Cadence is currently open for limited indoor and curbside dining. Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 5-11 p.m., and Sunday from noon-10 p.m. You can find the menu (and make reservations) at this link.

Image via @cadence.newyork

Signage arrives for Cadence, the latest Ravi DeRossi venture on 7th Street

The sign is now up for Cadence at 122 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue ... this latest vegan restaurant venture from the East Village-based Ravi DeRossi will be a take on southern soul food via chef Shenarri Freeman.

And this is one of several new restaurants that DeRossi's revamped Overthrow Hospitality group has planned in the coming months, a list that includes the pasta bar Soda Club on Avenue B and the Mexican-themed Spider in the Garden on Fifth Street.

He also recently expanded Amor y Amargo on Avenue A at Sixth Street, including opening a cocktail-general store in the corner retail space.

As Eater previously reported, each of his new restaurants is being led by "senior employees within the company who agreed to launch their own projects under DeRossi's new hospitality group."

Here's more from Eater:

Moving forward, DeRossi and [director of operations Drew] Brady wanted to shift the company to add more employee-first initiatives — like seeking out in-house talent first to launch new projects — and encourage more community involvement. 

At Overthrow Hospitality, employees will each be allotted 10 paid hours per month to take part in protests or volunteer at various community organizations. For those who participate, the logged hours convert into wellness credits that the employees can put towards things like buying a new bike or getting a gym membership.

The new direction comes as the group is still weathering the pandemic along with the rest of the city. DeRossi was able to negotiate favorable rent deals on the places that are opening, and he says that launching more vegan restaurants led by veteran team members at a time when environmental and economic crises are colliding is the right way to go.

Cadence will be DeRossi's fourth establishment on the block, joining Saramsam, a Filipino restaurant at 111 E. Seventh St. that opened in September, and Ladybird and Avant Garden. 

Desnuda, the 18-seat ceviche bar, was the previous tenant at 122 E. Seventh St, closing in January after 11-plus years. 

Amor Y Amargo photo last month by Vinny & O