Openings: Lil' Frankies Grocery debuts on 1st Avenue

Lil' Frankies Grocery is now open at 21 First Ave. between First Street and Second Street.

This is East Village restaurateur Frank Prisinzano's personally curated grocery store, steps away from his Lil' Frankie's restaurant. 

We first reported on this back in March 2021. Here's an excerpt from that post, based on a series of Instagram Stories by Prisinzano:

"I've always wanted to have a grocery store. I've always wanted to curate all my own products," said Prisinzano, who also owns and operates EV mainstays Frank on Second Avenue and Supper on Second Street. "It will be a curated list of products that I use and recommend. Nothing will be on the shelves that I don't personally love." 

He plans on having a deli case inside the new shop to sell sandwiches ... with a vertical slicer for prosciutto. He's also thinking about offering homemade gelato and sorbet — similar to what his restaurants have on the dessert menus. 

"I'm going to keep it real simple, real Italian and real fresh," he said.

Check out the grocery's Instagram account to look at the shop's sandwiches (breakfast sandwiches and tartines, too), sauces, meats and cheeses ... and coffee and espresso.

Lil' Frankie's is currently open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Like his other establishments, it's cash only. (There's also a QR code scan/Apple Pay option.)

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

Four Four South Village is now open on 7th Street

Four Four South Village is now open (as of last Thursday) at 11 E. Seventh St. just east of Cooper Square...

... this is the first NYC outpost for the chain that specializes in Taiwanese beef noodles. (Find their menu here.) 

They are open for dining indoors and out...

The previous tenant, Le Sia, which served a Chinese crawfish boil, was not able to survive the downturn during the pandemic. Le Sia debuted in January 2018. 

Thanks to Steven for the photos!