Wunderkind Flynn McGarry didn’t set out to bake his own bread. He stumbled upon a $25,000 oven listed for a mere $5,000 on Facebook Marketplace and had to have it. “We needed to upgrade our entire electrical system just to accommodate the thing," McGarry says dryly. Now, bread has commandeered his grocery and café operation, though he admits “we’re not aiming for bakery dominance.”
Gem Home opened in 2024, building upon McGarry’s acclaimed restaurant of the same name, which he launched at just 19 years old. Growing up in Los Angeles, the young chef developed an early taste for sourdough bread through regular visits to Nancy Silverton’s iconic La Brea Bakery. But it wasn’t until he spent time in Copenhagen that he developed an admiration for Europe’s bakeries—and a disdain for performative food trends. “People keep calling this a Copenhagen-café, but sourdough isn’t Danish. Croissants aren’t Danish,” he says with a slight smile. “The Danish-ness is about quality and care.”
Sourdough bread, nevertheless, remains central. The bakery program at Gem Home is a collaboration between McGarry and Mo Scariano, known for his focaccia pop-up Primo NYC. “Mo loves making Italian breads, so the focaccia and other Italian items are his style.”
The resulting menu leans Italian with clear Danish touches, such as the subtly spiced black cardamom bun, which McGarry concedes are "probably Swedish, to be honest.” Another standout is the sourdough plate served with aged cheese, blackcurrant jam, and whipped butter, a direct nod to a Nordic breakfast staple. Gem also offers a tonic made from sea buckthorn, a bright orange berry common across Scandinavia but unfamiliar to most New Yorkers.
BEYOND A BAKERY
McGarry sees his space at Gem Home as existing beyond labels—café, bakery, or grocery store. If anything, it’s an attempt at authentic hospitality in a city where that’s often overlooked. “The first time I went to Noma, a chef stood on a guest’s chair in the dining room to close a curtain. In New York, that gets you fired. I want that casualness. Something warm.”
Gem is deliberately counter to New York’s culinary mainstream, which McGarry critiques openly: “New York is so fixated on what’s trending. Everyone opens the same thing at the same time, and if you’re not doing that, you get looked down on.” He believes the shift toward bakery culture reflects broader changes in kitchen life. “Being a baker is one of the more balanced jobs in the kitchen,” he notes. “You can’t speed up or slow down sourdough; it takes 24 hours. There’s something really appealing about that.”
“You can’t speed up or slow down sourdough; it takes 24 hours. There’s something really appealing about that.”
BATTLE OF THE BOROUGHS
McGarry observes that Brooklyn’s growing bakery culture contrasts sharply with Manhattan's culinary impatience, “Community is a big part of it. People in Brooklyn are more likely to wait in line, make a day out of visiting a bakery. In Manhattan, there’s less of that desire to really settle into a place and enjoy it.” Gem Home attempts to foster precisely this communal leisure, balancing sit-down café service with quality takeaway options and a steady retail presence.
"What’s missing in Manhattan is a sustainable bakery culture," he says decisively. "In Copenhagen, people treat bakeries like a part of their regular routine. You go three times a week, get a bun, and pick up a loaf to take home. In New York, there are only a few bakeries where people treat it that way.”
Fret not, McGarry advises. There’s a change on the horizon. "People are starting to see how fascinating it is to perfect things like pastries and bread, rather than focusing only on high-end fine dining," he observes. “I hope we see more of that.”
Flynn McGarry is waging a quiet rebellion against New York’s ceaseless chase for culinary novelty. Gem Home is his Zen battlefield. He may have introduced house-made sourdough to the Mott Street store on a whim, but now the loaves are a testament to his enduring philosophy: some things just can’t be rushed.
If McGarry has his way, New Yorkers will take a bite and then take heed.
GEM HOME
181 Mott St
New York, NY 10012