I recently realized there have been a bunch of cute restaurant and clothing brand collaborations, so I decided to round 'em up. And in our news roundup, we’ve got the opening date for the returning Mary’s Fish Camp and more. — Nadia Chaudhury, deputy editor, Eater Northeast
Restaurant merch is a coveted asset — sometimes signifying IYKYK vibes (Wo Hop’s coveted Lunar New Year shirts): other times, the basic but well-loved tastes (Katz’s Deli hats). It’s a different, fun revenue stream for the businesses, typically created and sold by the restaurants themselves.
At the same time, larger clothing retailers and fashion brands have been teaming up with restaurants to up their clout — it’s not a new thing, and even Dunkin’ is getting in on it. This summer, three big brands are collaborating with New York City-based restaurants on well-designed merch. (I am sure the big brands paid these food businesses handsomely for their partnerships, right?)
The 1990s-popular clothing brand is back to being cool again, tagging big-name celebs and designers like Victoria Beckham and Sandy Liang for collaborations. And the company’s latest match-up is with beloved NYC taqueria chain Los Tacos No. 1.
Los Tacos co-founders Christian Pineda, Tyler Sanders, and Kyle Cameron started their business as a food stand inside Chelsea Market, slinging simple Tijuana-style tacos with fantastic flour and corn tortillas. Since then, it’s grown with nine other locations around Manhattan, with its most recent opening in Flatiron this past spring.
For the apparel, Gap brought in artist Steve Powers, one of the people behind the taqueria’s fun imagery. The line includes a version of Gap’s iconic logo hoodie but about guacamole ($118); T-shirts ($54) with a park bench and a taco cart or a molcajete; white tote bags ($28) that mimic plastic takeout bags; white denim shorts with subtle red icons like a bottle of hot sauce ($88); and even an apron ($58).
The collaboration is available for sale on Gap’s website and several stores across the city. (You can also buy Los Tacos’s OG shirts through their website.)
Tokyo-based doughnut shop I’m donut? Opened its very first American location in Times Square last year. The doughnuts are soft and fluffy thanks to pumpkin used in the brioche dough.
It makes sense that Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo tagged the bakery chain for its Graphic-T Universe line, showcasing various pop culture worlds. The I’m donut? T-shirts ($29.90), designed with New York graphic designer Kei Saito, feature one with a display of its doughnuts against a pink background (in a sort of beautiful-ugly way), alongside the bakery’s plushie-esque characters like a bunny-snail with a doughnut for its shell and an anthropomorphic savory doughnut sandwich.
“As two born-in-Japan brands rooted in craftsmanship and innovation, this collection is a natural fit,” Miyu Egami, the executive PR manager of I’m donut? emails to me. “We want to build an immersive lifestyle ecosystem for our community.”
The collaboration is available now through Saturday, September 26, for in-person sales at Uniqlo’s Soho and Midtown stores.
New York City matcha chain Matchaful teamed up with chic lingerie brand Fleur du Mal for a very-banana special. Because the retailer brought back its popular banana embroidery set (bananas ARE everywhere, after all), Matchaful is making a special banana soft serve. The Bananas for You ($9.75 for cups, $16.50 for pints) is made with banana, cashews, oats, extra virgin olive oil, Himalayan salt, and coconut sugar. At the same time, Fleur du Mal is selling a white baby tee ($98) in honor of the soft serve, featuring a sexy banana in fishnet thigh-highs and heels while holding a tropical drink.
“We wanted to capture that same sense of nostalgia and joy in a soft serve that feels fresh, unexpected, and made with the thoughtfully sourced ingredients we’re known for,” Hannah Habes, the founder of Matchaful, writes to me about creating the flavor.
The soft serve is available at six of the Matchaful locations (Brookfield Place and Clinton Hill don’t have soft serve machines) until Saturday, August 15. The shirt is available on Fleur’s website and Matchaful’s Soho location.
West Village seafood staple Mary’s Fish Camp is returning to the neighborhood at a new address this week, at 626 Hudson Street, at Jane Street, starting on Friday, July 31 — Sarah Jessica Parker is quite happy. Mary Redding closed the original Mary’s location at 64 Charles Street in 2024 after 20 years. The new restaurant — with reservations on Resy —will start with dinner service and add lunch later.
That was fast: chef and artist Julia Sherman has already left the New Museum’s new restaurant Oberon, which opened earlier this month. Sherman was pegged as the co-executive chef of the Lower East Side art museum’s first full-service restaurant, along with Ali Ghriskey (who remains there). She’s turning her focus to working on powdered salad dressing mixes and a new cookbook. Oberon is run by the Oberon Group, which is behind NYC wine bars like Rhodora, June, and Rucola.
A nearly 90-year-old Queens Italian pastry shop has closed. La Guli in Astoria closed on Sunday, July 26, as reported by the New York Post. While the website lists that the store is temporarily closed, the newspaper reports that the storefront has been emptied.
James Caputo — who was the owner of the 120-year-old Caputo Bakery, which shuttered in Carroll Gardens earlier this spring — is opening a bagel shop this fall. He’s teaming up with Rafael “Rafi” Hasid, the chef and owner of NYC Mediterranean mini-chain Miriam and Tribeca Cajun restaurant 1803 NYC, to open Caputo Bagels in Park Slope at 81 Fifth Avenue, near Prospect Place, in September. The menu focuses on sourdough bagels, used for open-face and breakfast sandwiches, as well as pastries familiar to Caputo regulars.
Flatiron Korean fried chicken restaurant Coqodaq is featuring a new Korean gochujang sauce on some of its dishes this summer. Jangin is co-founded by chef Mingoo Kang of Korean restaurant Mingles and cookbook author Nadia Cho. At the restaurant, the fried chicken bucket comes with a side of the sauce. The takeout Jangin dakgalbi bowl comes with charcoal-grilled chicken thighs glazed with the sauce, plus steamed rice and pickles. Both are available starting on Friday, July 31, and run through Sunday, August 16.
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