First-time operators Daniel and Cheyenne are preparing to bring cafe-bar concept Cahoots to 422 East Ninth Street in East Village, according to recent community board filings. They plan to open Cahoots in the roughly 1,000-square-foot space in early 2026, Daniel told What Now New York.
Daniel and Cheyenne met while working at James Beard-recognized fine-dining restaurant Black Trumpet in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After his time there, Daniel moved to New York and has been working in tech, but he felt called to return to the world of community-driven hospitality.
“I do think that there’s a fair bit of loneliness that happens, maybe just in this day and age, but certainly in New York,” Daniel said. “So the idea of creating a space where people can connect [is important to me].”
Cahoots will act as a cafe by day and transform into a cocktail bar in the evening. Expect to see a rustic-chic motif in the design, with elements like the exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, a backlit wine rack and a handmade copper bar top. Eventually, they hope to open the 550-square-foot backyard for use by customers, as well, though they will have to go through the necessary permitting process.
For the menu, Daniel and Cheyenne are emphasizing quality over quantity. In terms of food, expect to see pastries, charcuterie, sandwiches and cafe favorites like avocado toast. The team is partnering with Brooklyn-based coffee brand Devoción for the cafe’s coffee program. The bar program will likely feature six house-made cocktails, four beers and four wines.
Daniel wants to see Cahoots become a space of connection in the community, drawing inspiration from other East Village spots like Book Club Bar. Daniel and the team hope to do trivia nights and other events at Cahoots, and they are looking to connect with local community organizations to partner with for events. The team also plans to have board games and chess boards available for people to use on site.
“We want to keep it very third-place oriented. I feel like those things are so rare in New York,” Daniel said. “I feel like they’re a nice way to organically build community in an area. Having a place we could hang out, particularly in Manhattan, is so rare, especially for not too much money. So the idea that we could have a place where people could get a coffee and sit with a laptop or a book or a friend or whatever for a couple of hours at a time was really appealing to us. We wanted to sort of build that out.”
