A pair of sisters raised on the Upper East Side are opening a small gourmet grocer and café in Carnegie Hill called EmmaBelle's, built around clean eating and what they describe as pure ingredients. The shop comes from Emma Grace and Lyla Belle, who grew up in the neighborhood and say their family's own health scare shaped the concept from the start.
According to Upper East Site, the two born-and-raised Upper East Side sisters own the shop, which the outlet describes as a small gourmet grocer emphasizing healthy eating and pure ingredients. On their own site, the sisters introduce themselves plainly: “We're two NYC-born and raised sisters: Emma Grace and Lyla Belle,” according to emmabelles.nyc.
The sisters say the idea traces back to their mother's health struggles. They write that they “have been inspired by our mother's fight with autoimmune disease and the subsequent remission she was able to achieve through clean eating,” per the shop's website. That personal history is woven throughout EmmaBelle's branding as a shoppe meant to help customers eat, heal and thrive.
What's Actually Going to Be on the Shelves
EmmaBelle's describes itself as offering “a mix of thoughtfully curated vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free options,” according to the site. Reporting from Whatnow adds that the shop plans to carry “a curated mix of produce from New York-area farms, along with vegan, gluten-free and refined-sugar-free products.”
The café side of the business is expected to lean into the same clean-eating ethos. Whatnow reports the café will offer “fresh nut and oat milk, local A2 dairy and a rotating menu of functional smoothies.” The outlet's report notes that EmmaBelle's plans to offer a café alongside its grocery shelves, rounding out the shop into a combined grab-and-go and sit-down concept.
A Private Chef and Freezer-Ready Meals
Beyond packaged goods, the sisters say they intend to work with a private chef to build out a line of prepared meals. Per the same account, they plan to collaborate with a private chef to create a line of prepared meals made with organic and grass-fed ingredients. On their own site, EmmaBelle's puts it more casually, inviting customers to stock their freezer with the week's private chef-made balanced meals.
As for timing, the record is mixed. Whatnow's report states that EmmaBelle's was targeting an end-of-September opening, though the evidence does not specify which year that target applied to. Upper East Site, meanwhile, has details about what to expect and when the store plans to open, reporting in a search-result description that the shop will soon open in Carnegie Hill. Neither account confirms whether the shop has actually opened its doors or what its current status is.
What is clear is the pitch: a neighborhood shop built by two sisters who grew up in the area, aiming to bring a health-first grocer and café to Carnegie Hill with a menu shaped by their own family's experience with illness and recovery.
