ontheinside.info

Brandy Library

Jimmy Wales — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:04:38 +0000

It’s a library environment. I don’t know anything about brandy at all, but one woman’s husband was really into it, so she was having me try different things. It was just tasting—I didn’t drink much. Normally on the weekends, the maximum party size is 8. So civilized!Photos by freakgirl via Flickr

Paul Smith

Giorgio Deluca — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:30:59 +0000

I like the aesthetic because it’s modern and quirky and always stylish. It’s whimsical and it’s personal and it’s fresh and surprising and they have several different styles in the one space. It’s an enormous space. I think it’s about 3,000 square feet. Maybe more like 2,500 sq. ft. He has his traditional striped colors with wooden floors and stone floors, he’s got a range of color. You always find something. It’s such a great place to shop.
Photos by:
Life Sciences via Flickr
kidsire via Flickr

Beard Papa Sweets Cafe

Giorgio Deluca — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:51:19 +0000

I love Beard Papa’s for cream puffs. It’s a Japanese chain. The banana flavored cream puffs are oh-my-god. When you order, they marry the cream and the custard into the pastry right there. So it’s very, very fresh. You have to stop by. You’ll thank me.
Photos by Transparent Reality via Flickr

McSorley’s Old Ale House

Giorgio Deluca — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:01:16 +0000

If you want an old New York ale house, it’s McSorley’s. It’s early, early New York, very old. It has a wooden floor—they may even have some sawdust on the floor. It hasn’t been fancied up; it’s a real drinking-man’s pub. I go every few months and drop in for a pint. The ale is so fresh, it’s really quite delicious.
Photos by Laughing Squid / Scott Beale, laughingsquid.com

The Morgan Library

Giorgio Deluca — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:09:15 +0000

People must go see the new addition to the Morgan Library by Renzo Piano. The architectural design marrying the old with the new is stunning. I discovered that when it opened to the public a year and half ago.
Photos courtesy of The Morgan Library and Museum

Chocolate Bar

Janeane Garofalo — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:00:57 +0000

I love Chocolate Bar. It’s a really cool looking place, and all they have is chocolate. And I’m addicted to it. I go there every day for a soy white chocolate, and I buy candy bars for my friend Pete there all the time. I have a sweet tooth that you can’t believe now, which I never had until I turned 43. It’s because estrogen is leaving. It’s true- now I crave chocolate, and I never cared about chocolate before. It’s white chocolate that’s my favorite, cause it’s sweeter.

Daredevil Tattoo

Janeane Garofalo — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:00:36 +0000

Daredevil Tattoo! It’s on Ludlow near Stanton, right next to Max Fish, which is a bar. There’s a tattoo artist, if she’s still there, who does most of the work on me, her name is Friday Jones, and she’s a character. She’s really New York, even though she’s from Georgia or something. I have 15 tattoos altogether, and most of them are from Daredevil.

Black Rabbit

Janeane Garofalo — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:00:07 +0000

There’s a great bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that I go to sometimes cause my friends own it, and it’s called Black Rabbit. It’s on Greenpoint Avenue and it’s fantastic, with a backyard- I love bars with backyards. It’s beautiful, it’s got a beautiful door- they really took the time to make it look like an Irish pub. It’s laid-back Greenpoint, and the owners are very nice. Kent Lanier and his wife Anne own it and bartend there, and he is the nicest guy.

Washington Square Park

Janeane Garofalo — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:00:13 +0000

I’m always in Washington Square Park- I spend an enormous amount of time there- though now it’s being renovated and there’s fences around, but I always go sit in Washington Square Park, when there’s not fences. I mean, I’ve been living here for 12 years- Washington Square Park is big for me. I just love to sit on a bench and read. Because I don’t have a lot of hobbies and stuff, what I enjoy is walking- which has been horrible with my herniated disc- and reading. And I don’t mean to sound like a dick -”I don’t watch television, I read!”- I watch plenty of television- but I enjoy walking my dogs, reading, wandering around.

El Gran Castillo de Jagua

William C. Thompson — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:06:36 +0000

This is my favorite takeout place in my neighborhood. They’ve got the best roast pork in town!

The Four Seasons Restaurant

William C. Thompson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:00:34 +0000

I will see everyone I’ve ever known at lunch!

Bar at the River Café

William C. Thompson — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:00:50 +0000

It’s Brooklyn!!! And of course it’s got one of the most spectacular views of the city.

Fresco by Scotto

William C. Thompson — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:30:17 +0000

I’ve known the owner, Marion Scotto, and her family for years, and the restaurant is always a festive environment. I especially like the potato and zucchini chip with gorgonzola cheese appetizer.

Coney Island

Alexis Bittar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:00:22 +0000

Coney Island is amazing. It’s gonna be torn down so everybody needs to jump on that fast. It’s kind of decrepit, kind of old school New York. I like the more authentic New York. You’ve got the rap music and you’re on the rides and you can walk over to Brighton Beach and see the Russians.

Staten Island Ferry

Alexis Bittar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:47:30 +0000

I think the ferry is the best if you want to get away and take a break. I used to use it as a good date pull—take the boys on the ferry, it’s perfect. I think it’s free now, and you get a little bit of a view getting out of the city and you’re on the water. It reminds me of this movie Death in Venice, which is great. And then on the return, when you go into the city, you feel like you’re entering into Star Trek.

Abracadabra

Alexis Bittar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:00:17 +0000

I love dressing up in animal costumes. I do it maybe once a year. You rent the costumes at Abracadabra. Last time, I met my boyfriend at 59th Street, and I got a costume for him and we walked down 5th Avenue and you just see the city through such a crazy different perspective.

Grand Sichuan

Alexis Bittar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:00:38 +0000

One of my favorite restaurants is Grand Sichuan, on 24th and 9th. They have the best Chinese food. I wasn’t a big Chinese food fan until I went to China, and then I tasted really good Chinese food. And this place is so delicious, I’ll be wherever, somewhere overseas, and think, ‘I can’t wait to go back to Grand Sichuan!’ I go there religiously.

Penine Hart Antiques and Art

Linda Rodin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:43:48 +0000

One of my favorite antique stores is called Penine Hart. I’m almost leery to talk about it because it’s the best kept secret in New York! She has the best things, the best taste. One of the reasons I go there is because my sister is a photographer and she makes the most beautiful still life photographs and sells them at Penine’s. They’re extraordinary, my sister’s pictures, and they fit so well into the shop. It’s just like an old fashioned antique shop that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s amazing. Chairs, lamps, dishes, glasses, paintings, photographs…the best. Really well selected, it’s just my taste. It’s fantastic.

A Détacher

Linda Rodin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:09:59 +0000

One of the places I love is the boutique A Détacher. It’s in Nolita at 262 Mott Street. The owner is fantastic, her name is Mona Kowalska and she designs a line of clothes that is only sold in her boutique. She doesn’t wholesale anywhere. I actually bought the most beautiful pair of shoes from her the other day, they’re just fabulous. She designed them, and they’re just cool beyond belief. I should have worn them today! And she has one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. It’s just very avant-garde. It feels very European, and it has a very European clientele. I mean, people in Paris probably know more about it than people in New York! And I’m selling my oil there, so that’s exciting. She loved it, and I love her store.

Olatz

Linda Rodin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:00:10 +0000

I love Olatz! It’s an all-time favorite of mine. It is really a fabulous store that is owned by artist Julian Schnabel’s wife’s Olatz. She has such beautiful taste. Even the boutique itself- she created an elegant, palazzo-like space. She sells specialty sheets, towels, tablecloths, baby clothes, and pajamas made of the finest linens. Her lines truly evoke old-world sensibility. The sheets are pretty unaffordable though, but that’s not the point. It’s just so old fashioned and I imagine that going to Olatz’s store is like going somewhere in Spain.

West Chelsea Veterinary Hospital

Linda Rodin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:49 +0000

My vet is the best in NYC. The West Chelsea Veterinary Hospital is invaluable. Doctor Farber and Doctor Mlekoday have saved my dog’s life many times, because he’s a monster. I have a basset hound, he’s twice as big as I am, the love of my life from Paris. Laeticia Casta is my best friend and when I went to Paris seven years ago for Christmas, she said, ‘Merry Christmas!’, and she had these long ears hanging out of her coat. I said, ‘What have you done?’ I almost threw up, I didn’t want a dog. Now he’s the love of my life, but he’s a monster. He gets himself beyond trouble, he will eat anything. He ate a rat, he ate a corn cob. He’s had two surgeries, they had to cut his stomach open. I’ll bring cheese home from the store and it’s in the brown paper bag, he eats the entire thing, the brown bag, the wrapper that the cheese is in, everything. He’s insane. Yesterday, a friend came over and she put her bag down, and the next thing you know, he had eaten an apple out of the bag, and a banana with the peel. He will eat anything, but thanks to West Chelsea Vet, he’s alive. They also diagnosed him with Addison’s disease. He would have died if we hadn’t figured that out. You need a good vet in New York, because this town is all about dogs and everyone loves their dog. Because we don’t have kids, we have dogs.

New York Dog Spa and Hotel

Linda Rodin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:00:49 +0000

The New York Dog Spa and Hotel is where I take my dog when I go away, cause I travel so much. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’m not a dog. You go there and there’s a huge pen for all the dogs and they just play, they love each other, all the dogs. They’re very attentive, the people that own it. They know the dogs and they’re loyal to the dogs. A friend of mine who has an antique store next door watches when they take [my dog] Billy out. She spies on them to make sure that they’re taking good care of him. And he loves it there. He just loves it there. I’m just grateful that he’s in good hands, cause the one time I took him to another place he almost died. The New York Dog Spa and Hotel is fantastic. He comes back healthy and happy.

Albright Fashion Library

Linda Rodin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:00:11 +0000

I love Albright because I am a stylist. Actually, I come here as much for the clothes as I do for the people. Sometimes I just sit here five hours at a time. I’ll just sit here and smooch. It’s heaven for a stylist because it has all the up-to-date clothing that you could never afford to buy in a department store or anywhere. And you don’t have to worry about going into department store, lying, saying it’s for your aunt and returning and skimming. You can rent whatever you want. It’s everything you could ever imagined—there’s classics so you can go back to a blouse you used five years ago, and it still works for a shoot today. And everybody is charming, lovely and very knowledgeable about fashion, and they just make you feel like you’re not gonna have a nervous breakdown about your job. They make it so easy, and it’s the best place. The stylists in New York could not exist without it. Nobody could, it’s an amazing place. If you’re a stylist or if you have to dress people for an event, this place is heaven. And everybody is so nice. I mean, I come here when I’m working just to sit and talk to Patty and Larissa and Irene. I’ve sent a lot of people from Victoria’s Secret, a lot of high up executives who go to all these events. You know, they certainly can afford a dress that’s $5,000 but why buy it? Because in that world, you can only wear something once, it’s insane. And a lot of the models too—they go to so many events. They can borrow from designers, but here you can see every designer in an hour as opposed to going to 7th Avenue to every showroom, so this is the best place. It’s a God-send, it really is. I love it.
Shoes, handbags… and I don’t go out but I did have a lunch with someone at Vogue in the summer and I ran here to borrow a dress. I had to go to a big party in St. Barth’s, I got a dress.

The Little Owl

Linda Rodin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:00:41 +0000

A new restaurant that I love is called The Little Owl, in the West Village. It’s very tiny, it’s like going into your own apartment or a private party because it has so few tables and everything is made fresh for you. When you go in, it’s lovely. It’s just charming and intimate. At The Little Owl, it’s like being in someone’s apartment and they’re just making you dinner, it’s got that feeling to it. The food is an interesting combination, it’s not like surf and turf, but it’s good and it’s fresh.

Despaña

Linda Rodin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:00:08 +0000

Spain is not my country, but Despaña is a Spanish delicatessen and it’s one of my favorite stores. They have fantastic cheese there, they have wonderful olive oil, they have wonderful sandwiches, they have flan that’s perfect, they sell wonderful chocolate. Everything in there I would eat and recommend. I take it home usually. I like to eat at home, so I usually buy it and make a little picnic for myself.

Takashimaya

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:00:13 +0000

Takashimaya is my ultimate favorite. If you want to go for lunch and just have some tea, no one can reach you because it’s underneath the ground—no phone service, no blackberry—you can kind of hide out there. You could even have an affair, though you didn’t hear that from me. And just experience great teas, freshly brewed teas and great Japanese bento boxes, so it’s awesome. I also get my flowers for my home there as well, they do amazing arrangements. Great place for gifts—if you want to find a gift for under $100, they are great little thank you gifts and appreciation things. Great place to go.

Mandarin Oriental New York

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:00:56 +0000

This is the perfect place if you are looking for a great view of Central Park, and want to feel like you are on top of the world. I do retreats there. I also go if I just want a weekend getaway with my husband, or if I need to unwind without the kids. They have a great spa, and the rooms are wonderful. It’s a really great place to detox. And for $540, it’s worth it. The concierge are very accommodating too.

Rita Hazan Salon

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:00:38 +0000

She’s my colorist and she’s fantastic. When I wanted to change my hair color, as I was doing a lot of blonde highlights last season and wanted to go warmer, more Veronica Lake sexy for the fall, Rita gave me a beautiful chocolate sultry color that really complimented my skin tone. It wasn’t too monochromatic but had a little contrast, keeping a bright luster. It was also easier to keep, more so than highlights.

Tamarind

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:42:23 +0000

I’m obsessed with Indian food. Tamarind is my favorite Indian restaurant. It’s not like typical Indian—they have this amazing salad that has grapes and carrots, and the dressing is just sensational, it’s called the Tamarind House salad, it’s genius. It’s simple but just unreal. It’s perfect if you want to impress someone coming into town and you want really good Indian Food. Very impressive.

Allan & Suzi

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:53:43 +0000

Allan and Suzi are a couple, they have a great consignment and vintage shop. More consignment pieces, if you want to find last season Gaultier. She does little private designers, like unknown designers, which is really cool. I found this really amazing gown for a friend’s 30-something birthday party at Cipriani’s one year. And he actually gave me the best dress girl, he threw $500 at me in cash and I found my dress. You would think it was a John Galliano gown but it wasn’t, it was this unknown designer. Allan and Suzy are just great because they’re there and they help you go through the store. It’s just great fun, like mom and pop shop vintage consignment shop.

Selima Optique

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:47:09 +0000

I have somewhat been defined by my eye-wear and I’m obsessed with eye-wear. Selima Optique is my all-time favorite place to shop for vintage eye wear. She’s down in Soho and is always at the shop, making it very personable when you go in to shop. She really helps you find a frame that fits your face, your personality, and your character. I go there for my celebrity clients as well as for myself.

Calypso Christiane Celle

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:21:25 +0000

I like to travel. I’m a girl who would hop on a plane and go to Miami or Puerto Rico for the weekend. All year round at Calypso, you’ll find your tunics or very easy lifestyle pieces to take with you on weekend trips, or to wear during summer seasons. I love that she always has color and expression on her pieces. She also has the greatest kid stuff.

Cornelia Day Spa

June Ambrose — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:00:40 +0000

Cornelia Day Spa is my favorite. I do monthly retreats or especially after a job that’s been exhausting, I do Cornelia Day Spa for just a day and I can have lunch there as well and she has amazing body wraps and a masseuse that would just crack your back open. Michael just left so I have to find someone new. They have this great oxygen mask, it’s wonderful with vitamin C and it’s a freeze mask, freezes the face, it’s like a Botox without the shots.

Ñ

Alexander Wang — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:00:59 +0000

This is a great place for after work drinks. It’s very intimate and has great tapas.

Great NY Noodletown

Alexander Wang — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:00:59 +0000

Noodletown is my favorite place to go at 3am after a night of going out. They are fast and the food is very authentic.

Nha Trang

Alexander Wang — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:00:05 +0000

The best Vietnamese place in the city! The great thing about Nha Trang is that you can go by yourself for lunch or with the whole gang for dinner. Everything there is tasty. Quick, easy and delicious!

Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches

Alexander Wang — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:30:39 +0000

I go there at least three times a week, ’cause it’s so close to my apartment and the food is amazing.

Westville East

Alexander Wang — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:00:28 +0000

This is comfort food at its best. The chicken fingers, hot dogs and greens there are my favorites. I used to go to the one in the west village, and then they opened one on the east side.

Number Nine

Alexander Wang — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:00:03 +0000

The best men’s clothes in NYC, but from Tokyo. I’m pretty basic with my own wardrobe, but I’m always looking for the best basics. That’s all that men really need, and Number Nine has some of the best. I love that it’s never crowded.

Via Quadronno

Andrew Lauren — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:12:58 +0000

I live uptown and one spot I often go to is Via Quadronno. I generally prefer the classic places. Via Quadronno has been around for many years and it never fails to deliver. When a place opens out, I usually stay away. I usually will go when it is a little bit less cool. I don’t know what it is. I just don’t need to be in the thick of everybody thinking, ‘Oh this is the cool place’. I am more into mainstays than the new places that are there for a year and then it’s gone.

Gotham Bar and Grill

Geraldine Cardiel — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:10:09 +0000

My favorite restaurant is Gotham Bar and Grill because every time I go there I feel it’s like a Woody Allen movie set: all the waitresses are from different parts of the world. And every time comes a different one: a French one, an Indian one, and then an American one. So it’s very eclectic, I have fun just enjoying that environment. I go with my husband for dinner, and when my mother came or my mother-in-law was visiting we took them there. The food is really amazing but it’s for the atmosphere that I like to go.

Whitney Museum

Geraldine Cardiel — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:00:49 +0000

My favorite inspiration spot is the Whitney museum because I love crazy and irreverent art—things that are not classic. I love conceptual art. It just turns me on and get me inspired. There was recently a collection of Kiki Smith at the Whitney, which was great. I also saw Kara Walker’s show that just finished recently, I love her. Every time that I get lost or afraid of what I’m doing in terms of my work, i just go there and I say to myself “No, you can go farther and farther”.

Hot Dog Stands

Scout Niblett — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:02 +0000

I have this weird obsession with hot dogs, so if I can just find a hot dog vendor I’m happy—the generic New York hot dog stands are amazing. I like my dogs pretty simple—just like pork sausage, not really beef—with grilled onions, mustard and ketchup. That’s it. And I can eat like five of them. I’ve actually been thinking about entering that hot dog eating contest—we were talking about it in the car. All we tend to talk about when we’re driving is food. I think it’s because road food is really disgusting and we know we’re not going to get proper food for a long time. So we kind of fantasize about what we’d like to eat, and I am always saying hot dogs.

Strand Bookstore

Scout Niblett — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:00:59 +0000

The Strand is a really amazing bookstore. I could be in here all day—I just get lost in books. I even love the smell of books. Just walking in here is exciting. For some reason secondhand books are almost like you’re looking at a little piece of history or something. I can’t explain it. Whereas if I went into a brand new bookstore, I don’t get that same feeling.

No. 6

Larissa Zaharuk — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:15:54 +0000

No. 6 offers reworked vintage clothing, including some vintage designers and limited current pieces. The key is stylist Karin Berenson’s, and her partner Morgan’s, ‘eye.’ Karin is an amazing editor; she’ll always have the great and the obscure there. She always has uncanny recommendations for you. Also, No. 6 is good for a block party—they open up the basement space, have a dj and lots of young hipsters hanging about. It’s all very undercover—I think it might be by appointment only—but everyone in the industry knows about it. My favorite purchase is a gray wool plaid Cerrutti dress from the ’80s, with dolman-bloused sleeves, an asymmetrical button-up neck, an elastic cinched waist and a full kilt-pleat mini skirt. Very 80’s futurism…if that even exists!

Locanda Vini e Ollii

Larissa Zaharuk — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:53 +0000

Locanda Vini e Ollii is a really great restaurant in Clinton Hill. It’s a very beautiful room because it’s an ex-pharmacy and it has all the original wooden setting, as far as I know. You feel like you’re in an old apothecary. But Locanda Vini e Ollii is all about the food. One thing I can say is that if you love Tuscany, it is the place to go. I was just in Tuscany over Christmas holidays and we were sampling food from the region. Locanda Vini e Ollii has it right down to the pasta which is called Pici, which is very traditional of the region. Everything is made with cinghiale which is wild boar, which I didn’t eat because I’m vegeterian but everybody was really pleased to see that it was such an authentic take on Tuscan. It’s owned by some really nice people, I think they’re a French-Tuscan couple. It can be very bustling on the weekend so it could be hard to get a seat without reservations. I love the place, it’s a really romantic beautiful place to go.

Tokio 7

Larissa Zaharuk — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:00:49 +0000

People either love it or hate it. I love it because the four times I’ve been in I’ve scored. It’s consignment, all second hand designer clothes, but lots of it is really current. It’s also a great archive for seasons past. I walked in and got a great Marni print cotton dress with the elastic belt like she did a year or so ago on everything, my Marc Jacobs peach cashmere cardigan with the pink bow tie, and my husband got a pair of McQueen seersucker trousers and a great pair of Paul Smith moccasin loafers. The guys there seem to always be eating lunch on the counter, but the deals are good and the selection is shocking!

Marlow & Sons

Larissa Zaharuk — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:00:19 +0000

Marlowe and Sons in Williamsburg is a small pantry with a restaurant in back. They sell English junk food upfront, chocolates I loved as a kid in Canada but that you don’t find here. The restaurant creates unbeatable food; a tiny, conscientiously crafted menu, pairings that are unexpected, like a caramel pie with a chocolate shell and sprinkled with sea salt—but gourmet! This is often mine and my husband’s stop going home, or the starting point of a night out. Somehow my meals there and the events surrounding them always culminate into something memorable. The steady staff is consistently great, but the transient ones are impossible. They’re famous for their oysters.

Repop

Larissa Zaharuk — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:00:27 +0000

RePop Is on Washington Avenue just up the street from Steiner Studios in The Navy Yard. It’s a very out of the way location, and fringes two stunning historical neighborhoods in Brooklyn with those giant manor houses and wide streets, Clinton Hill and Fort Green. It has amazing, mid-century furniture, mostly knock-offs at lower cost, plus weird collector items, with a rack of hit or miss vintage and reworked vintage clothes. I bought two Chloe-esque, peter-pan collar dresses with Bakelite double-breasted buttons. The wine and intelligent conversation flow on a Sunday! I got lots of furniture there, one piece I love is my horn lamp, it looks like a Bull’s horn, but it’s hollow and very, very old (or else I’d feel guilty). Also, two Danish, mid-century, two tiered rosewood end- tables, paired with two winter white, vinyl pod chairs with metal legs, very 60’s futurism.

Archangel Antiques

Larissa Zaharuk — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:00:44 +0000

I love taking no-name clothes and tweaking them to make them my own, or make them appear designer. I get a weird satisfaction out of spending 40 dollars but appearing like I spent 4000. You just alter length, fit—add a touch. A great trick is quality buttons; they can turn H&M into YSL. For that you need to go to ArchAngel Antiques in the East Village. Never go without the piece. The man there guides you through an archive of buttons and won’t even begin without seeing the piece first. He informed me that actually most of the top designers these days cheap out on buttons, so most of the buttons he deals are vintage. He’s a fund of knowledge, very ‘off’ which I love, and the place is just so off the beaten path.

Le Sous Sol

Larissa Zaharuk — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:00:21 +0000

Le Sous-Sol is a new LES boutique opened by stylist and costume designer Linda Belkebir, which deals only Belgian designers, something very new to the American market. For the industry, Belgian designers are always the real deal, non- commercial, great design integrity, always an edge to it. Linda travels to Antwerp and Bruxelles to buy young talent like A.F Vandervorst, or Jean Paul Knott (ex of YSL), or less known up and comer Jessie Lecompte (ex of Dries Van Noten). The space is cool, with this amazing stone wall that looks almost Frank Lloyd Wright-ish (by pure accident perhaps), and I just love the way it opens your mind up to new aesthetics. You put on a shirtdress that doesn’t necessarily have much hanger appeal, but then on, it transforms! Very, very original!

MoMA Design Store Soho

Ryan Block — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:00:22 +0000

I’m kind of an amateur design geek and I’ve always really been interested in design, and there actually aren’t too many design stores in New York. There are a lot of “designer” stores, and there are a lot of places to get really high end stuff, but there aren’t a lot of really good places that aggregate design and curate things or think about design in terms of a “whole hog” kind of perspective. So that’s what I really like about the MoMA store—they have a good selection of design stuff. I bought a lot of things on the inspiration of the MoMA design store, like my home office. Since I spend 14 hours a day there, I totally tricked it out, I have an Aeron chair and Herman Miller desk. I like everything to be really nice while I’m working. The MoMA store is one of those places where I have to go once every few months to see what they may have added or changed.

May Wah

Ryan Block — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:00:37 +0000

I’m not a vegan, but I was, and I try to stay as close to being vegan as I can without making myself too crazy because sometimes I just really want to have some sushi or eggs benedict. But May Wah is this Chinese grocer on the border of Chinatown and they only sell one thing, and that is frozen or refrigerated, fake meat. Any kind of meat you can think of—squid, fish, chicken, duck, beef, anything you can think of—they have a fake meat version. And it’s not like what you get at Whole Foods, like packaged Seitan. When you get a duck breast here they actually mold it to look like a duck. It’s definitely, in terms of vegan/vegetarian meat substitutes, better than what you get at most places. I would much prefer to shop at May Wah than your Dean & Deluca’s or Whole Foods. Even if you’re not vegetarian or vegan, it’s one of those places you have to go just to see it. Because you’re like, “How did they make fake squid?” and “Why would they chose to make fake squid?”

Otafuku

Ryan Block — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:00:29 +0000

There’s so many Japanese people living in New York, but there isn’t really a Japantown here. There are a couple of blocks over by St. Marks where there are a bunch of Japanese places, but it’s not really what you would call Japantown in any other city. But one of those places I really like is Otafuku, a takoyaki stand. It’s basically a hole-in-the-wall, it’s not very big, but why would it be because all they serve is fried octopus balls. It’s octopus in dough, that they just turn it into a ball and give it a squirt of teriyaki sauce and some benito flakes. It’s beautiful, it’s simple, it’s five dollars, and it’s some of the best food you can get in the city. It’s a grab and go—they don’t have any place to sit down except a bench for two people up front. They only serve takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is kind of like a Japanese style pancake with a bunch of vegetables and other things. I can’t remember the direct translation, but it basically means, cake with bunch of stuff in it. If you get the takoyaki- okonomiyaki special, it’s enough for two people. I recently went to Japan and I made sure to stop by Osaka. Their claim to fame is takoyaki and okonomiyaki, so I had a bunch of different vendors’ and restaurants’ takoyaki and okonomiyaki, and I think that our little New York shop is actually really, really good. You don’t have to go to Japan to get good takoyaki.

Barcade

Ryan Block — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:00:22 +0000

This is a beer bar off of the Lorimer stop. I used to live off the Graham stop, which is the next one, so it was about a 10-minute walk from me. They basically do two things: they serve beer and they have vintage arcade games. So you walk in, and it’s a huge space, just lined wall-to-wall with vintage arcade games—that and nothing else but beer. And they have beer holsters at the arcade games. It’s one of those things that’s so self-explanatory you know. For a nerd like me, it’s like heaven—Tetris, Ms. Pacman, whatever. Anything you can think of, any vintage arcade game, they probably have it.

Rififi

Matthew Diffee — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:00:43 +0000

If you go here you’ll see all the up-and-coming alternative comedians, people like Demetri Martin. He’ll show up and do a set on somebody’s show to work out material. You pay at the door usually, it’s cheap, $3-5. There’s a show that’s been here forever called Invite Them Up which is fairly famous, and they’ve done a live CD there with all the big shots performing, hosted by Eugene Mermon and Bobby Tisdale. But it’s a style of comedy that’s not commercial, it’s not for everyone. It’s maybe the New Yorker equivalent of stand up comedy: a little smarter, certainly weirder and very much about live comedy and interacting with the audience. It’s not like if you go to the club that’s mostly full of tourists in the audience where they need it alittle bit more mainstream. It’s definitely a place where comedians come and just try crazy stuff. I also perform there about once a month. They have a screen set up, which is good for me, so I can project my cartoons.

Blick Art Materials

Matthew Diffee — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:00:20 +0000

My art store of preference is Blick Art Material. They still do a huge catalogue business, but they actually have a store here too on Bond Street. It’s not as crazy as Pearl Paint, where it’s crowded and you get a lot of the wanna-be people. You just want to get in and get out and have nice presentation. Blick is immaculately kept and I think they have more space and therefore more inventory. The service is great and you don’t have to knock around asking “Do you have more of these?” because it’s all out there. Dick Blick’s has a lot of character.

Hill Country

Matthew Diffee — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:00:12 +0000

This place is really supposed to be Lockhart, Texas style barbeque, a place which is considered the barbeque capital of the world. Specifically, Hill Country is modeled after a place called Kreuz Market there. If I’m not mistaken, at Cruise Market, they don’t have barbeque sauce. They think it kills the flavor of the meat. At Hill Country I think they do have sauce but it’s almost better to eat it without. You get slices of really good slow-cooked meat, but it’s not slathered in sauce like you would expect at other places, which goes to show that barbeque sauce doesn’t make good barbeque. They serve it on butcher paper, it’s market style, and you go around and grab what you want. I think it’s been hugely successful right out of the gate. They’ve got a big space downstairs with live music and stuff. It’s different—it’s really like visiting this specific area in Texas.

Landmark Sunshine Cinema

Celine Rattray — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:00:56 +0000

The Sunshine Cinema is one of my favorite theatres to see independent films. I love the space. It’s really comfortable seats, you can always see the screen very well, it’s great acoustics and you’re surrounded by die hard film fans. It’s a really nice environment to see independent films because it’s the closest you get to a film festival crowd. It’s a very loving film crowd. And they also choose their films extremely well so they usually have the best of the independent films there. We had Dedication with Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore screening there last summer which was really fantastic.

Cafe Cluny

Celine Rattray — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:30:16 +0000

Cafe Cluny is one of my favorite brunch places, it’s on 12th and West 4th. Great place to get eggs and drink coffee and meet up with friends. It’s really gorgeous, in the heart of the West Village. It really feels like it’s a place where you run into people you know at other tables and you spend five hours at a time and you have different friends that come in and join. It’s a really great place on a rainy afternoon to spend the afternoon.

Elephant & Castle

Celine Rattray — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:20:27 +0000

Elephant & Castle is on Greenwich Avenue. It’s a great place for weekend brunch, it’s the perfect place to meet up with a couple of friends and have coffee and breakfast. They have great eggs benedict there.

Cones

Celine Rattray — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:16:37 +0000

My favorite ice cream place in New York is Cones Ice Cream on Bleecker. I personally think it’s among the best ice creams in NY. It’s very touristy, but really delicious ice cream and really well-made. The hazlenut flavor is my favorite. They have 30 different flavors to choose from.

Chris Chase Salon

Celine Rattray — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:00:22 +0000

Chris Chase Salon is relatively new place, and I recommended Andreas there. It’s a great place for a cut, blow dry—anything you want done to your hair. He’s just a genius, you can be so specific about what you want done and he absolutely listens. He’s an artist, he really succeeds in doing anything you set him the task to do.

Lunetta

Celine Rattray — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:00:48 +0000

Lunetta is my husband’s restaurant which is on 21st and Broadway, and there’s actually a second one also in Brooklyn. It’s my favorite place to go in NY. I like it because the food is spectacular. It’s all small dishes, italian food, different types of pasta, different fishes, different meats. The food is stunning and I also love the atmosphere. It’s romantic, it’s beautiful lighting, it’s really comfortable booths, and it’s the prefect place for a date or it’s for a group of 6 or 7 friends who want to hang out and spend a night together. So it’s a really fun place, it’s a nice crowd. The restaurant just opened a few weeks ago and in terms of the lighting it’s dark and romantic light, but at the same time there’s huge windows all around the restaurant and you have access to a lot of the natural street light. It’s a really pleasant environment. And it’s got very high ceilings so it adds even more to a real sense of air and that you can really breath well.

Il Cantinori

Celine Rattray — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:34:23 +0000

Il Cantinori is probably one of the best New York date restaurants. It’s downtown on 10th between University Place and Broadway. It’s an Italian restaurant that’s been there for a long long time. You go there and you can absolutely count on the food being fantastic and the service being great, and it’s just a really lovely place to go for a date.

Tea & Sympathy

Celine Rattray — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:47:53 +0000

Tea & Sympathy is in the Village on Greenwich Avenue. There is a little cafe where you can sit and stay and there’s also a takeaway place. You can buy all English food, drinks, any English products that you miss- Tea & Sympathy is a great place to find all this. I go there usually Saturdays to pick up some English chocolate.

Westville

Molly Shannon — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 22:00:05 +0000

Westville is great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner but I go for breakfast. It feels like you’re in a college town. I’ve only been there a couple of times but I love it. It’s very little. They serve hot dogs for lunch but it’s gourmet delicious food. That place is amazing. They have scrambled eggs and English muffins that are the yummiest. That’s what I would recommend. I just keep getting the same thing because it’s so delicious. Good scrambled eggs, there is an art to that.

Picholine

George Ratliff — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:00:15 +0000

If you like cheese it’s the best cheese selection in New York (Artisanal and Picholine are owned by the same people). The secret to Picholine is that it is always packed but if you go there right before 8 all the theater crowd departs. You can get a seat at the bar and you just order the seven cheese plate. They’ll come out with the cheese cart and the fromagier talks about all the cheeses. You pick your seven cheeses and they come out and it’s a full meal. You have your different wines with your cheeses. It’s not that crazy expensive because you’re just eating the cheese. My wife Beth and I go there for anniversaries and Valentines. You don’t even have to book in advance. You just show up and you can just get a table if you go right at the right time.

AMC Loews Lincoln Square

George Ratliff — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:00:53 +0000

It’s a giant Loews theater and there’s a reason why most big movies have their premiere there. It’s just a really nice theater and the projection is top notch. If you’re a filmmaker and you’ve seen bad projection you know the difference. It’s walking distance from where I live. A staple of my marriage is that we go, on average, to two movies a week. We have babysitters lined up all the time to get out to movies. It’s just something we both love, so we’re there all the time. My wife Beth is even a bigger movie fanatic than I am. She’ll go see all the romantic comedies during the day when I’m at work. We see loads of movies together. The Lincoln Square Loews is probably 12 screens, all high end, well done and good seats.

Amy Ruth’s Homestyle Southern Cuisine

Dominic Carter — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:00:42 +0000

When I am uptown I eat at Amy Ruth’s in Harlem. It’s a pretty popular place. When you go there, you’ll see that every major politician, if they’re in Harlem, this is where they hold their meetings. You’ll also see a Bloomberg monitor up on the wall and a really diverse crowd. I normally go and have either waffles or chicken wings. That’s my favorite dish.

Blue Ribbon Bar

Candice & Soraya — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:00:57 +0000

Candice: The Blue Ribbon Bakery restaurant is on Bedford and Downing, but just across the street, to handle people who are waiting for tables, they opened a tiny little wine bar with jazz music. I’m not the biggest fan of jazz, but it works and they have a crazy wine list and small little toasts that you can eat, and mixed nuts that are really good. And the guys that work here know wine really well—and they aren’t intimidating, they teach you about it—and you can sit here and drink delicious wine all night long and talk to your friends.
Soraya: They also have a mini champagne tasting so you can sample champagne.
Candice: Oh yeah, every night they have different tastings. But the glasses are huge!
Soraya: Yeah, they pour nice-sized glasses. And also you can go for very high range glasses or super low, depending.
Candice: I went there to wait for the restaurant, and then I told the restaurant to cancel my table and I just stayed at the bar.
Soraya: It’s actually like the ideal wine bar in New York. You really want to stay here. Last time we were here together, we stayed way longer than we planned. We just went as girlfriends and it was pretty romantic. We had a good time.

Ding Dong Lounge

Beatrix Slaughter — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:00:38 +0000

This is one of the places I’ve discovered through the Gotham Girls. It’s where we have our after-parties. It’s very dark, but very cheap, and it has a nice flow where there are lots of little pockets and corners. One artist, I think, must have done all of the décor—it’s nicely tied together, it doesn’t seem like just a bar that’s been thrown together. We had a dance party here, which was fun. It’s a bar, not a club, but there’s still room and they’re nice enough to allow drunken roller girls to dance. The people we’ve met there have been really cool—our age, and interested in the fact that there are a whole bunch of roller girls suddenly showing up every once in a while. Which is nice.

Paul’s

Beatrix Slaughter — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:00:33 +0000

Paul’s is off of St. Mark’s. It’s the best hamburger in the entire world. It’s ancient, it’s crazy, it’s covered in grease. It’s sort of trying to be a biker bar, but it’s just an old-fashioned hamburger shack. They have a really expansive hamburger menu, all of which are very big. They have incredible fries and beer and soda in bottles—old Stewart’s style stuff. And it is by far the best hamburger you will ever have in your entire life. The El Paso burger is the one that’s the best to me. It’s a very big burger, and they’re like $6, with jalapeno and cheese and it is very good. You just need to go there. It has a scary looking hamburger and fries thing in front of it, and you walk in and there are all sorts of signs that are like, “unattended children will become hamburger flippers” and things like that. It’s weird but awesome.

Manitoba’s

Beatrix Slaughter — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:00:28 +0000

Manitoba’s is the home base for a lot of the roller girls. It’s a punk rock kind of place, good music, cheap booze, very friendly bartenders who know how to deal with people. You can’t find a lot of the little punk rock bars that you used to anymore, because so many things have gone upscale. There are some nice holes around that are very sleezy, and that’s great, but this one has an old school feel. Also you can go there by yourself and not get picked on basically, and the music is excellent. There was an article in The New Yorker about Janet Reno and how her nephew is involved there somehow, so there was this little thing in the “About Town” section of The New Yorker that was like “Janet Reno, hanging out at Manitoba.” How awesome is that?

Campbell Apartment

Beatrix Slaughter — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:00:41 +0000

I recently discovered the Campbell Apartment. I was so excited. The history is that there was a very wealthy man, who, when Grand Central was built, requested that they have an apartment made in it for him to live in. It’s beautiful; he was very, very wealthy, and it’s very lavish. And when he died—or moved out—it became the holding cell for the Grand Central Police, and they would put vandals or criminals in there before they were brought to the police station. Now it’s been renovated into a bar called The Campbell Apartment. You go upstairs, through the elevator—it seems like such a secretive little thing, but it’s a bustling bar. And it’s this beautiful room with a big fireplace and vaulted ceiling—it’s just as urprise. I don’t go there very often because it’s expensive, but if I come in on the train late at night and I feel like having a whiskey, I’ll come here. It tends to be business people there, definitely not my age, and you have to be dressed a certain way to get in—no tennis shoes, no jeans—but it’s a sort of a little treat.

Grand Central Station

Beatrix Slaughter — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:00:21 +0000

I feel particularly connected with Grand Central, not only because it was the gateway that I came through when I commuted with my dad into the city when I was young, but I was also there when it was being renovated—and that kind of represented the point in my life when I started coming to New York on a regular basis. It was a several year process, and a huge transformation from how gritty it was, but the biggest impact was the ceiling of Grand Central, which is beautiful and has that whole astrology theme to it. Now it has all the stars and it’s very beautiful—but back then it was black. All of the stone was jet black, and as they started to clean, this painting, this beautiful green ceiling emerged and the space became a lot brighter. It was a real renaissance for this building—and I got to be part of that. They left one little corner of Grand Central ceiling the color that it used to be from cigarette smoke and the coal and the brakedust. Grand Central is just this wonderful space. I mean, my parents are architects, I work in architecture—buildings are a big, big deal for me. And having a space that is both public, but also can feel personal… It’s sort of this emblem of what New York is as a gateway, as a port, almost like the Statue of Liberty. It’s a really beautiful symbol of “Hey, welcome to New York! Isn’t this an awesome building?” The food market they have there is fantastic, the information booth is great—I consider myself a born-and-bred New Yorker and I still go to the information booth all the time to ask “Where’s the Whitney? I’ve forgotten.” It’s for every day New Yorkers, or tourists, it’s everyone’s building.

Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden

Beatrix Slaughter — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:00:05 +0000

Honestly, I get really happy when I’m anywhere near this place—it’s a very, very happy place. I really like it. Kielbasa on a Friday night with a beer… or a Sunday or a Wednesday,whatever day it is. Its has lots of benches and lots of different groups of people. The first time I went to the Beer Garden, there was Canadian lacrosse team. My book club went once and we talked about Middlesex and everyone kind of joined in talking about hermaphrodites. It’s a beer garden so it’s not a bar where you get rowdy. It’s more of a sitting, talking, eating and sharing kind of place. It’s not so loud that you can’t talk.

Alvin Ailey American Dance School

Candice & Soraya — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:00:31 +0000

Soraya: There’s the Alvin Ailey Dance School on 55th and 9th, and they have open classes. You can take a ballet class or a hip hop dance class. But you can pay per class to go. There’s a schedule on their website, and you can just show up that day and pay or you can sign up in advance. It’s pretty cool. It’s a much more interesting way to get fit.

Nha Trang Centre

Candice & Soraya — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 05:00:13 +0000

Candice: Nha Trang Centre is on Centre Street. It’s loud, noisy Vietnamese food. The menus—they have two—are each menu like 10 pages long, but if you stick to the pho—any kind of pho—it’s just delicious. They have some weird waiters, weird characters, like a busboy who wears his hair Elvis Presley-style—but with a rattail down the back and a handlebar mustache.
Soraya: Yeah, he looks like a toreador.
Candice: Somebody told me about it like four years ago and I’ve been going back ever since. A lot. Like once a week. And it’s cheap.
Soraya: The one that we had gone to originally, closed. And so we needed a new place. A lot of business people in Tribeca go there for lunch. And it’s by the courthouse so a lot of judges and jury memebers go there. And us.

Deborah Marquit Lingerie

Candice & Soraya — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 05:00:07 +0000

Soraya: Deborah Marquit is a lingerie designer who hand sews each piece of lingerie. She’s had her business since the early 80s. She makes lingerie for Madonna and lots of people. She made the patent leather outfit for “Human Nature.” She also does really awesome neon, day-glo colors, like hot pink.

Candice: We did a lingerie set with her for charity. It was hot pink, hand sewn, with rose cut diamonds hanging from the bottom and the top.

Soraya: It was really gorgeous. But she also has very classic shaped styles like, ’50s style bras that are full coverage and she has really sexy thongs, that are like, super sexy, but she also has lace briefs. She has a very good eye. And they’re also very wearable and well constructed.

Candice: Her store’s really cool too. She just has a couple racks, which makes you realize how time consuming it is for her to make the pieces. She fits them on you, and there are little sewing machines right behind the racks and that’s it. So you can tell she takes pride in her work.

Soraya: She’s very creative. She retails at so many boutiques around the world but, it’s probably best to go to the store to get it fitted. And she really understands your body so she can custom make something for you.

Clinton Street Baking Company

Candice & Soraya — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 05:00:29 +0000

Candice: Clinton Street Bakery is on Clinton Street, just south of Houston. I never knew about it, but apparently a lot of people do because there’s always lines to get in. I’ve eaten dinner here and their fried chicken is unreal. Their food is just good. I had their burger once. I don’t know what they do to it, but the burger is huge, and you don’t feel sick afterwards. I think there’s only around 10 tables in there, so they keep it small, so the food stays good instead of cooking for masses. I like it.

Olde Good Things

Candice & Soraya — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:00:26 +0000

Soraya: It’s an antique place.
Candice: Like salvage, more like salvage.
Soraya: They have antique doorknobs and sinks and lights and furniture. You can buy molding there or, even a fireplace. I think it’s a Christian run business for charity, all of the proceeds goes to some Christian organization. They have one in New York, they also have shops in Pennsylvania and L.A.
Cancice: But they have everything from tiny little light fixtures from the ’30s taken from old apartment buildings that have been destroyed, to 8 foot diameter chandeliers taken from a hotel somewhere. So you can get anything. It’s so fun to go in there too. You could spend hours looking at small things. The store here is pretty big, but you get lost in the locks and keys and the door hinges—crazy door hinges that are brass and like 1890 NYC or whatever—it’s really crazy.
Soraya: And they have beautiful glass doorknobs and curtain presses. It’s really gorgeous.

Candice: Some of them are really rare. We bought two doorknobs here for our new showroom, and the price range went from like $12 for a very common glass doorknob that everybody had back in the day, to $300 cut crystal doorknobs that they only had two of and they can’t find more. So you can get anything. It’s really neat.
Soraya: You can negotiate with them as well.

HanGawi

Deerhoof — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:00:58 +0000

Greg: This is a really rare spot because when you think of Korean food, it’s almost always beef oriented. But I’m vegetarian and I love Korean food—but I can never find it anywhere. This place is incredible, the only place I’ve ever seen like it.
Satomi: It’s an all vegan menu. You take off your shoes and they have a Korean traditional gong. When we first got there, nobody was there so we played the gong. And I recommend this Korean rice milk wine—the makori—in Japan it’s kind of popular, but you scoop with this huge ladle and drink. It has a really nice mood too, wood chairs and tables. How do you call…
Greg: Yeah, I don’t know what you call that, when you sit at the table and your feet dangle down. It’s really nice. And it’s right next to a hotel where they’re having a big strike. That’s what I remember from going there that day—there was a picket line out front.

The Good Fork

Deerhoof — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 05:00:56 +0000

Satomi: Our good friend Marty works at The Good Fork. It’s kind of far, but it’s really good— a mixed Western and Eastern style. They have really great selections of drinks like wine, prosecco, anything. And it’s really small and relaxed.
Greg: He’s got a good band too, called Nymph—a New York band that I highly recommend. In the last year, they really started playing around the city all the time.
Satomi: Everybody who works here is really nice. They started out as just a small neighborhood restaurant, but because the food is so good, a lot of critics wrote about it and now there’s a line. We had to wait three hours and we still ate at the counter. People are so nice
there though, like “Oh you waited for so long” that they gave us champagne.

MarieBelle

Deerhoof — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:00:15 +0000

Satomi: Ellie, my friend who lives in New York, recommended this place. The last time we were here, Greg had a birthday, so I came here to buy chocolate, because he really likes chocolate.
Greg: Actually, it was me and the old sound guy from Northsix, Darren—we have the exact same birthday. And our guitar player, John, his birthday is two days earlier so we had a big birthday party.
Satomi: Everybody likes chocolate.
Greg: Yeah, exactly, you can’t go wrong.
Satomi: The chocolate is amazing here, I think.

Moleskine City Notebook

Deerhoof — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:00:11 +0000

Satomi: I have the New York book. My friend gave it to me. It’s great. It has a map of the subway system.
Greg: It’s like a London “A to Z,” but for New York.
Satomi: No title…
Greg: So Satomi’s been marking stuff in there, like, “Oh I want to go here, I want to go there” and putting it on the map. And it’s so easy to get around.
Satomi: So I recommend this book.
Greg: This nameless, titleless black book.
Satomi: It’s called Moleskine. Cause then you don’t look like a tourist, I look like I’m studying.
Greg: That’s the real reason.

Danal

Deerhoof — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:00:12 +0000

Greg: It’s a brunch place.
Satomi: It’s open for dinner too, but it’s good brunch with really good French press coffee.
Greg: And the atmosphere, something about it is incredibly comfortable.
Satomi: Yeah, they used to have a cat lying around too. She died a few years ago. But we really like going here.
Greg: I think there’s something actually special about it. I mean Satomi comes from Tokyo, where so many of the restaurants are incredibly small. And this is like that—there’s like four places to sit down or something, you know? And also, it has a neighborhood feeling where the regulars keep coming back. While I think of New York that kind of has everything, I think one of the things that it does have more a lot more of than other American cities is places like Danal—just this tiny little nook of a place, where so many people go back again and again. It just feels homey and comfortable.

Bao 111

Victoria Redel — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:00:48 +0000

This is a Vietnamese restaurant, it was was super hip when it opened a couple years ago. But it has wonderful, reliable food. The owner is Chris Johnson, who’s a great guy. He also is a sake expert, and travels all over the world judging sake. It’s delicious food in a very comfortable setting. Which is perfect for me.

CPW

Victoria Redel — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:00:32 +0000

There is a store on 84th and Amsterdam called CPW. It’s owned by Linda Wolff, whom I grew up next door to. She’s like the fourth sister in my family, so for me it’s like walking into my sister’s closet and I can try things on and she’ll say, ‘that looks ridiculous on you’ or ‘it looks great.’ It has a real neighborhood hub feel—whenever you stop by, women are hanging out, moms are coming in with their babies, there are dogs running around, and it also has great, very cool clothes. Linda’s very capable of taking a lot of Upper West Side women that have lost sight a little bit of how to dress, and making them look cool again. She’s got a great eye.

Sam and Chris Hair Salon

Victoria Redel — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 05:00:34 +0000

This place is totally local, I love it because of the variety of people there—I’m bringing in my son to get his haircut, there are 78-year-old Jewish ladies coming in, there’s young, hip people getting their hair colored. Sam, the owner, and a guy named Mike, both Lebanese, seem to be able to fit anyone in. It’s amazing, he’s open seven days a week and people are constantly in there. He’s a really easy funny smart guy, there’s even a scene in my novel based here. The other thing that’s great about the place, is that while great haircuts in New York can be a gazillion dollars, theirs are reasonable, like $50.

McNally Robinson

Victoria Redel — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:00:32 +0000

This is a really beautiful independent bookstore right off Crosby and Spring, run by Sarah McNally. She’s smart, a great reader, and a completely gorgeous woman. It also hosts readings, I’ve read there a few times, and they’re really wonderfully supportive of writers.

Village Chess Shop

Victoria Redel — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:00:05 +0000

The chess shops on Thompson are kind of spooky to me in a way, but also kind of great. One of the great things about chess, is that they don’t really care who you are — if you’re 8 years old, Russian, if you’re from Zimbabwe, etc — as long as you play. My boys have been playing since they were young. They would come here to watch the guys play, and eventually the men would ask them to play too. In that sense, there’s something completely beautiful about it. In an increasing chain store world, they stand out.

West 4th Basketball Court

Victoria Redel — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:00:58 +0000

The Player

At noon I watched men playing basketball.
I hung against the fence envying them,
the way they didn’t look at each other
but drove the rough ball up and down court
passing it through their ready hands.
I wanted to be these men.
They were not the bodies of soft edges.
It was vertical jump and wrist, their breasts
shook tensely coming down from a shot.
It seemed that nothing in the city loved a woman,
even the street where steam
rose through the black grates lifting up my skirt.

There’s not much more from those months.
Yellow lilies arranged in Mason jars,
when the petals unhinged and fell–
little rafts on the furniture.
I lay around in front of a rotating fan, listening
to a woman close by practicing her opera scales.
Italian songs twisted in air currents through my room.

All around me the buildings were fat with women
singing about love or saying nothing for days.
I cared nothing for Traviata or Don Giovanni.
I wanted only to be a player
with a disciplined body;
to pass the ball like a globe,
easily and without looking
dunking that round world, hoop after hoop,
with no other ambition than to move

by Victoria Redel (from Swoon).

Cafe Margot

Victoria Redel — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:00:41 +0000

Up here, on the Upper West Side, there’s a place on 74th and Broadway that I go to a lot in the morning, Cafe Margot. It has one of the best croissants in the city, which is, for me, a major food group—the croissants. They even have a very good almond croissant which is usually something I would never go for. It’s kind of tucked away, so nobody goes there who doesn’t know about it. A lot of mornings, when I’m out walking the dog in the park, I’ll end it by going here, tying up the dog, and having a coffee. They also have really good sandwiches on a baguette—they’re more European style, so it doesn’t have 3 inches of meat on it—it has a slice of turkey. It’s just simpler.

St. Luke’s Gardens

Victoria Redel — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:05:17 +0000

I used to live on Grove Street, and right down is St. Luke’s church. There is a beautiful garden around the back, through the gates, and it’s an incredible little landmark. It’s a quiet, little jewel inside the city.

Rebel Rebel

Amy Sedaris — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:00:42 +0000

Rebel Rebel is great. It’s really nice and small. The owner’s name is David. He doesn’t have everything out so if you can ask him he’ll go in the back and get it for you. It’s really cool. He’s just really neat, he’s really up on the music and can recommend great stuff.

All the Right

Toofly — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 05:00:04 +0000

All The Right is on Junction Boulevard in Corona, basically the neighborhood that I grew up in. At first it opened as a record shop—they sold mixed tapes—and then the guy started adding graffiti markers and t-shirts. Then he expanded and started carrying spray paint, because a lot of the spray paint that we use comes from Europe, which are hard to find. A lot of graffiti artists from back in the day started with Krylon and all those other cans, but then, when we started painting and we had like rainbows of colors, we started using Belton and Montana—he started to carry a bunch of that paint. So he has markers, black books and paint. I’ll call up and ask if they have a color I’m looking for and they’ll hold it for me and I’ll pick it up.

Harry’s Beach

Toofly — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 05:00:29 +0000

Harry’s Beach is located in Long Island City, and you can even get there by taking the water taxi from 34th Street—the first stop is in Queens, leaves you off right there. It’s basically a man-made beach. You can’t get to the water, but it’s all sand and they have picnic tables where you could get beers and hotdogs or hamburgers and sometime they have a live band, so you can dance or play volleyball. It overlooks the entire city. On a nice summer day a lot of people go to Harry’s Beach, hang out and have a beer. It’s a cool spot because it’s in the middle of nowhere, everything is industrial, and then there’s this little mini-beach. It gets crowded in the summertime, but it’s pretty spacious.

Flight Club

Toofly — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:00:16 +0000

Flight Club used to be located off Waverly and 8th Street but they moved to the City Hall area. It’s almost all sneakers—people can sell their vintage sneakers there consignment-style, and they bring in very rare sneakers from Europe and Japan that you can’t find in the U.S., in addition to the regular sneakers that are released every other month or year. It’s just a huge selection—even collectibles that are like $2K to $150K or something. It’s a cool spot. It was started by a young guy who worked in different stores, eventually created own little website, and then opened a store. There’s also one in Los Angeles, one might open in Japan. We’re actually all old friends who grew up together.

Barzola Restaurante

Toofly — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:00:07 +0000

Barzola is an Ecuadorian restaurant, it was the one and only really good Ecuadorian restaurant around on Meserole Street off Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn. All the Ecuadorians go there and they have the best ceviche, guatita—all those typical dishes from Ecuador. It’s really authentic food, and they just opened up another one near Jackson Heights, but this is the one is everybody knows about and
goes to. The weekend is always so packed, they even had to build a second floor.

Bone Lick Park

Toofly — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:00:52 +0000

When you walk in, it’s like a huge Coca-cola sign on the bar area, and there are white tiles all over. The food is alright, but the mojitos are $3.50 at happy hour and they’re big and cheap and good. So we always go early, get a little buzz on, and then take our party elsewhere.

Wo Hop

Toofly — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:00:43 +0000

Oh my God, Wo-hop! When my friends and I are out on the Lower East Side and everybody is hungry around 4 A.M., this is the only place still open in Chinatown. It’s right near the bridge, so we can all either go to Brooklyn or to Queens, because we all live in the outer boroughs. So we’re always like, ‘We gotta go to Wo-hop.” It’s on this little skinny street and you walk down stairs. There are pictures on the wall of everyone, and they just have really good like pan-fried noodles, beef, fried rice and it’s all so cheap. You could have a meal with four people and it will be like $20. It’s really good, quick Chinese food. Everybody’s like ‘Wo-hop, let’s go to Wo-hop.’

La Conquista

Toofly — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:00:13 +0000

This is a Dominican spot on Lafayette between Prince and Spring, and it’s like the last little remaining ghetto spot on Lafayette. Everybody passes by—’Oh my god, why is this still here?’—but you go in and there are these big pots of rice and beef and chicken. It’s really authentic Dominican food, the people there are nice, and they have best rice and beans for only like $5. Almost anything you get is around $6 and it comes with everything—salad, chicken, sweet plantains, beans, rice. It’s a lot of food, it’ll make you fat but it’s like really authentic. Plus you can save half of it for the next day.

5 Pointz

Toofly — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:00:27 +0000

5 Pointz has become a place where legal or illegal graffiti artists can paint. It’s where the old school legends are—the really great ones from Europe that are such amazing artists—all the way down to little kids from the neighborhood. It’s like a free-for-all, and it’s great that it’s so organized. They also hold workshops, where you can learn what a fill-in is, how to cut into letters or how to fade characters and stuff. It’s kind of a community thing, and they invite different people to participate. It’s just this young guy who runs it—he’s public about what he does, and he doesn’t do illegal stuff—but he teaches young kids in the neighborhood that want to paint because he sees that we’re going to eventually hand it down.

The Stone

Beat The Devil — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:18:51 +0000

The Stone’s been open maybe two or three years now. It was actually opened by John Zorn as a place for people to play more adventurous type music. I feel like it’s kind of the torch bearer of what the Knitting Factory used to be in the ’80s and what Tonic was in the ’90s—a place for musicians that don’t necessarily play financially viable music to have a place to express themselves and for people to come see it. But it’s a tiny, tiny place, in an old Chinese restaurant. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d walk right by, there’s just a little sign on the door. It’s not the most comfortable place to go see a show, there’s rarely any air-conditioning on in the summertime and they don’t serve drinks. It caters to the old school scene but it’s also really good about supporting the new school as well. There’s always a cover charge, but the interesting thing is it’s totally non-profit so 100% of the door goes to the musicians. So whoever is playing decides what they want the cover to be, usually $10 a night, sometimes it’s $20 a night. But they set up a guest curator each month to put the shows together,
with 100% going back to the musicians which is pretty incredible.

Cafe des Artistes

Gretchen Mol — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 20:01:01 +0000

That was where I went with my husband on our first date. Not to the bar but to the restaurant. You’re surrounded by all the murals of nude women and it was just a really odd date in a way. There this little bar there that just feels like a little secret. It’s tiny and you could only fit probably ten people in there. It doesn’t feel like anyone ever goes there. So if you find yourself on the Upper West Side, it’s just a really nice place to meet people and have a little drink. It’s not trendy, it feels like it’s been around forever.

Rooftop Gardens at the Met

David Hochbaum — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:00:07 +0000

This is a spot I like to go to when I first wake up—before I even have my senses about me—where I hop in the shower, grab a cup of coffee, get on the train and go uptown. Before I do anything, or talk to
anyone, I just go here and head to the roof. First you’ve gotta weave through all this beautiful art—I like to walk past the Medieval Chapel room and take a left, hit the elevator, and then up to the rooftop—just to get that perspective of expansion. It’s very hard in New York to get that feeling. The big mental block is that everything’s obstructed by buildings and stuff, so you don’t get that sense of openness unless you walk in the middle of a ball court or a park. So this is a good spot to gain a little perspective on things
before you get on the phone and deal with all the crap of the day that you have to, and then you can walk through the park, get a little bit of that nature in you, and acknowledge that there is this whole other life in the city that’s going on. It’s one of those things I like to do just on a whim—instead of walking to Tompkins Square Park, just go uptown. Usually it’s not really crowded, especially early in the
morning and on weekdays. Sometimes they have roving exhibitions up there, different sculptors and installation artists, so that changes a lot too.

Hi-Fi

David Hochbaum — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:00:23 +0000

Well since I don’t really go out to bars that much, anymore, I think I’m naturally drawn to the place where I work. Because I’ll be guaranteed to at least see someone I can talk to if I feel like it.
And I guess it’s a force of habit kind of thing—plus, since I work here, the price is right. The music is generally pretty good because they have an amazing jukebox, most of the crappy music has been
eliminated. It’s also close enough that I can get away from the studio, you know clear my head—or fog it up, whatever—and meet up with friends. Usually it’s not too crowded, since I don’t go to bars on Fridays or Saturdays unless I’m working. The crowd at Hi-Fi is generally pretty young, usually, on weekends, a lot of student type people. But the locals and the regulars during the week are usually pretty cool and it’s pretty eclectic as far as age is concerned, cause a lot of them are older rockers and stuff. A lot of rock stars end up hanging out there, popping in. You definitely see local bands even who work there. Radio 4 guy just stopped working here a little while ago, the bass player from The Hold Steady still works there, last week I was there, Meg White was hanging out playing pool, Cyndi Lauper, it’s just like ridiculous—from Green Day to whatever just coming in, hanging out. It still has that rock and roll undertone to it because of it’s history. It still has the same owner from when it was Brownie’s.

Georgia’s Eastside BBQ

David Hochbaum — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 23:00:25 +0000

One of the regulars from the bar where I work in, had this big black dog named Georgia. Georgia’s Barbeque is named after his dog. He mentioned that he had opened a place up, and my roommate Marcus went there and was like, ‘You gotta have this barbeque. We gotta set something up.’ So we got a bunch of friends together, and we all went to sample. The fried chicken was ridiculous—super succulent and crispy perfect. I used to always go to Mama’s for fried chicken, now it’s way too greasy for me—Georgia’s is the place. And the ribs—I’m not a big beef eater, but they were so damn good. And then the crabs–piles and piles of crabs on the table, old school style, cracking and the mess everywhere and you’re covered in old bay seasoning. Really, really good barbeque. Good hearty stuff. And they hook it up, their portions are really sweet and you get a bunch of sides: good cole slaw, beans, collard greens, amd string beans and garlic which is really really good. It’s a tiny spot, there’s about 5-6 tables, so I
would imagine that it could get packed pretty quick. He’s been doing really well, getting a lot of attention. I don’t know if it’s going to work for, or against him. But I think it’s one of those places that is getting that kind of attention cause it’s that good.

Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwich Shop

David Hochbaum — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:00:17 +0000

I think this place opened up a little over two years ago. It’s just your basic Vietnamese sandwich, but something about theirs is pretty exceptional. They’ve changed a little bit since they first opened—the
sandwiches got a little bit more expensive (and a little bit smaller), but they’re still super tasty. When I go out to California, I even have pack a couple on the plane with me to deliver them to my friends out there—they get the cravings. It’s has two or three different kinds of meat, jalapenos, cilantro and shredded carrots. It’s a tasty little sandwich.

KGB Bar

David Hochbaum — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:00:41 +0000

This is a nice, out-of-the-way place to take someone to if they’ve never been here before. It’s quaint—you have to go up two flights of stairs—and back when were able to smoke, it was always smoke-filled
with really good music. The drinks are a bit more pricey now, with less buy-backs, but it’s also kinda cozy. It’s a great date spot I would say for sure.

Sunny and Annie’s

David Hochbaum — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:00:07 +0000

Sunny and Annie’s is a deli we discovered, and they got a little sandwich guy inside there like most delis, but it’s not like you see the salads have that hard film over them, where they’ve been untouched for days. They make some quality sandwiches here. On a late night when you need a sandwich, this is the place to go. And they have the 101 sandwich which is ridiculous—smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato, cole
slaw, bacon, thousand Island dressing. When you’re drunk or stoned and you put that thing in your mouth—just forget it. You’re done. You’re hooked. Everybody I know who has eaten that sandwich has been like, ‘That sandwich—what the hell was that? That was amazing.’ But they have like 50 different kinds of sandwiches.

Jennifer Cafe

David Hochbaum — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:00:12 +0000

This is a cool little spot. It’s a tiny box-house on the corner of the street where you can get cheap tacos, coffee, empanadas, eggs. They have a couple stools on the side where you can sit and eat, but it’s more of a carry out kind of place. It’s interesting, it looks like a tiny little house and with someone standing there, sizzling up some chicken tacos.

Himalayan Cafe

David Hochbaum — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:00:37 +0000

My friend Christine introduced me to this place and she’s a dumpling connoisseur. As far as I’m concerned these are the best veggie dumplings I’ve ever had in the city. The guy that works here is a soft spoken, nice dude. It takes a long time to get your dumplings because they’re all made fresh, but it’s so worth the
wait. It’s cheap too—six bucks and change you buy 8 dumplings, a little cabbage salad and hot sauce, mmm.

Temple Bar

The National — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:00:26 +0000

I would say any bar that’s quiet is nice because bars here tend to be packed with loud music. I like to end up in spots that aren’t that crazy. To that end, I have been to Temple Bar on Lafayette a couple of times recently. My wife works late hours and I’ll meet her here after work. It’s totally quiet and I think that’s sort of their shtick—they’ll yell at you for having loud conversations. It’s old school, expensive cocktails.— Scott Devendorf

Veniero’s

Salvatore Stabile — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:35:23 +0000

I have a big Italian family, and every Sunday we would go to somebody’s house for dinner. My parents would always send me to either buy a cheesecake from Eileen’s or cookies at Veniero’s. Veniero’s is always jam-packed, especially Easter or Christmas, so I would go the day before—I had a system down. Otherwise, you’ll have to get a number and wait outside for an hour or two just to get cookies, but it’s worth it—I’ve gone all over the city and I’ve never found anything better.

Sushi of Gari

Salvatore Stabile — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:30:01 +0000

For sushi, I’ve never gone wrong doing the omakase at Sushi Gari on the Upper East Side. It’s pricey, but if you are a sushi snob like me, you won’t be disappointed.

Grotto

Doug Jaeger — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:00:59 +0000

Grotto is the kind of place where the staff is immediately really nice and want to make sure you have a good time. It’s a little cave, you go down and then there’s a bar and banquet tables, and then there’s this back area that’s just completely open which is really amazing. It has wrap-around benches and tables. The food is bisto-style and they make really great mixed drinks. They also have a monthly party series that they throw here.

Tennis House at Prospect Park

Beat The Devil — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 05:00:06 +0000

There’s this building in Prospect Park on the green pasture called The Tennis House. When it’s open, you can go inside and look at the building itself, which is pretty cool. It almost looks like a
corridor or something. I used to go to Prospect Park a lot when I first moved here because it’s quiet and I just like being removed from everything. So I discovered the Tennis House, and the echoes here are crazy, so if you talk you can hear yourself talking like three or four fold. It’s so awesome. We would drop quarters to hear what sounds they would make, and we could just go there and have a ball—just screaming, singing, playing an acoustic guitar and just hearing all the echoes over and over again. It’s really cool. I don’t know how they managed to capture that. But it’s amazing just going in there and screaming your head off like a kid. —Shilpa Ray

Taqueria y Fonda la Mexicana

Beat The Devil — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 05:00:48 +0000

I lived up on the Upper West Side for a while and I’ve eaten everything off the menu here, and it’s all my favorite dish. It’s Mexican food, just tacos and burritos, traditional Mexican fare, but it’s 50 to 100 percent better than the quality of other stuff I’ve had in the city. They bring out chips that are made here with three different salsas that they make and each one is like the best salsa you’ve ever had. Whenever I’m anywhere near that neighborhood now, I’ll make the trip there, order $20 of food and eat that for the next two days. Everyone who works here is incredibly nice, just goes out of their way to make you feel welcome. So yeah, it’s a great place. I’m like getting hungry now just talking about it. —Mishka Shubaly

Magnolia Bakery

Salvatore Stabile — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 05:00:24 +0000

My favorite restaurant is El Faro but I’m not the biggest fan of Spanish desserts. Because I really need cupcakes or chocolate after every meal—or at least something sweet or sugary—I walk down Bleecker Street and go to Magnolia’s. It’s fun and personal, with very good service and fresh cupcakes at all hours—day to night. I certainly think it’s the best cupcake in the city.

Butala Emporium

Beat The Devil — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 05:00:35 +0000

Butala Emporium is in Jackson Heights, Queens. There’s a couple more in Jersey but I like this one because they have all their instruments there in the basement. You can buy a fairly cheap shehnai or cheap conch shells or percussion instruments, which aren’t in the best condition, but if you’re beginning and you just want to hear the sounds, it’s a really good spot to go. They sell bells, and even their pots and pans are really deep, solid steel so you make really good noise out of them. Once I got a snow shovel that I used to beat on one of the cans I bought from here, I liked the sound of it cause it was very hollow. I love going on adventures here. Plus it also reminds me of where my parents are from, so I like going to Jackson Heights, period, just for myself to be around that. There’s also really great stores in Jackson Heights if you want good Indian music or Indian movies. —Shilpa Ray

Green-Wood Cemetery

Beat The Devil — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:00:51 +0000

It’s hard for me to miss Greenwood Cemetary, I live like half a block from it, so it’s staring me in the face every day. I’ve been there a few times since I moved here and for one, it’s huge. It’s this huge expanse of land and, um, dead bodies everywhere. No, it’s actually immaculate gravestones, like huge mausoleums that date back to the early 1800s. You can get lost in just in the little roads that wind around the huge tombs, some of them new, some of them old and decrepit like something out of a horror movie. It can be really creepy, you can find yourself in the middle of the place and not hear a single sound coming from the city at all—no car horns—all you hear
the leaves and maybe some birds. There’s usually not a lot of people. They have security that makes regular rounds, but the thing is that it’s so big that there could be a lot of people here at once, but you’d never see them because you can walk around for hours and not see
the same thing twice. —Mitchell King

Sidewalk Cafe

Beat The Devil — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:00:16 +0000

I heard about the Sidewalk Café and I just kind of walked in and looked around. At times it can become a big acoustic guitar fest and you have to weed out what you like and what you don’t. Once I saw a tranny plucking a violin and screaming at the top of her lungs, and then you’ll see people with crazy instruments and sound-sampling gear, doing whatever they want. There’s a big song-writing energy here. It’s great—it’s got a little bit of cabaret, a little bit of silliness, or
it can get pretty heavy. I remember going on Mondays, and the vibe was so awesome and everybody would have a wonderful performance. Everyone gets into it and supports each other. I’ve seen 14-year-old kids perform there, I’ve seen people in their 60s, 50s and 40s, there’s no
predominant demographic or age or race. You just have to want to do something and everyone’s pretty supportive about it. Fall and spring open mic nights are usually a lot of fun cause that’s when it’s most packed. I know like the Trachtenbergs are based out of here, The Moldy Peaches came out of here, my friend’s band The Creaky Boards are from here, just a lot of wonderful singer-songwriters. The back room is called The Fort, and the guy who runs it, Latch, has been around since the ’70s and he started this whole movement in the early ’80s, so it definitely has a legacy. It’s a great place if you’re a songwriter and don’t have a band but you just want to start working and meeting people, it’s a really comfortable place to be. There aren’t any rules to it. —Shilpa Ray

5C Cafe and Cultural Center

David Wain — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:17:24 +0000

5C in the East Village is a very sparse little organic cafe run by this amazing old couple, who are also jazz musicians and teachers. They have concerts and classes here at night. Its just got a really amazing vibe. I discovered it when I was caught in the rain with a bunch of friends on a Saturday. We ducked into 5C, who pretty much opened back up just for us after closing, and they fed us food and
soup while we talked to them. That’s just very rare in New York City.

L’asso

Doug Jaeger — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:03:56 +0000

L’asso is a new pizza place that has entered the Nolita district. It’s these long thin pizzas, they’re not round and they’re not really square, they’re kind of rectangular but with round ends, like a subway sandwich but flattened and big. They use really premium ingredients and really bizarre ingredients, like truffle oil, pears and gorgonzola cheese. We started getting them delivered for meetings because they’re a good format for groups. And then we started to go there. They put up art work of local artists and occasionally have parties there for local designers or musicians or things like that. Also, they had a downstairs club that was a secret club for a long time but it closed. But the pizza is just really good, it’s a bit expensive but it’s because the ingredients are really good and it’s just high-quality pizza. It tastes really amazing, I’ve introduced a bunch of my friends to it and they all go back.

Seagram Building

Matthew Bronfman — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:00:09 +0000

The Seagram is clearly one of the great landmarks of NY. My aunt was the project manager and selected Mies Van Der Rohe to build the Seagram. So that is my favorite building both for professional and personal reasons. The architecture is so clean and so modern even though it was built close to 50 years ago. I think the building was open in 1958 and it still is the most classic modern building 50 years later. Mies was just an icon in the architectural world.

Charette Electronics

Beat The Devil — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:00:27 +0000

John Charette works out of the Excela Recording Studio at the Lorimer L stop. He’s been an audio tech since the dawn of time—he’s done radio, TV, amplifier repair and everything like that. We use a lot of weirder, beat up, vintage equipment, which is continually breaking, so whenever I have anything electrical, I bring it to John to fix. He just knows. I know a little bit about repairs so I can figure out some stuff, but then there’s the stuff that just blows my mind. Then I’ll bring it to John and he’s like, “Oh, this amp is from ‘67. Yeah, the ones that were made in the latter half of ‘67 have this capacitor which does this weird modulation when it’s in this temperature operating zone. That’s probably what it is.” Then he’ll say, “Go get me a pack of cigarettes” and by the time I’m back he has it fixed. He’s definitely one of those people that I was like, “Ok, this is why I moved to New York—to meet people like this who have that wealth of knowledge.”—Mishka Shubaly

Flight 001

Molly Shannon — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 05:00:14 +0000

If you’re traveling Flight 001 has the greatest little passport holders and travel kits, packed with things like little mini candles that you can light in your hotel room. It’s such a great place to buy
gifts for somebody who is going on a trip, or if you are and want to be organized. They have cool bags and suitcases—I bought my wallet there.

Le Zie

Molly Shannon — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:00:23 +0000

Le Zie is just a yummy neighborhood Italian restaurant and it’s fantastic. It’s delicious food at a reasonable price. Claudio, the proprietor, is the loveliest man. He is so nice and always takes
good care of me. I have to say, Le Zie has been one of my favorite little spots for years. It’s not like those places Da Silvano and those places—this is low key and excellent. Their lasagna is amazing, but all the food is good. I can’t wait to bring my kids when they’re old enough.

House of Cards & Curiosities

Molly Shannon — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:00:10 +0000

This is a little place that I love downtown. It’s mostly greeting cards but it’s just again one of those downtown neighborhood places that are so great. They also have unique gifts like weird stickers and things. It’s a really small, old fashioned looking store and right on Hudson.

Mollusk Surf Shop

Molly Shannon — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 05:00:11 +0000

There’s an amazing place that just opened called Mollusk Surf Shop in Williamsburg. It’s an actual surf shop—so many people are like “Why is there a surf shop in Williamsburg?” The guy that opened it is a photographer and artist. My husband surfs and this place is so cool.

Kidding Around

Molly Shannon — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 05:00:28 +0000

There’s an amazing toy store called Kidding Around where I shop all the time for gifts. It’s the best toy store, with a very neighborhood kind of feel to it that my family loves.

Blow Styling Salon

Molly Shannon — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:00:48 +0000

One place that I just love on 14th Street is Blow Styling Salon. It’s a big part of my life, and with my very wavy hair, getting a blow out done quickly can be an issue. Blow is strictly a hair salon that does blow-drys for woman on the go and they do a really great, cheap, straight, blow-out. I’m a regular customer here. I think they’re amazing and hope they open up many more around the city and in other cities.

Joe Coffee

Amy Sedaris — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 05:00:36 +0000

Joe Coffee is where I sell my cupcakes. I don’t drink coffee that much, but I’ve had it here where it’s really good and creamy. I like Joe. When I wanted to sell my cupcakes we had a deal, ‘Never call me, I won’t call you. It’s under the table,’ so he was fine with that. I might deliver cupcakes for the next four days and then none for a month. Gourmet Garage also sells my cheeseballs. All the money I make goes in my jar and that’s my allowance. It pays for my pot and my rabbit Dusty’s hay.

Tarallucci e Vino

Fred Wilson — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:00:57 +0000

Tarallucci e Vino is my cafeteria. I go there for breakfast and lunch a lot. It’s on 18th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue. I wasn’t drinking coffee for about ten years, went to Italy over the Christmas holidays, and started drinking coffee again just because I love the experience of standing at a bar, ordering a cappuccino and a quick bite to eat and literally standing there to drink, eat, and then leave. The whole thing took five minutes and the coffee was so amazing. When I got back to New York I was looking for that experience and you can do that at Tarallucci e Vino. The cappuccino is great, the little pastries are great, and the lunches are fantastic. They make the best paninis, and have great salads—I recommend the octopus and potato salad. You can’t go wrong there.

Bowery Ballroom

Fred Wilson — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:00:57 +0000

What I love about the Bowery Ballroom is that it’s tiny, so it always feels like you’re standing right in front of the stage even if you’re all the way at the back by the bar. Plus they have the upstairs, so if you’re small like my wife—she’s 5′2″—and can’t stand in the back of the floor and see anything, you can head up there. She can see perfectly upstairs. It’s in a great neighborhood, the Lower East Side, and they book shows I love—the bands who are just starting to become known, they’re bands that are just starting to break. I’ve seen more good shows at the Bowery Ballroom than probably anywhere else in New York.

Shake Shack

Fred Wilson — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:00:18 +0000

I love the Shake Shack partially because of Madison Square Park. My wife and I were big contributors to the campaign to rebuild Madison Square Park, and to me the Shake Shack is all about how a commercial business can come together with a public space and make it better. A lot of the profits from the Shake Shack go to fund the upkeep of the park, so Shake Shack being there makes it more likely the park is going to remain a beautiful, pristine park where you can hang out and listen to music or shows. The other thing is the Shake Shack food is amazing. It’s basic American food— burgers, hot dogs, shakes, french fries—I mean it’s not particularly good for you, but it’s great. I eat there two or three times a month when I am in the mood for a burger.

Tekserve

Fred Wilson — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:00:31 +0000

So here’s the great things about Tekserve: first of all, it’s right around the corner from me on 23rd Street. And it’s one of the few places where you can get really great advice, help, and technical support if you own Apple computers. But the best thing about Tekserve is it’s also a bit of a museum. When you walk in, there are all these old Apple Macintoshes, along with old typewriters and radios and it’s sort of a museum for old electronics. It shows that the people who own and run Tekserve, love technology the way I do. And as beautiful as the Apple stores are, they’re like sort of a fashion statement. And Tekserve is sort of the anti-Apple store. It’s the real, authentic Apple store. You can buy Apple computers there, but a lot of people go there for maintenance.

15 East

Fred Wilson — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:00:01 +0000

15 East is a little place that just opened about a year ago not far from my office. It’s a sushi place, and the guy who works behind the bar is a real authentic sushi chef. When you’re sitting in front of him, he literally makes the sushi and hands it to you—in my mind, that’s the way to eat sushi. It’s a tiny little place, they only have like eight or ten tables and the sushi bar. I always like to sit at the bar and to talk to him and find out what’s good. You just keep ordering and when you’re done, you’re done. It’s beautiful in there, very modern, very minimalist. The fish is really fresh and it’s just a wonderful place. I’ve used it for everything, business lunches, business dinners, family dinners. They’re very nice in there, I love it.

Pier 40

Fred Wilson — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:01:42 +0000

Pier 40 is this amazing place—it’s a pier at Houston Street on the West Side Highway—and if you never walked inside of it, you wouldn’t know, but right in the middle of this huge structure is an enormous ball field where kids and adults play soccer and baseball. Steve Nash, the pro basketball player, plays soccer there sometimes. And the field has this beautiful, new natural green Astroturf field. On a beautiful day, the blue sky and the green field and this white structure of the pier around it—it’s a magical place. And it’s an accident. It happened because the Hudson River Park Trust, who’s building the park all the way up and down the West Side Highway, eventually wants to commercialize this thing but it was sitting vacant so they built a field there for the kids and this has become, basically, the Central Park of lower Manhattan. The tragedy is that they want to turn it into you know, like an entertainment complex. But I’m fighting with a bunch of citizens of lower Manhattan to stop that from happening. But I love Pier 40, I love going there to ball games, it’s an example of how you
can raise a family in New York and have the same experience here in New York that people in the suburbs have.

14th & 8th Subway

Fred Wilson — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:00:25 +0000

This is my subway stop. I’m a huge subway rider, I love the subway for lots of reasons—it’s the fastest way to get around New York and I would never think of going to Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium by car, I’ll always take the subway. The best thing about the 14th Street subway station is there’s an artist who makes these really cool little brass sculptures, it’s really great, they look like little animals or people and they’re all over the station like you’re in a little art museum.

Atelier

Erik Madigan Heck — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:47:05 +0000

Atelier is a men’s shop that sells high-end fashion. For New York, it’s probably the most avant-garde fashion that you can get; labels like Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester, Carpe Diem, Undercover from Japan—and they cater only to men. Most of their clientele are big celebrities like David Bowie, Brad Pitt, etc. But I’ve been going there for a while, so when I’m here it’s like hanging out with friends. And you can’t buy a lot of the fashion that they have in New York. I mean, you can seek it out, it’s really hard, but for them it’s like, everything’s in one place. Ninety percent of my wardrobe is from there. For men, you can’t beat it.

The Dove Parlor

Erik Madigan Heck — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:00:55 +0000

The Dove is an underground bar down on Thompson Street that has really good drinks. I highly recommend it you’re looking for a chill little spot. You walk down a couple steps and it opens up. It’s decorated, roomy and eclectic. The drinks are also pretty interesting and unique, like watermelon martinis with fresh mint. The last time I was there I glanced over and Claire Danes was there drinking a beer, I thought it was kind of funny. The crowd can be very NYU depending on when you go, but it’s fun. It’s not really hipstery and it’s not really Soho either, it’s kind of a nice anomaly in the area. The lighting is low and dark, the music is fairly nice—electronica or indie rock. I really like it. The sad thing was that I didn’t really discover this place until I was moving—had I known it was on Thompson when I lived down there, I probably would’ve been there all the time.

Telepan

Erik Madigan Heck — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:00:20 +0000

Telepan is a really small restaurant on the Upper West Side. The chef uses all local ingredients so everything you’re ingesting is fresh produce from the area. Telepan is classy, more of a classic restaurant with really dope food. To an extent it’s trendy, but the people who eat there come for an appreciation of food rather than for a trendy environment. The food is excellent, probably the best restaurant experience I’ve had in New York, hands down.

Fika

Erik Madigan Heck — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:00:26 +0000

Fika’s a cool, tiny Swedish coffee house that has some good sandwiches, and really fresh food. You can get one of the best smoked salmon sandwiches you’ll ever probably have. All of the people that work at Fika are Swedish, and most of the people there that hang out here are Swedish, so don’t be surprised if everyone around you is having a conversation in Swedish. There’s also great coffee, and they make their own chocolate. It’s so tiny, you would walk by it and not even notice that you missed it, but it’s definitely a place that you should seek out.

Gagosian Gallery

Erik Madigan Heck — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:00:22 +0000

In my opinion, and I’m going to sound kind of snobby here, but for me, Chelsea’s pretty done. I’m not really into the galleries in the Chelsea area, I think it’s kind of ridiculous, the work that they’re showing. However, I would say that the Gagosian Gallery probably has the reputation of being the only worthwhile gallery to go to. It’s huge—you know, I think they have three of them in New York—but the one on 24th Street is almost a city block, it’s just gigantic. The shows that they’ve put on are museum quality shows like the Andy Warhol retrospective, and Richard Serra did an installation there before he did it at the MoMA. The shows here are of such high quality, they’re almost in a league of their own—it kind of puts the rest of the galleries to shame, but that’s just my opinion.

BDDW

Erik Madigan Heck — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 04:00:32 +0000

BDDW sells wood furniture, all handmade, like huge tables, beds, and dressers. It’s really expensive, but such beautiful, beautiful stuff. A lot of it’s derivative of 60’s Danish furniture but they put their own twist on it.

De Vera

Erik Madigan Heck — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 04:00:30 +0000

De Vera is a shop that used to be in San Francisco, I used to go there every spring with my mom during our annual trip. They moved the shop to New York and the store is beautiful. It’s a mix of everything—basically this guy Frederico, goes around the world and he just buys all these small objects like antiques, jewelry and other objects and sells them. It’s expensive stuff, I can’t afford a lot of it, but it’s great. It’s almost like being in a museum but you can buy everything.

Abandoned Smallpox Hospital

Melissa Plaut — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:00:34 +0000

I’ve known about the Smallpox Hospital for a very long time. I am a big fan of hanging out in weird, derelict, abandoned areas. The Highline would’ve been one of my favorites except now it’s completely torn up and off limits, but I used to go up to the Highline all the time and just walk around. But the Roosevelt Island former Smallpox Hospital is just this abandoned building surrounded by a fence, but you can kind of sneak in. You can also just go to the park that is right next to it and sit, look and marvel over this weird crumbling, spooky hospital. And at night it’s lit up, I believe by the same guy who did the lighting design for the Statue of Liberty. You can see it from the FDR. It’s the southern part of Roosevelt Island, Sounds Point Park, and it’s basically on this little sliver of land, so you’re in the middle of the East River. There’s water on your left, your right and behind you if you’re facing north and then the Smallpox Hospital. The hospital is kind of crumbly and a little bit dangerous, there’s falling bricks everywhere and trees growing in the building now—the floors no longer exist. Just be careful.

Panorama at the Queens Museum

Melissa Plaut — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 04:00:31 +0000

There’s a panorama, like an actual miniature reproduction, of New York City and the five boroughs at the Queens Museum of Art. I’m pretty sure it’s the last and largest intact panorama—they used to get made, I guess for world fairs or something like that. There’s also art there, but the real star is this panorama. The lights shining on it are supposed to recreate the hours of the day and how light would fall. It’s cool, just perfectly recreated with every single building. There’s a five dollar admission fee, and it’s located next to all the World’s Fair stuff outside, like the big globe by Shea Stadium.

The Northeast Kingdom

Melissa Plaut — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:00:47 +0000

Northeast Kingdom is one of my new favorites within the past six to eight months. I live over on the border of Williamsburg and Bushwick, and this is in Bushwick proper. The first time I went there, there was definitely some kind of drug arrest going on on the same block. But when you walk into this place, it’s like any cute, nice place that
serves martinis in Manhattan, but much cheaper because it’s in Bushwick. They have great specials, and a really good croque monsieur—thick bacon. It’s one of the first spots I know of that’s nice for dinner and brunch.

duckduck

Melissa Plaut — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:00:39 +0000

Duckduck’s a new neighborhood place too. It’s the first sort of what you would call “gentrified” bar in that little area where I live. There wasn’t a bar like off the Montrose stop of the L for a long time. I just find it to be very cozy. They have doors that open to the sidewalk. For a very small place, it feels very open. It’s well organized, very laid back and close to home. It’s not really a dive, it’s just a cute little place. There’s a lot of neighborhood people that go there, and a lot of the hipsters go there.

Heathers

Melissa Plaut — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:00:35 +0000

Heathers a really cool, laid back place on 13th Street. I feel like you don’t find that many places like that anymore in the East Village. It’s relatively new, but it seems like a throwback to some degree. It’s never all that packed that it gets uncomfortable, and the drinks are reasonably priced. It’s just a friendly chill place that’s more just like a regular mixed drink or a beer kind of place. And I’m friends with people who DJ there from time to time.

Punjabi

Melissa Plaut — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:02:09 +0000

Punjabi is just this taxi joint that is frequented by, obviously, many South Asian cabbies—it’s Indian, Pakistani food that’s totally vegetarian. It’s pretty delicious, only about $2 for a hearty bowl of food, and they have pretty high turnover so nothing has been sitting
there for a very long time. You can stand and eat, there’s a big water cooler, and you’re in and out and with no questions asked. Lots of other people go there other than cabbies, but it’s owned by a former cabbie, from what I’ve heard, so he’s very sympathetic to our kind.

Lobby Bar at the Bowery Hotel

Melissa Plaut — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:01:28 +0000

The Lobby Bar has an expensive dirty martini—my favorite drink—but it’s a good martini, at $17 or $18. The atmosphere is awesome. They have this awesome outdoor patio area that’s really cozy, and so worth just sitting there, and drinking a really delicious, well-made martini.

Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market

Jay McCarroll — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:00:16 +0000

Some of my favorite places to go in New York, even though I can’t afford it, is to shop the wonderful flea markets we have here. My favorite being the one on 39th and 9th Avenue. You can always find good stuff there or see a famous person. You can just stroll, and browse clothing, furniture, and home décor. It can be a bit pricey for a flea market, but what do you expect when you are in New York? I’ve gotten great textiles, dresses, even a crystal balls there. It’s just fun all around. Or you can try the other flea markets around 26th Street. You can find some really good deals and because New York is such a hub of culture, the selection of the antiques and collectibles are a lot more interesting than you would find elsewhere. You can just browse and get inspired by that.

Conway

Jay McCarroll — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:00:23 +0000

I love Conway. It’s a really cheap, gross, discount store. Cheapity, cheap. Sometimes I’ll make a t-shirt that says something funny that I know I’ll only wear once- so why go to H&M and spend $15, when you can go to Conway and spend $3? They are all over the city—you’ll recognize it by their big pink plastic bags. You always see the women on the subway with their giant Conway bag. I’ve taken friends to the women’s department to find cute and trendy stuff that is super super cheap. I remember a friend and I went there once and she bought these cute printed tunic halter dresses. For me personally, I’ll buy anything. I’ll buy disposable t-shirts, belts, socks, even weird shoes that I want to spray paint silver. It’s just junk, but it’s good junk. And I love the pink bag that you get at the end.

The Boiler Room

Jay McCarroll — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:00:50 +0000

The Boiler Room has a great jukebox and cheap drink specials. The crowd is pretty chill and eclectic. I usually go with one or two friends. I don’t like a huge crowd because it’s too hard to coordinate everyone’s schedule so it’s easy to just coordinate with one person and then go off and be debaucherous. They play ’80s, ’90s, New Wave, The Cure, Bananarama—all that fun stuff. The Boiler Room is where you go to wind down and listen to good music. I kind of tend to go for the divey bars, I don’t like plush places that become uptight and stupid. The Boiler Room you definitely need to go to early, but everybody heads to The Cock at the end of the night.

M&J Trimmings

Jay McCarroll — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:00:52 +0000

For all of my craft needs, I like to go to M&J Trimings on 6th Ave in the 40s. You can get anything here for your craft project, any kind of trim, any kind of upholstery trim—from crystals, ribbons or feathers—M&J is the place to go. They have it down to a science.

Lush

Jay McCarroll — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:00:38 +0000

I love Lush Cosmetics in Herald Square on 34th Street—there’s also a location I believe higher up on Broadway around 72nd Street and another location in Queens. I’ve been using their products since 1995 when I lived in London. Someone from The Body Shop left and started Lush. It’s just really nice hand-made, vegan cosmetics that smell amazing. I swear by them. I use 17 of their products on a daily basis. On my hair I’ll use one of their shampoo bars—my favorite is the one which has kale oil and smells like a burning wood fire. It’s disgusting, but it’s good for dry scalp. Then I use fresh pharmacy face soap with calamine and chamomile. I also use their Tea Tree Water toner, and all different kinds of their soaps: Sea Vegetable, Brazilian Sand Stone and one called Rock Star. On my feet I use a foot powder called T for Toes, and on my lips their balm called Lip Service which is really catchy and cute. Their bath bomb, Big Blue, smells amazing.

Café Deville

Jacques Roch — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:00:25 +0000

This is a different atmosphere than Tout Va Bien. It’s a big brasserie, restaurant and café. The beauty of it is that it’s open to the sidewalk. Café Deville is quiet, which is good for conversation, and perfect for meeting friends.

Sideshow Gallery

Jacques Roch — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:00:08 +0000

I like Sideshow Gallery because it is not a slave of the trends. It’s receptive to different sensibilities. On average they are older artists, and they do what they want to do, as opposed to a famous gallery with a much younger generation of artists who are really eager to make it before they are 30 with a specific product. Sideshow has a show each month, which is normally a duo, where two artists show together. The owner is a brave man in the sense that he gave up a brilliant career in illustration for painting.

Guerra Paint & Pigment

Jacques Roch — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:00:01 +0000

This is a small company owned by Monsieur Art Guerra, who is fabricating really wonderful paints, which means a particular pigment and a biner combination. His paint is really close to being pure. The color and pigment is intense. It’s a tiny place that I’ve been going to for 12 years.

Union Square Park

Jacques Roch — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:01:37 +0000

Twice a week I go to Union Square to ventilate my angst. It could not be at the center of Paris. The diversity of the humanity is really, I would say, grotesque. It can be beautiful, it can be really scary, and unpredictable. And most of the time, there is a huge blue sky over it all. People here have this freedom, this incredible freedom to present themselves in an outrageous way. The other day I saw this guy who believed he was a crow. He was flapping his wings with the scream of the crow, in a perfect imitation. It was wonderful. Then he went down into the subway flapping his wings. Union Square refreshes me because I have a rather solitary life here, so it’s really refreshing for me just to come here.

Tout Va Bien

Jacques Roch — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:00:59 +0000

This is a French restaurant in midtown. It’s very convivial, very relaxed—almost like being with family—with very funny waiters. It’s a lively atmosphere, and has very good, affordable food. It’s not huge but it’s a good place to go with four or five people. My favorite entree is the Coq au Vin. The first time I went was with my good friend Christina from Budapest—because she paid for it! This was one of her favorite places, and I’ve gone back with my son Tony.

Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course

Gretchen Mol — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:00:02 +0000

The Van Cortlandt Golf Course is in the Bronx. You can take the train, or what we do sometimes is hire a car service to go up the West Side Highway and you’re there in a half an hour, and suddenly it feels like you’re out of the city. You always meet these amazing characters because the same guys golf every day. You never get to go out on your own. My husband and I would go and you never you go out just the two of you. It’s always as a foursome. So you meet these amazing guys and play as many holes as you can. I’m not a great golfer by any stretch but it’s the oldest public golf course in America. The locker rooms are very cool and old. You can rent clubs or bring your own. The little diner there is good too. Just a fun little getaway.

Annelore

Gretchen Mol — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 04:00:29 +0000

Annelore is one of my favorite little boutiques in the West Village. I think it’s on West 10th Street. Again, it’s a sweet little place that feels like a small closet and very boutique-y. Very eclectic pieces that sort of feel one of a kind. They carry great designers.

Silk Day Spa

Gretchen Mol — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:00:11 +0000

The location is close to me, and Silk Day Spa is a little local place with a really nice environment. The actual locker room here is very clean and I find the whole place is really comfortable and has good lighting. It’s just a very soft spot to go, and they give great massages. I don’t even go to one person specifically, I’ve found that they are all very good. They’ve got great products in the lobby too.

Sucelt Coffee Shop

Gretchen Mol — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:00:03 +0000

Sucelt is a Cuban coffee shop on 14th Street right off of 7th Avenue. A great surprise for take-out coffee! It’s just the best café con leche. It’s delicious, strong and cheap. When you walk in in the morning, they’re already cooking empanadas. You might even come out smelling a little bit like the food, but the coffee is just so good. They also make really yummy egg and cheese sandwiches that they flatten out. I think it is $2—so it’s just like, why would anyone go to Starbucks when there’s this great, rich coffee right on the corner?

Craft

Gretchen Mol — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:00:19 +0000

This is one of my favorite restaurants. Tom Colicchio is the chef and now I have both of his cookbooks. Basically it’s very buttery, rich, delicious, food. What I love most about it is that the actual restaurant is a very nice place—the tables are big and there isn’t a lot of loud music so you can actually have a conversation. I love to just go on a Sunday night, and sit at the bar to eat. You get these little plates of food and share everything. I’m never sorry when I go there because if you go a little bit hungry it really pays off.

The Future Perfect

Gretchen Mol — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 04:00:28 +0000

A Future Perfect is in Williamsburg on North 6th Street and Berry. They have books here that are just full of beautiful wallpaper prints. It’s home décor, but very eclectic pieces. It’s so fun to go in and fantasize about doings things like that—the wallpaper samples really are like little works of art that you flip through. There’s also a small gallery downstairs where they often have lighting displays and other exhibits that are interesting.

Caffe Dante

Matt White — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:00:04 +0000

I’ve been going to Caffe Dante and drinking cappuccinos with my friends for five years. It’s where Bob Dylan used to go, and I know all the waitresses, who have been following my career. I really love it here because it’s right where Dylan used to live, and there’s a real spirit here that I’m always down for.

Frank Restaurant

Matt White — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 05:00:19 +0000

My favorite romantic spot is Frank in the East Village. It’s a place I’ve been going for a very long time. Frank has all homemade Italian food. It’s comfort style and comfort food. They have great wine, and an unbelievable, really cozy Northern Italian flavor. They also have a terrace you can sit outside on and sip coffee and wine.

Washington Square Park

Matt White — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:00:49 +0000

I love the summer here because there’s a ton of musicians. Everyone is hanging out with these street musicians—a lot of them even taught me how to tune and play my guitar. Washington Square Park is just a great melting pot. You see people and meet people, and there’s a university so students are around. It’s very young and energetic, just great.

985 Park

Matt White — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 04:30:25 +0000

One of my favorite buildings that just went up is 985 Park Avenue. It’s a limestone building. It’s kind of a new development. I think it’s just a beautiful building, especially the way they captured and maintained the integrity of Park Avenue while creating something new and pushing the envelope. It’s residential and very beautiful. I really like the architecture.

Noho Star

Matt White — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 05:00:51 +0000

My favorite place to eat is Noho Star on Lafayette. I love it because it’s always good, consistent food. I know all the waitresses and people there because I am a man of habit, and I like to go to the same place over and over again. Noho Star is a big, lofty restaurant so it’s very artsy, which is exactly what Greenwich Village stood for in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. There’s a little explanation on the wall that explains that in the restaurant, and I love to take people here when they visit. My favorite dish is the Frou Frou, which is yogurt with very fresh fruit—and the hot fudge sundae is tremendous.

Blue Hill

David Wain — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:00:45 +0000

Blue Hill is a beautiful place for a date. It’s a restaurant on Washington Street that has all local ingredients and the most amazing chef, whom I also went to college with, Dan Barber. They also have another restaurant up in Westchester called Blue Hill at Stone Barnes, which is on a farm. They grow much of their own food, and it’s just one of those places where everything is perfect. It’s not too fancy, it’s not too intrusive, but it feels like behind-the-scenes, they put so much care into everything and the service is phenomenal.

Mary’s Fish Camp

David Wain — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 04:00:34 +0000

It’s the best. I was a big devotee of a restaurant called Pearl back when it opened on Cornelia street. Mary herself was at Pearl before she opened Mary’s Fish Camp next to my new house. It’s just like being at a Nantucket lobster stand. My favorite thing ever growing up, and still is, is your classic boiled lobster with a big thing of butter. You can’t do better than that unless it’s a lobster roll or steamed clams. I always sit at the bar, because I like to chat with the Mary’s girls. That with some beer or wine, is great.

The Original Sandwich Shoppe

David Wain — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:00:15 +0000

We call it “Sandwiches.” It seems like a family-run place. They make the best quality sandwiches. They cook a big thanksgiving-size turkey everyday and then they just carve from it to make sandwiches, and they have incredible bread. They are just really sweet and nice. You sit down, and you can also get an omelet or a salad. I come here all the time.

Doma Cafe & Gallery

David Wain — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:00:03 +0000

Several years ago Doma opened up in the space of an old antique shop, and it was just so cool. It’s a very homey atmosphere, the opposite of a Starbucks. Doma has mismatched furniture, books on the shelves, and amazing food. They even sponsor an Ethiopian kid. The staff who work here are all beautiful women. I used to come in here every single day to sit at the common table, eat breakfast, meet people, and write. You can see famous people in here too. It’s a real neighborhood hang out. I think a lot of well-known movies and TV shows have been written at these tables.

Flor’s Kitchen

David Wain — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:00:41 +0000

Flor’s Kitchen is a Venezuelan restaurant. They have the best breakfast: eggs, some kind of pork, and this amazing baked bread called arepas. Flor’s also has a very dreamy, lazy vibe so you can just hang out there for hours and relax. They also have a great café con leche. I like to go for brunch with friends.

The Farm on Adderley

The National — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:00:03 +0000

The Farm on Adderley is a really great place in Ditmas Park, located on Cortelyou Road. It’s American cuisine but they use a lot of farm-fresh ingredients and it has a nice atmosphere and bar that’s good for dinner and drinks. Great people work there too. I go pretty often, probably more than once a week, with friends. When people come in from out of town, it’s always the place that we go to because it’s comfortable and not that expensive but delicious food. They also have brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s one of my favorite places in all of New York. —Aaron Dessner

Jacob Riis Park

The National — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:00:17 +0000

The beach at Jacob Riis Park is nice, clean and easy to get to by train with a short walk or bike ride. It’s usually not as crowded as other beaches, and it has a very large parking lot that’s never completely full. We like to visit this beach a couple times during the summer. —Scott Devendorf

Buttermilk Bar

The National — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 05:00:43 +0000

Buttermilk is a great, dark Brooklyn bar on 5th Avenue that has character and a great jukebox. It’s actually run by the people that own The Boat on Smith Street and Great Lakes. We kind of joke that they are indie rock bars because most of the music that they play is indie. It’s also kind of funny that a lot of people that hang out here also happen to be musicians.

Prospect Park

The National — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 05:00:55 +0000

I love Prospect Park. They say it has one of the last virgin forests in North America—there are parts that have never been cut down. My sister actually goes birding here pretty often. It’s full of interesting species and there are a lot of migratory birds that come in and out. I run here a couple times a week in the morning, and there are a couple different spots that I like to go and to sit or kick a soccer ball with friends. I live two blocks away, and it’s just great to live near such a beautiful park and be able to go for walks. You feel like you can breathe and be creative here. —Aaron Dessner

al di là

The National — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 04:00:20 +0000

If you’ve saved up money, a great place to go with family or a loved one is al di là. It’s an Italian restaurant on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn that has amazing, authentic Italian food with a great wine bar attached to it. It also has a nice, rustic interior. It’s my guilty pleasure—I like to go if there’s a special event like someone’s birthday. —Aaron Dessner.

Sound Fix

The National — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:00:20 +0000

There’s a music store in Williamsburg we buy our music at called Sound Fix Records which is a really good place to get independent music. They are really supportive of independent musicians like The National and many others. It’s run by nice people, and there’s a café attached to it. Sound Fix is one of my favorite places in Williamsburg. I like to own the physical record so I shop there. —Aaron Dessner

Aurora

The National — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 04:00:51 +0000

A block from Main Drag Music in Williamsburg is Aurora. It’s Northern Italian style cooking. We went there recently with my mother-in-law, my wife and her sister, and it was pretty tasty. We ordered some wine—we had no idea what the cost was—which surprised us at the end. But the food is awesome and reasonably priced. —Scott Devendorf

BAM Rose Cinemas

The National — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:00:01 +0000

I go to BAM a lot to see movies. I just love the atmosphere and the programming. They have beautiful theaters and such a great selection of movies—I’m inspired a lot by movies. Sometimes I write songs which seem either to be based on music in movies—not intentionally, but I’ll realize later that something in the movie got stuck in my head—and then I’ll write something similar. Or I know topically Matt, who writes lyrics in the band, definitely steals from movies. We all love to go to BAM. —Aaron Dessner.

Warsaw

The National — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:00:44 +0000

Warsaw in Greenpoint just put in a new sound system. The building is the Polish National Home in Brooklyn. It has this odd 1940s/public high school gym feeling to it. It’s a cool place to see a concert. We’ve played here twice and I saw the Liars show here, which was incredible. —Aaron Dessner.

Main Drag Music

The National — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:00:37 +0000

I like the guys at Main Drag Music a lot. It’s an instrument store where they have a lot of vintage keyboards and guitars. We just bought a piano from them recently and they were super helpful. They have a lot of stuff that is reasonably priced where in New York things tend
to be exorbitantly priced. Good people, good selection, good stuff. —Scott Devendorf.

Cobblestones

Amy Sedaris — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 04:00:06 +0000

The woman who owns this vintage shop is always singing show tunes in the back. You walk in and she’s singing out of nowhere, “YOU GOTTA HAVE IT!” At first you might think you imagined it, then she’ll wait a few more minutes and then burst out again. She’s kooky but her prices are quite reasonable and I always find something in her store. I’ve bought little boots here before that you wear at night with the slip bottoms. I’ve also gotten lots of clothes that I’ve used for photo shoots, along with jewelry, books and sewing patterns. My favorite piece from here is my pillow with the little mushroom on it.

Three Lives & Company

Amy Sedaris — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:00:34 +0000

Three Lives and Company is an independent neighborhood bookstore. I’ve been there enough that they know what I like to read and can make good recommendations. It’s real charming. I’m always afraid that one day it’s going to go away like all the independent stores do. If you go here and want to get a best-seller, there’s a chance they don’t have it yet, but at Three Lives and Company you’re willing to wait three weeks for them to get it even if you can go somewhere else and buy it right away. They are truly one of a kind and that’s what I like about them.

Mary Adams The Dress

Amy Sedaris — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:00:03 +0000

I met Mary when I first came here to visit my brother David. He brought me by her shop late at night. I couldn’t believe it, it was like frosting. Then I just kind of became friends with her. I saved up some money and asked her to make a fancy dress for me. I like hand-made clothes a lot, and it was the first time I had a dress made for myself. She has books of dresses that she has made in the past, and she’ll work with what you like. You constantly go back for fittings and stuff. Of course, whatever colors I choose, people say, “No Amy, that’s not right for you.”

Grand Cleaners

Amy Sedaris — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:00:51 +0000

Minnie, a great Korean woman who runs the cleaners next to Your Neighborhood Office, has really helped me. I went to two parties this weekend and I came here first with my dress completely unbuttoned. She has even come to my home to help me get ready for stuff and stitching things last minute for me.

Your Neighborhood Office

Amy Sedaris — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:00:42 +0000

This is my favorite place. I’ll call them for the dumbest reasons and they can help me out. Helen Ann is the woman who owns it. I’ll just bring unopened mail and ask ‘What does it mean?’ and she’ll explain it to me. Or if I run out of quarters for my laundry, she always has extra rolls on her. Anything you need—if you need something ironed or pressed or something delivered last minute—they are going to take care of it for you. She’s also a notary. I just love the things that you hang in the window that say you can notarize stuff. I was even going to take that class and to be in competition with her and try to charge $3 instead of $2. I wanted to prove to her that it was a popularity contest but the exam was really difficult—it’s like you got to be a frigging lawyer to pass that exam—so I was like, ‘Forget it, no way.’ I learn a lot of things from her. I always carry a tape measure in my pocketbook in case I need it, and she’s like, ‘a dollar bill is six inches’ and she’s right. So if you’re ever in a pinch and at a flea market pull out a dollar and it’s six inches long.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven

OTI STAFF — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:26:13 +0000

At Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven, customers watch as cocoa beans are transformed into chocolate bars. Opened in 2004 by award-winning pastry chef Jacques Torres, the Hudson Street factory is also packed with handcrafted confections, gift baskets, and even Torres’ own cookbooks. Die-hard chocolate addicts would be wise to try the famously thick and decadent hot chocolate, and the chocolate croissants are as close as you can get to an authentic Parisian pain au chocolat in the city.

Printing House Fitness

OTI STAFF — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:09:19 +0000

For those who are tired of monotonous gym workouts, Printing House Fitness offers members a uniquely meditative experience. Featuring a sundeck, rooftop pool, and outdoor classes, gym-goers are treated to a sweeping view of lower Manhattan and the Hudson River. Also housed within the 35,000-square-foot penthouse are squash courts, a boxing gym, and state-of-the-art cardio and weight-training machines. Members rave about the relaxing ambience, abundant sunshine and sleek facilities.

Aedes de Venustas

Amy Sedaris — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:00:36 +0000

Walking into Aedes de Venustas is like walking into a cave on Greenwich and Christopher Street. It’s all fragrances, a lot of it is stuff you can’t find anywhere else in New York, and then if it becomes popular Robert, the guy who runs it, stops carrying it. It’s a really nice store and a great place to get a gift. You step inside and you don’t even know where you are—you could be anywhere in the world. They decorate the store with fresh flowers and sell things like lotions and tea candles. When you test the perfume, Robert will spray it in the air and then throw out his arms. It’s a really special place, one of my favorites.

Odin

Michael Angelo — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 04:00:03 +0000

Odin has an amazingly well-curated collection of downtown fashion must-haves. When I’m getting my fashion on and I need something that feels chic and current, I know that Odin has it. The guys there have very successfully edited their collection to reflect a hip downtown boy—and the toys he needs to keep himself happy.

Le Grainne Café

Michael Angelo — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:00:39 +0000

Grainne’s Café is both a friend, and a neighbor. It’s right downstairs from my apartment, so I love to roll out of bed and go downstairs to Grainne’s—it feels almost like I’m staying at a bed & breakfast in Paris. Plus, Grainne has the best bacon on earth. I love to get the “Breakfast American”—a huge plate of eggs, bacon, fruit salad, potatoes and a green salad. And Grainne is so reasonably priced, it’s exquisite.

Tía Pol

Michael Angelo — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:00:13 +0000

Tía Pol is right around the corner from my apartment. I think one of the nicest things about New York City is that you don’t have to go far to get the best in the world in any neighborhood. The owner Tía was inspired by Barcelona for her menu and the small bites are fun and easy to share with friends. She also has the best sangria in town, hands down. In the summer she does a beautiful white sangria with has strawberries it in it that’s to die for. The atmosphere at Tía Pol is always comfortable. The front doors all open up, so in the summer it is just fresh air. I love to just sit at the bar, pick at tapas and call friends to ask, “Hey I’m at Tía Pol’s, do you want to come down and meet me for a glass of sangria?” It’s gotten insanely busy, but I’ve figured out the day and time of the week when it’s not so crazy. Don’t ask when—I’m not telling!

Florent

Michael Angelo — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:00:33 +0000

I’ve been going to Florent since I was in high school. As a teen, my friends and I used to go to a club called Mars in the meatpacking district and afterward we would came here after hours for breakfast. The owner, Florent himself, is the unofficial mayor of the meatpacking district. He’s made the neighborhood so much of what it is today and is even protecting it from growing in weird ways. He’s been so involved in the high line work and the great things that are happening here, and does it with such an artful eye. The neighborhood has such an affection for him. My hats off to the man. He is such a role model—and he serves the most perfect cheeseburger (of which I consider myself to be a very well studied connoisseur) in New York.

Fig & Olive

Michael Angelo — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 04:00:46 +0000

When guests at Wonderland ask me to recommend a lunch spot, I never hesitate to suggest our neighbors next door, Fig & Olive. It’s a tranquil spot to enjoy a nice glass of wine and light, delicious Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.

Motorcyling New York

Doug Jaeger — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 04:00:40 +0000

Motorcycle riding in the city is generally scary but so fun. It’s actually a very fuel-efficient vehicle that can get you places that from a parking perspective are unattainable for a car. Cars are really difficult to park in the city, but a motorcycle you can pretty much park it in front of wherever you are going to. It’s kind of like flying on the ground, and you’re able see the city from a totally different perspective because you can look up and really see the buildings which is hard to do in a car. You can also pretty much escape the city at a quarter of the price of operating a car in the city. The West Side Highway is great for a drive—everyone is more behaved and they also have lights which slows everybody down, which is good.

Zakka

Doug Jaeger — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 05:00:43 +0000

Zakka is like a community design store of Japanese influence. They stock a lot of limited-edition products. Every year they do a T-shirt design contest where they have designers submit a T-shirt and the one that gets voted the best they actually produce and sell through their store. They also have a drop area for promoting design-related events. It’s kind of a place where I’ll hang out if I’m having a creative mental block and use it as a library or maybe pick up some stuff. They actually sell DVDs with typography and different kinds of inspiration. There is a lot of unique clothing, mostly t-shirts but also little hats and stuffed animals. It’s definitely an inspiring place where you can see a lot of stuff that is popular in Japan, mixed together with stuff that’s popular locally.

Xicala

Doug Jaeger — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:00:10 +0000

Xicala is a tapas place with a menu of salty, yummy, awesome stuff with an excellent wine list. Originally, I think it was the wait bar to Cafe El Portal. Over time they doubled the size of Xicala and knocked out the store next door. Now they have a nice little spot where you can get wine basically right on the street. It’s a great date place, very romantic if you’re looking for that kind of thing. They have a chocolate fondue with bananas and strawberries that’s great. It’s good for a light dinner or it’s a place that you go to meet up for a little tapas before going on to dinner.

Ben Freedman Furnishings

Doug Jaeger — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:00:44 +0000

Ben Freedman Gent’s Furnishings is one of those really crazy places on Orchard Street in the so-called bargain district. I guess it used to be a garment district and Ben Freedman is one of those leftovers. They have a lot of men’s suits there. Once I was looking for a bunch of ironic polyester men suits. When I walked in Ben’s it was like walking into a completely different time period—the prices, clothes, colors, and the service are from a different time period. I was just really excited about the actual suits they had and the fact that the jackets were $50. They were real brands, but it was as if they had taken samples or defective suits and had them available. The prices were insane. I bought four complete suits including vest and ties that fit really well and they recommend a great tailor across the street who was fast and really good. I don’t know if it’s the kind of suit that a stock broker or a day trader would wear, but definitely if you’re on the creative side it’s a great place to go. The prices and the variety were unbelievable. Cool patterned ties for $5.87. It’s really fun if you ever feel like you have an extra $100 extra and you want to have an outfit that you could just totally destroy.

Loreley Restaurant & Biergarten

Doug Jaeger — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 04:00:17 +0000

Loreley is a great German joint, run by Germans. It’s very much like a beer hall. They have a backyard and friends of mine had been promoting a DJ session where they would have parties on Friday night. They would go so late, the gigs would almost become like private parties with the guests of the bar itself. But we actually like going to this place for lunch because when you have a business you can’t take a two and a half hour lunch and wait and wait. In Soho there really aren’t that many awesome lunch spots that aren’t really crowded. Loreley is right on the fringe of the Lower East Side and you can be the only group in the place. Occasionally, we’ve seen people from The Onion there or other local companies hang out there for small meetings. It’s not a big kind of crazy place during the week and that’s what’s cool about it. They have amazing beer and traditional German food like bratwurst—it’s traditional German and it kind of makes you feel like you’re not in New York for a couple of minutes because of all the German accents. I think you can even get menus in German. In the summer, the beer garden in the back is great, very social. They always sit people with mixed table so it ends up being a really social experience and the wait staff is enthusiastic about forcing people to have fun.

Another thing is that it’s the T on Freeman’s Alley and so a lot of people after they go to Freeman’s for dinner will end up stopping by Loreley. Around the corner is where The Box is, so there is a lot of people in the area and it ends up being a good waiting spot for other places. If you’re waiting for a late show at The Box or if you couldn’t get a table at Freemans and you want to get a drink it’s a good friendly spot, it’s not elitist in any way.

Despaña

Doug Jaeger — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 04:00:12 +0000

I was up doing some extreme exercises at the gym across from Despaña when my trainer was like, “hey, you should check out that place it’s great Spanish food,” so I just wandered in one day. It was all raw meats and things hanging in the window, but I saw some people waiting in line and when I asked what for, they said sandwiches. I got this really amazing sandwich called La Picante with very spicy chorizo style sausage. Their sandwiches aren’t advertised, which I think is a cool, subtle thing so it hasn’t been truly corrupted like when you show up and there’s a line of ten people or have to wait 25 minutes. I think the sandwiches are about eight bucks, but treat yourself—the quality of the oils and vinaigrette they use, are so good it’s worth it. We buy their olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette to use at home.

Ed’s Lobster Bar

Doug Jaeger — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:00:59 +0000

Ed’s Lobster bar is a really cool spot that’s only been open a few months. When I first moved in on Spring Street it was an Indian place that had lots of cognac in the back. Then it was this crazy French restaurant. Then, boom, one day the French guy was gone and Ed’s Lobster Bar moved in. The first night it was open I remember walking by and saw how crowded the bar was. To me that’s always a good sign. Since then, we try to get there as early as possible to get a seat at the bar. They have amazing mussels, lobster rolls which are pretty fantastic and a pretty good set of draft beers. It’s a good place. There are always couples around which is kind of fun—sometimes they’re on a blind date and the bar staff is kind of awesome at instigating dialogue. The servers are really friendly and the main guy from Brooklyn is really into making sure you’re okay.

Elizabeth Watson Hair Studio

Amy Wilson — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 05:00:45 +0000

Elizabeth is a lovely person with a lovely, relaxing salon. I go to Elizabeth for haircuts, and to Elena for the best mani/pedi and waxing around. Elizabeth actually saved my hair right before my wedding so I’ve been going to her ever since then.

Prenatal Yoga Center

Amy Wilson — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 04:00:20 +0000

I’ve spent about half of the last five years pregnant. In my bigger times, I love going to the Prenatal Yoga Center. It’s a blissful, calm oasis where you can ease your aches and pains and focus on the baby inside. Everybody there is pregnant so it’s a very freeing sort of place. Besides the yoga, they offers all kind of classes on how to take care of newborns so it’s like one-stop shopping. I even met one of my best friends there—our first kids were born one day apart and now they’re friends also.

Veronique Maternity

Amy Wilson — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 05:00:35 +0000

Being pregnant and looking fashionable, or even reasonable, is NOT easy. Maternity clothes are overwhelmingly cutesy, tent-shaped, or come in gaudy prints you would never wear when NOT pregnant, let alone with 40 extra pounds on you. Veronique is the perfect antidote—their clothes are simple, flattering and elegant. With well-made clothes you can wear over and over again and look great, it’s not cheap but it’s the only place you’ll need to go.

Aix Brasserie

Amy Wilson — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:00:25 +0000

I like to meet friends here for drinks—their bar area is large, their wine list is long, and their burger, I think, holds its own with the best in the city. They have a more formal dining area in the back, but the draw for me is the bar area in the front with its lively and downtown feel.

Celeste

Amy Wilson — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 04:00:33 +0000

New York Magazine named this one of the top ten Italian restaurants in New York City last year, and I agree. It’s cash only, no reservations. Go early, order their (cheap!) house-made pasta, and save room for the cheese plate, described in loving detail by Celeste’s owner.

Fred’s

Amy Wilson — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:01:02 +0000

My husband David and I take the kids here at least once a week. It’s the perfect restaurant for families: kid-friendly but still adult-hip. My kids love all the pictures of dogs on the walls. I love the sangria. You can’t lose!

Il Fornaio

Salvatore Stabile — Wed, 16 May 2007 04:00:50 +0000

My mother makes the best Italian food in New York, but she wouldn’t be too happy if I gave out her address. When my mother’s not cooking, and I’m in the mood for Italian, my heart is in Little Italy. Yes, it’s a tourist trap, but who cares? I feel at home when I’m there and you will too. I usually go to Il Fornaio, a restaurant I worked at while I was going to film school. The food is great and cheap. It’s a crime to charge 25 bucks for pasta and some uptown spots charge even more. Don’t get robbed, and don’t do boutique, upscale Italian or you’ll walk out feeling hungry. As an Italian, that’s a crime.

Cafe Reggio

Salvatore Stabile — Tue, 15 May 2007 04:00:12 +0000

When I was going to NYU, I would go read or write at Cafe Reggio. The food, the dessert, the coffee—in fact everything—is great here.

Eileen’s

Salvatore Stabile — Mon, 14 May 2007 04:00:15 +0000

My grandmother lived two blocks from Eileen’s and would always buy cheesecake there. I don’t think I’ve ever had cheesecake anywhere else. Growing up, Eileen’s cheesecake was in our refrigerator at least once a month.

The Grey Dog

Salvatore Stabile — Sat, 12 May 2007 04:00:52 +0000

When I was mixing my film Where God Left His Shoes, I found Grey Dog right around the corner from the studio where we were mixing. It’s a really cool, bohemian place with good service, and great coffee, sandwiches and amazing desserts. It’s a fun, young hangout—a real gathering place.

Old Town Bar & Restaurant

Salvatore Stabile — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:00:09 +0000

I won’t eat a burger anywhere else but at Old Town Bar and Corner Bistro. The Old Town Bar is almost like a New York version of Cheers—it has that old bar feel and a great crowd. It’s where I head when I want to grab a beer and catch up with friends in a low-key setting where I don’t have to wait or fight a crowd.

El Faro

Salvatore Stabile — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:00:40 +0000

If I’m in the mood for a real filling meal, I head to El Faro on Greenwich Street. It’s by far the best Spanish food in the city. For starters, I get a carafe of sangria and the shrimp ajillo and the tortilla al espanola as appetizers. My main dish favorites are the chicken villarroy and clams a la marinera. You will leave with a full stomach—and a full wallet. A hundred bucks will feed four people.

Brandy Library

Salvatore Stabile — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:00:08 +0000

If I can’t sit, relax and enjoy my drink, I’d rather stay home. If you’re looking for a cool, upscale bar without the bridge and tunnel crowds, head to Tribeca and check out the swanky Brandy Library Bar. They have an amazing list of cognacs if that’s your thing, and it’s a great meeting spot for a date. You won’t have to scream over loud music and you don’t have to brave a drunk hipster crowd.

River Café

Salvatore Stabile — Tue, 08 May 2007 04:00:37 +0000

For romance, spend the money and get a window table at the River Café in Brooklyn. But be careful—you’ll fall in love with whoever you’re with.

Corner Bistro

Salvatore Stabile — Sat, 05 May 2007 04:00:43 +0000

Corner Bistro is my number one hangover cure. When it’s 3 AM, you’ve been out all night, and find yourself hungry again you go to Corner Bistro. It’s been a routine of mine ever since a friend introduced me five years ago.

L&B Spumoni Gardens

Salvatore Stabile — Fri, 04 May 2007 04:00:22 +0000

For the best Sicilian pizza slice you will ever have, trek out to where I grew up in Bensonhurst, off of 86th Street, and treat yourself to Spumoni Gardens, a.k.a. L&B Pizza. It’s one of the best-kept secrets in New York City. Make sure you try their homemade spumoni for dessert.

The Grill Room

Matthew Bronfman — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:00:56 +0000

The Four Seasons is my favorite restaurant in New York. I’ve been coming here pretty much my whole life. We eat at the Grill Room for lunch, and on special occasions we go to the Pool Room for dinner. It’s the most elegant restaurant in New York, with fabulous food. The Grill Room is a little bit like a private club at lunch—the connections you can make there, the people you see, is really a first-class crowd. Although it’s billed as a “power lunch,” anyone can get in, but the majority of people are regulars and that’s always nice—it’s kind of like the theme song from Cheers. It really is nice to be recognized, to go where your friends are.

Biking in Central Park

Matthew Bronfman — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:00:53 +0000

In the mornings I get up early with a bunch of my friends to bike two or three loops around Central Park. I’m more of a fair-weather person and don’t bike when it’s dark or cold out, so I usually wait for the time change and warmer weather before I head out for the season. There are so many other bikers out in the park, it’s really a lot of fun. A bunch of us actually use our morning workouts to train, and then vacation in Europe in the fall for a week-long bike trip. We’ve gone to France a couple times—we actually climbed Mont Ventoux, which is part of the Tour de France course—and this year I think we’ll cycle through Tuscany.

Sidecar

Matthew Bronfman — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:00:48 +0000

Sidecar is just a fun, very friendly place. Downstairs, P.J. Clarkes has the best burgers in New York, but upstairs you’ll also find a relaxed environment with very good food—at very good prices as well. I love coming here for a casual business lunch, but my older kids also think it’s a great place to go too.

Solo

Matthew Bronfman — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:00:45 +0000

Solo is an elegant restaurant located in the Sony Building. It has a low-key, private environment. It feels a little more intimate. And the kosher food is excellent. They have great steaks- that’s their speciality.

Dylan’s Candy Bar

Matthew Bronfman — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:00:22 +0000

I’m not sure who likes going here more—my wife or my kids—but everyone loves it, it’s a great spot in New York. It’s a great concept to have this candy bar on two levels, the way they display their variety of products. And I can walk there from my house, it’s only about 10 minutes. Such a good concept that is so well executed, that I hope Dylan Lauren opens more of them.