Tasties, I’m reporting to you live from the City that Never Sleeps. I’ve been here for almost two weeks, and I think I’ve finally learned something important about NYC—I am not tough enough for this shit. How do you guys do it?! Is there some magical supplement combination that makes it possible to withstand wind, rain and freezing cold all day, then party all night, and somehow still find time to do work? And if so, where the fuck can I purchase it??
All that being said, I’m loving my time here. I’ve done so much it feels like I’ve been here for months. I like the way you run into people in New York; it’s way easier to get a group together and get a party going than it is in LA. Everything is so…close.
Anyway, here’s the best of what I’ve done in New York. This is an extremely comprehensive guide to my wanderings, so please grab a snack and put your feet up. I’ll highlight my favorite from each category, then explain my thoughts on every location. Let me know if you agree/disagree, and what else I should squeeze in before I take off.
Restaurants
Babe, I’ve been eating good. I don’t dine out that much in LA (because, money) but since I’m kinda on vacation, I said ‘fuck it’ to the budget and balled out. Here’s everywhere I’ve eaten this go ‘round, in order; highlighted in bold is my favorite expensive food and my favorite cheap eats. As a reminder, I’m a vegetarian so that heavily influences my reviews.
Ok, now let’s go into them all in somewhat greater detail.
Congee Village—I was in a private karaoke room with friends at Congee, and I had the best time ever. The food wasn’t really my thing (namely because this is a meat-forward restaurant), but hearing the dulcet tones of Adele’s Someone Like You over noodles should be a NYC rite of passage.
Sushiro—A small sushi joint in the West Village, close to where I’m staying. I came in for a quick snack and did not expect it to be so yummy. Great in a pinch, and the chef was very kind.
Cafe Mogador—Yum. I went gaga for their marinated beets, and the vibes inside were immaculate. Thanks again to the commenter who recommended this spot; I loved it.
Spicy Moon—Delicious vegetarian szechuan food. Strongly recommend the mapo tofu.
Remedy—A run-of-the-mill diner. I wasn’t mad at the eggs, but I wasn’t like, impressed.
Scarr’s Pizza—This is the best slice I’ve eaten thus far. I guess there’s usually a line out the door but I must’ve gotten lucky because when I pulled up, there was no one else in sight. I loved how crunchy the bread was; reminded me of Mozza in Los Angeles. It was certainly superior to—
Joe’s Pizza—This is a classic joint (and as their walls brag, once featured in Spiderman), but I thought the pizza was just ok.
abcV—Hands down my favorite fancy dinner I’ve had here—and it was all plant-based <3 Granted I’ve only been to one fine dining experience in New York, but dude…this food…unreal. I’m not usually a cocktail girl with dinners, but the drinks were out of this world. As for the actual food, the avocado lettuce cups were my favorite.
Raku—Delicious udon noodles. I may honestly go back here before I leave.
Kopitiam—A simple, yummy Malaysian restaurant. Good for a girl on the go.
Restaurant Relax—This Polish restaurant was a recommendation from my comment section and man, it did not disappoint. The restaurant was virtually empty, which I found strange because those little pierogis were delish.
Dowling’s—Let me explain. I went to The Carlyle because I wanted to go to the famous bar, Bemelmans. But I discovered I was there too early, and Bemelmans was not open, so I just had lunch in Dowling’s. It was fine, but not particularly interesting. For what it’s worth, Bemelmans looked beautiful…from a distance.
Mamoun’s—This has been my favorite cheap eat in NYC. It’s a falafel shop with a fantastic pita. If you go, get the East Village sandwich. So citrus-y and light. I badly wish these guys would expand to LA.
Supper—An old-school Italian spot that only takes cash. This is a matter of personal taste, but I thought everything was just a bit too oily. That being said, I’m never mad at a cacio e pepe.
Cafes/Bakeries
Back home, I’m a real cafe fiend, because that’s where I tend to do my work. You can find me rotating between three spots near Los Feliz—Maru, Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia. Occasionally, I’ll pop into Stories or Canyon Coffee.
I’ve been happy to see that New York shares my same affinity for coffee shops (maybe that’s how people never sleep), but I notice that the city is very anti-laptop. Every shop seems to have some signage about a ‘two hour limit.’ I don’t blame them—all the laptops are annoying—but the amount of policing made me slightly claustrophobic.
That said, these are all the cafes and bakeries I’ve been to, in order, with my favorite cafe and favorite bakery highlighted in bold.
And here’s the breakdown of what I liked and didn’t like about said selection.
Abraço—I started off with a bang. Abraço was my favorite cafe, hands down. The coffee was great (though lactose-intolerant friends, be warned, they only have whole milk), the little egg sandwich-thing I had was super yummy, and the vibes were immaculate. I will be going back before I leave.
Black Cat LES—This spot is cute for getting a little work done. Reminds me of the cafes on my college campus, low-lit and warm.
Devoción—Listen, the coffee was good, but the Williamsburg location I went to was way too crowded. People kept trying to snipe my table, and it made for a very agitated atmosphere. Can’t in good conscience recommend.
Partners—This place is fine. Normal, easy coffee. It happens to be very convenient to where I’m staying; otherwise, I wouldn’t go.
MUD—My experience here was…odd. I walked in at 9:30am on a Sunday, and asked if it was okay to use my laptop. The server said yes, and sat me at a table. Then another guy came by 15 minutes later and warned me that brunch started at 10am and I’d need to close my laptop. Again, totally fine that they don’t want computers, but the unclear communication around the rules was more frustrating that the rules themselves. That being said, the café itself was homey and nice.
Poetica—The coffee? Normal. The pierogis? Great. Get the egg and scallion one.
Bagel Pub—These bagels were okey-dokey. If anyone has better bagel recs in the city, my ears are open.
Supermoon Bakehouse—I’m biased towards Supermoon because one of the employees, Walid, gave me twenty pastries. *For free.* In the interest of journalism, I’ll be honest: not every pastry was my favorite. In particular, I hated the kouign aman croissant. But as someone who’s sampled most of what the shop has to offer, I think I can safely say the average pastry is great. If you go, the ube eclair is out of this fucking world.
Also Walid is a very talented artist—this is one of his paintings.
Sorry I couldn’t crop out the IG slide # in the corner. You can find more of his work here.
Lady M—This place was too self-serious, and the cakes were just okay.
The Coppola Café—Writing this in here as we speak! It’s nothing special, but it does feel like a real neighborhood spot; the people next to me keep chatting with everyone who walks in.
Shops
I take my shopping very seriously, and I came to New York with only one real mission—get some good shit. And I have. But…not much. Because the prices here are eye-watering, especially for vintage clothing with any sort of curation; I am past the point in my life where I have the patience to wander into an enormous thrift store and get lost for hours. I’ve seen some interesting pieces but overall, I feel underwhelmed. Except, strangely, when it comes to men’s clothing—the guys really are having all the fun in 2024.
Here are all the shops I’ve visited; my favorite vintage shop and favorite contemporary shop are highlighted in bold. Keep in mind I am a certified hater, and if I disparage one of your favorite shops, mea culpa.
[Also, some of this information may be familiar from my NYC shopping haul vid.]
Tokio7—This was the first shop I walked into—and still the only store where I’ve actually bought clothing. I got a pair of low-rise Marithé + François Girbaud jeans. I think they’re fairly similar to this pair, though it’s hard to tell from the seller’s photo. In any case, if you want some MFG jeans of your own, keep an eye on sizing; I normally wear a M, but I’m an XL in this pair.
James Veloria—I’m going to say something sacrilegious: I prefer the James Veloria store in LA. The stock at the NYC location felt mundane, lacking Veloria’s signature charm and whimsy. But maybe I just went at a bad time! While I was there, I bopped around to:
2 Bridges Mall—I went into so many small boutiques in this mall it’s not worth enumerating them all. On the whole, a fun way to kill an hour. And it’s near—
Aeon Books—A great little bookstore with a quirked up selection.
Women’s History Museum—I’ve followed this vintage store on IG for ages, and I was excited to check out their collection. What I found was mostly overpriced JPG and Vivienne Westwood, mixed in with some extremely unusual contemporary stuff (eg, a high-rise mohair panty). I like that they take risks, but I wasn’t dazzled.
Blue in Green—A menswear store with a beautiful selection of Japanese brands and enough Our Legacy to clothe an army of hipsters. Definitely enjoyed their picks. As opposed to—
Cueva—This place was eerily quiet, more like a museum than a shop. They had all the usual ‘cool’ men’s brands, nothing even remotely off the beaten path.
Colbo—Similarly not for me. BUT…I do hear that there’s a vintage section in the back that I totally missed in my perusal. If that’s true, I might have to reassess.
C’H’C’M’—This place is so often mentioned in Blackbird Spyplane that I was expecting to love it more. Instead, I found it nearly identical to Cueva (even the downstairs location was eerily similar). But for what it’s worth, my style-inclined male friend said this had the best selection of menswear, so I will 100% defer to him.
ESSX—Another hypebeast spot. Seriously not my thing.
Cafe Forgot—But this? This was my thing. Cafe Forgot was my favorite ‘contemporary’ store; their pieces were unique but not weird-for-weird’s-sake. Most of the stuff was wearable, relatively well-priced…and best of all, there’s a little knob on the wall you can turn to rotate the stock. Brilliant! Here I am playing with it. I toyed with getting a Greta Garmel sweater (unfortunately not avail on CF’s site) or some Raimundo Langlois jeans, but ultimately I was just happy to browse.
I am a kid in a candy store. Coming Soon—This store feels like the height of everything that will be considered cheugy in a year’s time. I used to love Coming Soon’s selection for gifts, but I hate that they’ve kept virtually the same stock for like…5 years? It’s time to switch it up, girls.
Fantasy Explosion—Mainly overpriced vintage t-shirts. I walked in, did a single lap around the store, and walked out.
Tangerine—This store is sort of New York’s answer to LA’s Maimoun. It was almost over-curated, like it was meant to be IG story’d more than shopped.
Stella Dallas—I had absolutely zero interest in the 10Ft Single by Stella Dallas shop; it was huge and inscrutable. BUT the Stella Dallas Living store a few yards away is my favorite vintage shop I’ve been to thus far. The textiles were sumptuous. If it weren’t such a bitch to ship stuff, I would’ve bought half the shop.
The Great Eros—Not worth spilling ink over. Dull. It’s right next door to—
Chickee’s—This one came recommended, but I found their vintage pretty bland, and very overpriced.
Laams—The guys who work here are so nice. The store—which carries streetwear, vintage (men’s and women’s), records, books and more—isn’t really my thing, but wow were they kind. Go in just to hang with them.
Lara Koleji—I really liked Koleji’s vintage clothing but damn, this store is made for tiny people. Almost everything in store was an XS or S. A weirdly outdated choice. It’s right next to—
Pilgrim—A serious designer vintage store, but whose curation felt a little, uh, mature for me.
Casa Magazine—So much fun. I picked up the latest issue of Apartamento, and a Casa tote which was way nicer than it has any right to be. Ignore the fact that it’s already getting beaten up; I really do treat my bags like shit.
C.O. Bigelow—Simply put, this place fucks. There’s nothing I enjoy more than an old-world-y apothecary. I blacked out and when I came to, found I’d purchased the Sun Bum tinted face sunscreen (which came highly recommended by a friend), the Bathorium eucalyptus bath soak, this Joanna Vargas sheet mask (currently half-off at that JCPenney link), an adorably-packaged Murphy & Daughters soap, and of course, their signature C.O. Bigelow salve trio (which you can also get on Amazon, though it seems to have slightly different packaging). As a very sweet bonus, the sales associate threw in samples of Weleda’s Sea Buckthorn lotion, the Skin Food body butter, and the arnica massage oil.
Scent Bar—I’ve been to (and loved) Scent Bar LA. This NYC location is a whole other ballgame. I went when it was moderately busy, but the person helping me said there’s usually a *line out the door*. I felt bad I took up so much of their time and bought nothing, but it was still a fun experience. I might circle back to pick up the Hilde Soliani ‘Sweet Parmesan Violet’—yes, that’s a crazy combination of ingredients but trust me, it smelled good.
Oroboro—This one is not for me. But it is for the Black Crane girls, the Casey Casey girls, the Ilana Kohn girls…you get it.
Also, an honorable mention—I went to Sephora because the wind has whipped my face into a red chapped mess. So I grabbed this Dr. Jart Ceramidin sheet mask, which worked like a freakin’ charm. I also didn’t bring any face tint with me to NYC but again, the wind has rendered it necessary. I picked up the Supergoop Protec(tint) skin tint, which also has SPF. Jury’s still out on this one.
Bars
While I feel like I’ve done a ton of drinking while here, I realized it’s actually been mostly over dinner or at friends’ places, rather than in multiple bars. That being said, I have gleaned a few things:
Cocktails in New York are weirdly delicious, except—
Tequila sodas, which are so universally bad around here it almost seems like a conspiracy. In a similar vein:
Do not order orange wine in NYC. It is not their thing, and you will regret it.
With that in mind, here are all the bars I’ve been to in New York, with my favorite bar highlighted in bold.
And now, for more detail!
Reception—I can’t remember the last time I was taken aback by a cocktail, but their Ginger Goblin was insane. So, so good. I am in the process of trying to get the recipe from a server. Until then, I will just have to go back for more. Doesn’t hurt that the space itself is adorable
Honey’s—I was here for a birthday party that took over the space for the night, so I’m not sure I could say what an average Friday at Honey’s looks like. But one thing’s for sure—do not get the mead. I gagged.
The Blond—For the record, I did not go here of my own volition; a friend of a friend was DJ’ing. This place is my personal idea of hell. Beware, all ye who enter here.
Nowadays—A friend took me here for their Nowruz party, and I had a blast. The drinks were great and the dancing was even better. I’d definitely go back.
Bar Pisellino—I was so hungover the night I went here that I just got a ginger tea, which was actually quite good…as opposed to the rice pudding I ordered, which sucked. They placed my friends and I in an outdoor area that was not well-tented, so tea the came in handy.
Angel’s Share—I did not actually sit at this one. A sweet, well-intentioned friend who works in art wanted to see the bar’s famous mural, so I agreed to go (even though I’m morally opposed to anything that calls itself a “speakeasy”). We showed up, and they wouldn’t seat us because we had a party bigger than four (there were five of us). They said we couldn’t split tables, and oh, the wait time was an hour. Pass.
Employee’s Only—So we went here instead. A nightmare zone. This is for I-bankers and the people who want to fuck I-bankers. Do not recommend.
KGB—I loved this spot. The atmosphere reminded me of theaters in Chicago (especially The Den Theatre). I even got a cute little matchbook. This place did give me one of the worst hangovers of my life, but I will try not to hold that against them.
And finally, Art etc.
I’m gonna toss all of the other miscellaneous art-adjacent things I’ve done in here. Because who has the time for organization.
THEATRE
I’ve been to three shows so far: Teeth, Appropriate and Oh Mary. Appropriate is like, traditional, predictably satisfying theatre and Teeth had some catchy tunes, but of the three, I dramatically preferred Oh Mary. I’d tell you to get tickets, but I think they’re sold out until the end of time. But do try the stand-by line, as I saw that work for quite a few people.
ART
An extremely kind person on TikTok actually sent me tickets to the Whitney Biennial. Elisabeth, you are an icon! I had a fun time browsing that, as well as Karma Gallery. I don’t love Karma’s current exhibition, but the space is cool. I also let myself be a tourist and went to The Met for many hours. I am the kind of girl who most enjoyed their weapons exhibit. Make of that what you will.
MOVIES
For those of you who haven’t seen my video—I am now a woman who has been to THEE Criterion Closet. I was invited to Criterion HQ by Sideshow to see a screening of their new movie The Beast. It was amazing, a genuinely out-of-body experience. Of all the cool things I’ve gotten from social media, the Closet visit was far and away the best.
FRESH AIR
I have to mention how cute the Elizabeth Street Garden is. I think it’ll be especially fabulous when it’s in full bloom.
In Closing
So there you have it! I still have about a week left and plenty of things on my To-Do list including several galleries, a spa or two and of course, more food. Feel free to send me more ideas; I’m especially looking for other cafes (because I gotta get some shit done while here) and other shops (because I also having a burning need to throw money to the wind).
Next time we talk, I’ll hopefully be back home in my sunny little apartment, with everything back to normal—but substantially stronger calves from all the walking.
Au revoir!
I may earn some money if you make a purchase through one of the links above.
I used to work at Hatchet BK. Mostly a menswear store, was well curated when I worked there, note did not love working there. But Rebecca Hall and Tess Thompson came in frequently to shop, so the fashion girls were definitely into the menswear
adding a few more favs for you!!
La Cabra for coffee/pastries
Librae for pastries
Marlow & Sons for everything (pastries, sandwiches, sips/snacks, etc)
Leo for pizza/salad
Win Son Bakery for their scallion egg pancake