NYC Hotspot Find: Mozzarella e Vino
Midtown has got to be one of my least favourite dining destinations in NYC. I’m pretty sure local New Yorkers and tourists alike have gone for an inspiring trip to MoMa, left feeling famished with zero decent restaurant options (that don’t equal the price of a limb). Enter Mozzarella e Vino a casual yet elegant enoteca specialising in … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: The Future Perfect
This rule-breaking furniture and home store is a true beacon for design lovers in NYC to find progressive, intelligent interior objects that bridge the gap between art and design. Walking inside the spacious interior you could mistake yourself for being inside a serene, thought provoking art gallery with large format furniture pieces from the likes … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Ace Hotel
ACE HOTEL NEW YORK, MIDTOWN WEST The Ace Hotel is the perfect spot for young creative types travelling to NYC. Not surprisingly, the hotel also attracts local creative freelancers, hipsters and cool kids who come to hang out in the lobby, work on their latest magazine stories while sipping on a Stumptown latte and taking … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Flinders Lane
FLINDERS LANE, EAST VILLAGE It took dinner at Flinders Lane to realise how much I’ve missed the food back home in Australia. If you’re lucky enough to have travelled there, you’ll know modern Australian cuisine as a beautiful multicultural collision that takes the best from South East Asia, Greece, Italy and even India with British … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Joseph Leonard
JOSEPH LEONARD, WEST VILLAGE Brunch at Joseph Leonard can be likened to attending your cool stylist friend’s brunch party. You feel slightly jealous as you enter into her tiny but bright West Village apartment filled with all the curious antiques she’s discovered on her travels. You can’t help but notice how she seems to have … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Creatures of Comfort
CREATURES OF COMFORT, NOLITA I like to think of Creatures of Comfort as a more tightly curated, unobtrusively fashionable version of Opening Ceremony. The NYC store (an offshoot of the original LA location) offers New Yorkers looking for thoughtful casualwear by cult fashion labels like Rachel Comey, Isabel Marant, Acne, Margiela and Hope, a way … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Hi-Collar
HI-COLLAR, EAST VILLAGE I keep saying “this is my new favourite restaurant” but this time it really is, promise. Hi-Collar is one of those no-details-spared Japanese hotspots. It’s a Parisian-inspired cafe by day and restaurant/sake bar by night. The place literally transforms as soon as the barman stealthily slides the wall-to-wall cabinet door to reveal … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Saxon + Parole
SAXON + PAROLE, NOHO Saxon + Parole is a solid NoHo restaurant where you can expect an excellent meal with a memorable bottle of wine. You’ll even enjoy all of it in the restaurant’s lively atmosphere with its sophisticated NoHo crowd. Meat-lovers’ ears will prick up when they hear the specials because there’s bound to … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Assembly New York
ASSEMBLY NEW YORK, LOWER EAST SIDE Located on the same block where all the LES cool kids hang out is Assembly New York, where I assume they all shop as well. Here you will find a mix of men’s & women’s high-end vintage clothing as well as contemporary, slightly obscure international luxury labels (including their … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Bohemian
BOHEMIAN NYC | NOHO Hidden behind Japan Premium Beef on Great Jones Street, lays a Japanese restaurant shrouded in secrecy – an almost impossible feat in a city run by publicity and where speakeasies and members clubs are a dime-a-dozen. Somehow though, Bohemian pulls off the member’s only restaurant concept in a way that weeds out … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: McNally Jackson Store | Goods For The Study
MCNALLY JACKSON STORE | GOODS FOR THE STUDY, NOLITA Indie bookseller and downtown darling McNally Jackson Books recently opened a precious little boutique right around the corner that does a good job of proving they don’t just have great taste in books, but anything book-ish or even surrounding the book. The store is stocked with … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Charlie Bird
CHARLIE BIRD, SOHO Lingering lunches at Charlie Bird are my new favourite weekend pursuit. Modern Italian food isn’t always done with as much flair in this town, there’s always that fine line that’s crossed where the food is more American-Italian than it is Italian-Italian, but Charlie Bird gets it right. I’m even poised to say … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Tooker Alley
TOOKER ALLEY, PROSPECT HEIGHTS This understated, yet quietly quirky artisanal cocktail bar serves up undoubtedly stylish tipples, which they evidently take very seriously. Just take a peek at their multi-page old-timey style menu which offers readers insight into the history of what they’re drinking as well as the bar’s manifesto which is to be “consciously … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Amarcord Vintage Fashion
AMARCORD VINTAGE FASHION, SOHO A shopping destination for designer vintage lovers who are in search of more than just the ubiquitous Chanel quilted handbag. Amarcord digs deep during their buying trips in Europe and in particular Italy (the owner’s motherland) and the result is a store with racks full of unique, wearable art from legendary … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Uncle Boons
UNCLE BOONS, NOLITA Let’s say you’re reminiscing about your last trip to Thailand, when you were nursing that ice-cold beer and grazing on Thai food with that unmistakable fresh, dynamic flavor. You want to recreate that, but you’re stuck in Lower Manhattan, that concrete jungle we all know lacks quality Thai, considering every other cuisine … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Mast Brothers Chocolate
MAST BROTHERS CHOCOLATE, WILLIAMSBURG A must visit spot as you wander the streets of Williamsburg is Mast Brothers Chocolate, an artisanal chocolate factory and store best known for its chocolates that surely inspired Brooklyn’s now ubiquitous craft movement. We can thank founders Michael and Rick Mast for their devoted chocolate making process where only the … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Baby’s All Right
BABY’S ALL RIGHT, WILLIAMSBURG If you’ve been following me on the Instagram, you’ll know that I’m often hanging out at the gigs, DJ sets and live music events of my favourite musicians and artists. So I guess you could say I know a thing or two about what makes a live music venue stand out … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Casey Rubber Stamps
CASEY RUBBER STAMPS, EAST VILLAGE It’s easy to miss this unassuming New York Institution as you walk past it on 11th Street. If it’s happened before, don’t let it happen again because inside this imaginative, whimsy specialty store you will suddenly realise what you’ve needed all this time – high-quality unique rubber stamps and ink … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Dover Street Market New York
DOVER STREET MARKET NEW YORK, KIPS BAY Cult shopping mecca and high concept mega-boutique Dover Street Market hailing from London and Tokyo has finally opened a New York City Branch in Kips Bay. Rei Kawakubo, the designer behind Comme Des Garcons has curated the seven-storey wonderland for lovers of avant-garde, boundary pushing fashion into what … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Taïm Falafel & Smoothie Bar
TAÏM FALAFEL & SMOOTHIE BAR, WEST VILLAGE In the beautiful tree-lined West Village lies Taïm (pronounced ta-eem) a quaint little falafel and smoothie bar serving up unadulterated Israeli falafel in the form of sandwiches and platters. Taïm, meaning “tasty” in Hebrew, has no difficulty living up its own name by offering crunchy on the outside, … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Spa Castle
SPA CASTLE, COLLEGE POINT – QUEENS There is such a thing as a relaxing adventure at Spa Castle, a Korean day spa concept in College Point, Queens. The words relaxing and adventure probably aren’t used together so often but you’ll know what I mean when you set foot in this 60,000-square-foot multiplex of pools, saunas, … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Extra Fancy
EXTRA FANCY, WILLIAMSBURG If I really think about the establishments popping up around Williamsburg one theme comes to mind – not so fancy and extra fancy. It’s a veritable hodgepodge of highbrow, lowbrow, cheap, expensive, dive-y and upscale and Extra Fancy is a bar/restaurant nodding its head to this wonderful characteristic of Williamsburg. Don’t let … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Dimes
DIMES NYC, LOWER EAST SIDE Newcomers to the downtown restaurant scene like Dimes (and Skal around the corner) make the once desolate intersection of Chinatown and the Lower East Side the area for cool new restaurant watching. The arrival of Dimes makes me a happy bruncher, luncher, and all day breakfaster. I’m happy because of … Continue reading
NYC Hotspot Find: Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken
BROMBERG BROS. BLUE RIBBON FRIED CHICKEN, EAST VILLAGE NYC’s cult fried chicken favourite now has its own outpost where hungry Manhattanites can indulge in deliciously crispy birds in the bright, low-key, cafeteria-style space. If you’ve not tried Blue Ribbon’s fried chicken before, expect umami galore when you feast on the Chicken Dinner with chips and … Continue reading
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