Christina's Guide To The Big Apple [Updated!]
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Manhattan is a million places in one. You can spend an afternoon on the Upper East Side, hitting up swank shops, doing the museum circuit, lunching amongst the ladies who, well, lunch and dreaming about what all those park-facing apartments look like on the inside. In that same day, you can find yourself trend spotting on the Lower East Side, trying to push past baby strollers on the Upper West, or watching fashion shoots in the streets of the Meatpacking District. When people ask me where I go when I’m down in the city, my answer is usually, everywhere and nowhere: I just walk and watch. That said, there are a few spots I will happily recommend.
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The Ace Hotel
The Ace Hotel has created an ecosystem of awesomeness just north of the Flatiron district. It is a boutique hotel, yes, but so much more. The Breslin Bar is a high-end pub eatery (with chef April Bloomfield of Spotted Pig fame at the helm), next door are Strumptown Café, No 7 Sub Shop, The John Dory Oyster Bar, curiosity shop Project No. 8A and an Opening Ceremony outpost. I haven’t actually stayed at the hotel, so I can’t recommend the rooms, but no matter, this is a detour-worthy destination. What’s amazing is that all these spots rolled up into one are unique and well-defined in spite of being part of the same over-arching brand. Soon, it may become a certified district unto itself.
Le Pain Quotidien in Central Park
LPQ are ubiquitous in New York, but in a good way. Rare is it that a magical little brunch and lunch spot reproduces at such a furious rate without losing its charm. This location, just north of Sheep’s Meadow, is particularly enchanting as you can look out onto the park while you nibble on organic yummies.ABC Home is ten huge floors of some of the most glorious and inspiring home décor items around. Prepare to spend some time inside much like you would in a museum. While the furniture, lighting and accessories range from expensive to ‘you have got to be freakin’ kidding me’ you will leave inspired…and hating your living room couch.
Eataly is the largest artisanal Italian food and wine market in the world. And it’s smack in the middle of Manhattan. Star chefs Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Matticchio teamed up to create this maze of Italian delights and delicacies. The cheese section alone will get your heart racing. Fresh, local vegetables abound and cured meats appear at every turn. You can pick up your groceries, grab a quick bite, or sit and eat a full meal here. I was the first person through the doors at 10 am on a Tuesday morning, so I got to see, really see, every inch of the newly opened phenomenon but a fellow shopper told me that on a Saturday, it’s virtually impossible to navigate your way through the place. Regardless of when you go, go.
I often stop in here when a SOHO shopping excursion proves to be too tempting or the weather too demoralizing. The Angelika opened in 1989 and features independent films only, often before they go out in wider release. One of the quirks of the place is that you can hear the subways cars traveling by underfoot, sometimes shaking the theatre...it’s hard to get any more New York than that. Movie-lovers from afar should check out their blog, it’s rife with exclusive content.
My first ever NYC mani-pedi was at SOHO nails with a friend who had moved down to the city right after we graduated university. In Manhattan there is a nail salon on almost every block, but SOHO nails is a real locals’ haunt (and virtually impossible to find without explicit directions). OPI and Essie are on tap (which ladies, we know is THE prerequisite for our patronage) and the prices are unbeatable. Um, $18 for a top-notch pedi? You’re welcome.
(Head up West Broadway just north of Prince, stay on the West side of the street…look for a tiny grey buzzer at 458)
I can’t remember the last time I went to New York and didn’t eat at Café Gitane. The people watching is unbeatable on Saturday mornings (models, photogs, artists etc…) and the food is tasty as hell. It’s the perfect spot to kick start your day shopping along Mott Street or wind down with a glass of wine and a nosh after poking around RRL next door, Sigerson Morrison shoes across the street or Poppy down the block.
The New Museum (The Bowery)
The New Museum isn’t actually that new. In fact, it has been around since 1977, but the new building, completed in 2007, has undeniably breathed new life into the institution. Located along fabled Bowery St, it’s hard to miss. The magnificent HELL YES façade installation, there since 2007, has just been replaced by a 28-foot rose aptly name Rose II by Isa Genzken.
Balthazar (SOHO)
Now, anyone who has been to the city knows that this French Brasserie is an institution. The food is great, the atmosphere even better. But what you may not know is that the benches outside provide one of the very best vantages to spot emerging fashion trends. I usually pop into their take-out boulangerie around 5pm and grab a beverage (fresh lemonade in the summer months, delish hot chocolate when the temperatures drop) and plunk myself down on one of the benches outside…and watch. It is there where you can map out next season’s must-haves.
Bar Boulud (Midtown West)
Being from Montreal and completely spoiled in the food department (particularly the French food department…which I happen to think we do even better than the French, but I digress) I am a tough customer to please. BUT, famed chef Daniel Boulud’s midtown eatery is to die. I love the mood. I love the communal counter. Most importantly, I love, love, love the food. Go for the charcuterie, it is a sublime sure-bet.
Last winter, I was having brunch at Fred’s in Barney’s and got to chatting with a lovely, very friendly and rather fancy (read: socialite) older woman. She asked me what the hell I was doing at Barney’s. She told me I was insane to pay the prices they charge (this after she mentioned her ‘other’ home in Paris and private plane). She sent me uptown to Madison and 79th to JCrew’s tiny, gorgeous boutique called Ten Thirty Five. She said that’s where all the smart girls go. I now go regularly. And feel smart. The men’s shop is right across the street. Now, aren’t you glad you read this until the end?
Late summer of 2009, I met friends on a scorching hot Sunday afternoon for drinks on a massive boat that was dredged up from Chesapeake Bay, known today as the Frying Pan. It was quite a scene. Remarkably, that wasn’t the most memorable part of the day. When we were heading out for more drinks (hey, I was on vacation) at the Spotted Pig in the West Village, the group suggested we take ‘The High Line’. I have gone back every visit since just to marvel and enjoy the above ground, once derelict rail line that has been converted into a public park. I am awestruck each time by how our era is learning that old infrastructure can be reconceived and turned into something extra-ordinary. It’s my magic place in New York and never ceases to inspire me. Read all about it here.
The Spotted Pig (West Village)
Best. Grilled. Cheese. Ever.
Smyth Hotel (Tribeca)
It looks great, the rooms are huge, and it even smells great. I freaking love this Tribeca hotel and when I find an affordable room here, I take it.
The Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel (Midtown)
Don’t you love that New York has so many versions of itself? Of course, for the clubbers out there, you should probably head down to the LES and dig around. But if what you are looking for is a little nostalgic New York, then do as I do, and go nurse a scotch at this landmark. Try to name all the movies you’ve seen the space in (hint: hooo ha!) and gaze out onto the Caleche-lined base of Central Park.
This is a part of town too many skip over. While the faces of those working in this legendary district are decidedly more forlorn these days, you can’t help but be enchanted by the architecture, the history and the significance of this little patch of land on our huge planet.
Silver Lining Opticians (SOHO)
This is the best eyewear shop around. These guys freakin’ love frames. Even though their client list includes Kanye, Jay-Z, Rihanna and countless other celebrities, there is no snootiness when you walk in the door: they just want to find you-whomever you might be-the right pair of glasses. You’ll find all the best brands here (but none mass produced and thoughtless) on top of a mind-boggling vintage selection as well as some more obscure handmade European frames. There is something so utterly charming about folks who sincerely dig what they do. Prepare to spend a little time in the store, this isn’t just about the purchase, it’s about some great conversation and a little time travel through eyewear styles.
N on Crosby Street (SOHO)
A friend brought me here a few winters ago and I haven’t been back since, but I loved the coziness and total lack of pretense of the place. For some reason, I find SOHO completely uninspiring at night and this little spot is a great winter hideaway if you find yourself down there and in the market for quiet conversation and some wine and tapas.
Hogs and Heifers (Meatpacking)
This saloon has been around since 1992 and as the name suggests, this is not a high-end establishment. Today, H&H sticks out like a sore thumb in the now swank Meatpacking district. I was there ten years ago and one visit does the trick, this is a spot I would only recommend to 20-somethings who are not easily offended. It is loud, raucous and filthy. When you step inside you’ll notice hundreds of bras hanging behind the bar (including one belonging to Julia Roberts). The story here is that at Hogs and Heifers folks are encouraged to leap up on the bar and dance and women who have ventured on top of the bar are asked to leave their bra to commemorate the occasion. Ridiculous? Yes. Ridiculously fun? Yep.
Saturdays NYC (SOHO)
I stumbled upon this spot last summer and was completely enchanted by the space. The fact that it’s a surf shop in the middle of Manhattan is counter-intuitive to say the least. The front of the store is actually a coffee shop while in the back they sell customized surf boards, gorgeous books about, you guessed it, surfing and the whole place has a cool California vibe about it.
The Whitney and the MOMA
There are so many museums to choose from in New York that many people I’ve talked to say they just skip ‘em altogether. I love the Whitney and think that if you are in the city, it’s always worth a peek. I always see at least one thing that blows my mind and sticks with for the coming months. The MOMA building is stunning and if you haven’t been yet then, well, you’re crazy. I find the line-ups and crowds insufferable, so there has to be something pretty special going on there to get me through those doors.
Meatpacking district ‘mall’
Okay, while technically a mall, this block full of shops (all accessible from the street) is a shopper’s delight. New York fave Scoop occupies three different spaces and carries some of the most delicious brands around (Smythe Les Vestes, Haute Hippie, Phillip Lim). A hop, skip and jump away, is Paris darling Zadig & Voltaire and but a stone’s throw from there is Vince. Rest your weary feet and wallet at 5 Ninth a pretty 3-story townhouse converted into a restaurant or Pastis.
When I was last in New York, I decided to build myself an itinerary, something I never do when I visit. I feel like New York has given me so many happy moments that I owe it to the city to understand its past a little better. Here is a small sampling of some activities that will help you get bet better acquainted with the city.
You can buy these audio files through iTunes and there are plenty of really interesting ones to choose from. I opted for New York author Paul Auster’s walk around ground zero. The tour touches lightly on the history of the district itself, delves into the construction of the World Trade Centre, and shares the legends and sounds that occupied the towers: from concerts, to interviews (Phillip Petit of Man on a Wire fame and the piano man from Windows on the World were two of my favourites), to recordings of the creeks the buildings made during high winds and phone messages left to loved ones from passengers aboard the planes that would ultimately take the Twin Towers down. The end of the walk brings you to a bench facing the Hudson River where New York’s diverse cultural landscape is contemplated and contextualized. It was both heartbreaking and enlightening.
This museum/tour was a revelation. Located on Orchard Street in the heart of Lower East Side where most major immigrant influxes landed in the city, you get to explore an actual tenement building and learn of the families who lived there. I opted to follow the lives of the Moore Family who arrived in New York with countless other Irish Catholic families during the Great Hunger (or as we refer to it more commonly here, The Potato Famine). While in the apartment the Moores occupied in 1869 (that the museum painstakingly recreated using materials only available at the time they lived there), I learned of how their youngest daughter died in the very place we were standing due to the conditions and politics of the time. It felt like time travel and shed light on the sacrifices people make in search of a better life for their families. The tours cover the many immigrant groups who landed on the LES, what was for a period the most densely populated place on earth.
While not much to look at, this legendary hotel is worth popping into if only to give a little context to a place where some of the most fascinating delinquents, artists and groundbreakers lived. I recommend doing a little reading up on the place before going (Legends of the Chelsea Hotel by resident Ed Hamilton is a great place to start). Be warned that once you start exploring the history of this ghost-filled hotel, it’s hard to stop. Take a listen to Chelsea Hotel #2,
Leonard Cohen’s account of a sexual encounter with Janis Joplin in the hotel, explore the murder mystery around the brutal stabbing of Nancy Spungen (Sid Vicious’ girlfriend) in a room that no longer exists, or any of the other countless tales that emerge from a place that housed the likes of Patti Smith, William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, Arthur Miller, Simone de Beauvoir and on and on…
This spot is a cool fusion of gallery and bookshop. Printed Matter is a non-profit organization that was created in the 1970s and has moved around town a fair bit. Today’s Chelsea location houses thousands of pieces that you could spend an entire day perusing. To be clear, the books are not about art nor are they about artists; they are works of art unto themselves - some are rudimentary stapled Xerox-ed pamphlets while others are beautifully bound. Regardless, these types of specific and lasting grassroots organizations feel to me like they could only exist in New York.
White Horse Tavern
This bar on 11th Street has been around since the 1880s and has served copious amounts of booze to the likes of Bob Dylan, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson and Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. While today it looks like any old tavern, it’s worth stopping in for a pint if only to raise a glass to the poets and misfits of old bohemian New York.
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