Issue No. 4: Spring will Sprung
On getting back into the swing of things in NYC.
Between the lines at New York airports lately and what happened at LaGuardia Monday morning, I have seen enough. I was working on something else for this week’s issue (a fall trip I’ve been planning), and I just didn’t feel like it anymore. That one’s coming next week. Pivoting to home.
The passport is getting renewed the old-fashioned way, which means I’m not leaving the country for six weeks. Sunday was sixty degrees and I walked around for no real reason other than I could. Spring is close. There is a lot on the calendar and I am ready for all of it.
Here is what the next few weeks/spring will look like. This is not a list of whats “new” or necessarily “hot”, but places that are striking a chord for me personally for me this Spring.
Where I am going
Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Beacon. Last few dates are this Friday and Saturday. I have been dying to see them and this weekend it is finally coming to fruition.
Bar Oliver/FNM General Store/Le Dive: My friends and I ripped it to the Golden Unicorn in Chinatown last week and after we did a Dimes square circut, made me excited for better weather and outdoor drinking.
Café Mulberry. Any high-quality brunch in Nolita will always be extremely high on my list, and this little cafe from the same folks as the owners of The Mulberry is setting a high standard. My mom went and she said it was fabulous.
Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s exhibit: The Adventure of Domenico Gnoli. One of the greats uptown and a stalwart to a solid UES day.
&Son. Epic clothing store on Sullivan that will be raided in due time. Has a collection of truly what is up and coming in the menswear space.
La Garçonne. Same action as &Son, obviously a larger retail experience — incredible brands like The Row, Margaret Howell, and more.
J. Mueser. I have a wedding out west in June and I am desperately in need of one of Mueser’s suits. I got a tencel workshirt from them for the welcome party and it’s phenomenal.
Stars: designed by one of my favorite design studios Valle de Valle and run by the folks behind Claud/Penny, this tiny wine bar in the EV looks stellar
The Brandt Foundation’s Keith Haring exhibit: not much needs to be said here, will be going.
Elio’s. One of my favorite restaurants in New York. I feel I need a long red-wine dinner for someone worth celebrating here asap.
The Restaurant at BG. Nothing quite like a spring lunch with mom at BG. While Bergdorf's future may be uncertain, this place is always packed to the brim at lunch.
Atelier: on 8th between 5th and 6th, this place looks incredible. Would place it in a very similar category as La Garonne, they carry more Japanese forward brands like Auralee and more mainstream designer brands like Miu Miu & The Row. I cannot afford a thing in there but I will certainly browse.
The Loeb Boathouse. A place that “feels so new york” is such a cliche but the boathouse will always feel exactly that on a beautiful spring day, being glued downtown most of the time it feels amazing going to places like this from time to time.
The Swift Hibernian Lounge. I hope the lines calm down, it’s by far my favorite place for a night out with a big group.
Funny Bar. Been dying to try this place. Steak frites and martinis in the LES…
The New Museum. Six hundred feet from my apartment, just reopened after a mega renovation. Need to check it out.
Pachaaaaaaa: 9 days until Pacha’s lineup is announced, cannot wait for what they have in store.
The Four Horseman: I have never been and its at the very top of my dining list in New York City, had to include the honorable mention.
What I am thinking about
Ethan Hawke’s red carpet interview at the Oscars has been sitting with me since it aired on March 15th. Hawke is easily one of my all-time favorite actors and a deeply soulful human. The Linklater and Hawke combination has shaped cinema in ways that are still being accounted for. His words on love, family, and friendship never miss. This spring, coming back to the city and getting back into the rhythm of things, this one landed differently.
“The one who is in love always wins...when you’re feeling, you’re alive...the sun doesn’t care whether the grass appreciates its rays, it just keeps on shining.”
Words to live by.
What I am watching
Dont shame me, but this week I watched Hannah Montana. Specifically, the 20th anniversary special, as well as the movie. I over-rotated big time with the movie watch but I far from regret it. To be honest, the special didn’t really do it for me as much as I wanted it to, I would have liked a concert (whether in person) or something just a tad more authentic. I do not need Alex cooper to dissect Hannah Montana, most Disney kids growing up in the early 2000s already get it.
The movie was an absolute banger. I remember what a canon event it was back in the day. It unlocked memories from childhood that made me chuckle, which is what the whole exercise was about in the first place. I will never forget being in the movie theatre and during one of the songs my mom along with a cohort of other moms got out of their seats at the Darien Playhouse and started dancing in the aisle.
All in all the exercise of the 20th anniversary got me to relive some really hilarious/memorable parts of my childhood. Back then those "little" moments watching Disney and Nickelodeon with my siblings, friends, and cousins felt like nothing. Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place and more. Just a Tuesday afternoon on the couch. Looking back now, we never realized how good we had it. I don't think we will ever get that level of content from kids' shows again. OG Disney Channel and Nickelodeon will be a required watch for my kids. No doubt in my mind.
On a completely separate note, I am a hater of reservation apps.
I understand the utility. I understand that before Resy & OpenTable, getting into a good restaurant required either a relationship or a willingness to bounce around in the cold and hope. I am not arguing for the return of the velvet rope. What I am arguing is that something got lost in the transaction and what got lost was the neighborhood.
A restaurant should be a place you have a relationship with. You went enough times that the host knew your face. You sat at the bar when the dining room was full and it didn’t feel like a consolation prize. You were a regular, or you were working toward it, and that meant something to the restaurant and to you. That loop: customer, host, regular, was the fabric of neighborhood dining. The reservation app is dissolving it. Now you are just a name on a screen. A slot. A 7:30 cover on a Tuesday that someone grabbed at 10:01 AM when the window opened three weeks ago.
A few days ago I came across this super cool website called SnagNYC that is a hopeful step in the right direction.
It does exactly what it sounds like. Tracks real-time availability for sixty of the hardest-to-book restaurants in the city across all three major platforms, in one place. I like booking great reservations less than the next guy and going to them more than the next guy. Resx is already of great utility to me and with the added use of Snag things are looking up.
A bit of a ramble this week but all in all the calendar is rapidly filling up for spring. There is something to be said for taking the time to sink back into where you live, especially in a place like New York. Next week I am dipping back into travel, maybe even a hint of car stuff that has been on my mind.
I’m down for an Elios rip