The Completist's Guide to New York City

We (internally) have been talking about making our New York City guide for far too long, and for that, we (read: I, Jana) apologise. What is it about sitting down to write one of these, that when you finally do, your mind goes totally blank? At this point, we visit NYC every six months for Shoppe Object so we know it almost as well as London and friends, it's time for our NYC guide. 3 years later than it should be, but who's counting. Now, we know travel to the USA might be lower down on your cards right now, but for those of you sticking your head in the sand about... the world (gestures wildly), then this is for you.

So, let me start by telling you that I'm vegetarian, and it's remarkably difficult to find a good variety of vegetarian food in a non-veg that isn't just... ratatouille or tomato pasta. In this instance, it's sometimes just easier to go for a vegan place because at least I know I can eat everything on the menu. BUT, while you might assume the vegan food in the USA would be great (that was always my assumption for the big cities, at least), I have to say that the best vegan food across the board is here in London. So just keep that in mind if you're like me - what I've listed here, if it's vegan, is people doing interesting things that just happen to be vegan, not people trying to recreate meat.

ALSO - just because we're always downtown because of Shoppe, that's where most of our recs are. We always plan to explore more further uptown but honestly, trade shows are exhausting. But we always aim to revise this when we have more. Now, enough rambling and prevaricating from me, here's the list, and here's an easy little map if you want to just save it and go.

WHERE TO SHOP

 

Colbo  51 Orchard St, New York 10002.

We came across this store not long after it opened, and it's a must visit every time we're in town. It's just so cool, without being pretentious. You know those people who just get it effortlessly, and you just wish you could be like them? Yeah this is that, but in store form. Many of the clothes are unisex, some from brands you've never heard of, some from the in-house label, some are vintage, and the curation is just perfect. They serve coffee, and there's records for sale too (and trust me, they're the best records you've probably also never heard of). Driven by the desire for community, co-founder Tal has created a space that always feels like hanging out with friends you've known forever. In fact, pop in at any point and you'll probably end up hanging out, chatting and making friends with the Colbo team (like we did).  Plus, you'll probably be lucky enough to swing past when they have some kind of an event happening (to which you're always welcome). You'll walk in thinking it's a nice looking store, and you'll walk out thinking 'are we friends now?' The answer is yes, you probably are.

 

Assembly 170 Ludlow St, New York 10002.

Another multi brand boutique on the Lower East Side, featuring rare brands curated alongside vintage. We love how each piece has a photo on the hanger showing how you might style it. Personally, I'm a sucker for a printed tee or an embroidered sweater, and Assembly has both, with upside down text. I physically have to stop myself buying more, so I distract myself with their excellent selection of books and jewellery. You might not always buy something here, but you'll always walk out feeling like you saw things you hadn't seen before (welcome to my essay on how with the continuing homogenisation of retail, the joy of discoverability seems less and less prevalent)(jk, but seriously, am I wrong?)

 

Goods for the Study, 3 locations - 234 Mulberry St, 50 W 8th St, and their newest Upper West Side location at 2105 Broadway. 

Okay, we might be a little biased since we are stocked in GFTS, but honestly, you'll struggle to find a better stationery store than any of these. It's a perfect mix of whimsical bits (you know the stuff you buy just because) and perfectly functional stationery from all around the world, curated in a way that makes you want to buy it all. We love the W 8th store because it just does it all, but if pens are your thing, we'd suggest visiting the Mulberry St location - the store is split in two, and one side is entirely dedicated to writing instruments. Dreamy.

When you're done here, pop down to McNally Jackson on Prince St - this is a pretty new store for them after moving from the iconic original McNally Jackson location in Nolita, and I literally spent about an hour here on my last trip. It's how bookstores should be, and if they ever wanted to open a London outpost, I would be the first through the door.

 

Greenwich Letterpress, 15 Christopher St.

Look, do we make friends with all the stationery people? Yes. Will we tell you how good their stores are and make no efforts to hide our bias? Also yes. But truly, Greenwich Letterpress is that good, so it's easy to big them up. And when it's good, is it biased to say so? I don't think so. ANYWAY. Walking into this store is like walking into my pen pal Alison's bedroom in 1989. She had LOTS of all the cool stuff that my mum would only let me have one of, and make me hide away when guests came around because it ruined the tidiness her perfectly neat house. It's like the bedroom I wished I had. So you know, now I'm an adult, no one is going to stop me buying bubblegum scented scratch and sniff stickers and admiring the sticker roll wall. It's nostalgia, but with a wicked sense of humour, and lots of retro cats on things. What's not to like, basically. Beth and Amy have had this store for 20 years, and I always pop by when I'm in NYC to buy something. This is a special place.

 

Printed Matter, 231 11th Ave

Another bookshop I could (and can) do serious damage in, founded by Sol Lewitt and Lucy Lippard.

 

ÅLAND, 76 N 4th St, Unit H, Brooklyn 11249

I like to make the trip over to Brooklyn every time I'm in town, just for this little gem. It's the Korean lifestyle store of dreams, where I stock up on sheet masks, skin care, and all sorts of weird and wonderful clothes (a t-shirt that says 'I'm not chic' in big letters on the back? Own it, wear it regularly). As a tall lady, I actually prefer the men's section in here - just lots of great oversized stuff in interesting shapes and fabrics. I never walk out of here empty handed (and if you've been to Japan or Korea, yes it's the same as the ones there, so if you're missing them, you've got a nice little place to go in Brooklyn).

 

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK

 

Overthrow Hospitality - various locations.

If you're into really good food (as opposed to being into mediocre food? I don't know why I'm going with this here, but let's roll with it), anyway, into really good, creative food that just happens to be vegan, make sure you get to at least one of the Overthrow group's restaurants. We've been to quite a few, and they're all excellent. Many of their locations are pretty small, so be sure to book in advance. 

 

Loring Place, 21 W 8th Street

Marko and I always like to try new places every time we're in NYC (and we have a mile-long list we'll probably never get through). Then, at the end of each trip we discuss which meal we liked the best, and after our last trip, we both agreed Loring Place was our favourite. I had a truly delicious mushroom ragu, and the baked ricotta was next level (is there anything better than baked cheese? I don't think so). We both loved this, and might even break our new restaurants rule and return to this one in the Summer.

 

L'Industrie, 104 Christopher Street

When you visit NYC as much as we do, eventually you'll wonder, 'where is the best pizza'? It's a hotly contested subject, we know, but according to us (and take that with a pinch of salt), influenced by a clearly very intensely research and ranked list on reddit, L'Industrie is the best pizza in NYC (okay, the reddit list does have a place in Brooklyn ranked higher, but if you're staying in Manhattan, this is probably easier). These slices have the perfect amount of crunch, the perfect level of saltiness in the sauce, and the most delicious olive oil on top. Prove me wrong.

 

Oxomoco, 128 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn

Look, it's not that I don't like to travel, but when I'm in town for a trade show, I'm mostly exhausted and I generally don't like to travel (lol). But I would travel for this place, every time. It's Michelin star Mexican, but not full of itself (thought it probably should be). It's just the best Mexican we've had in the USA and we think you should definitely go.

 

Good Thanks, 131 Orchard St

I'm going to say something controversial, so get ready. America, I say this with the most love (and as an Australian) - your coffee just isn't very good. Lucky for you, you have lots of Aussies there who are happy to help, with the guys from Good Thanks being the top of the ladder. Oh yeah, it's also our favourite brunch in NYC too - the kimchi eggs are next level. But if you're missing good coffee, go here, we promise you'll thank us.

 

Parcelle, 135 Division St

Just a gorgeous little wine bar with beautiful interiors. No need to say more really.

 

Gem Wine, 116 Forsyth St

Another gorgeous wine bar, with fab food to match. We love this cosy place, and it's good for people watching too.

 

Casetta, 61 Hester St

I know if you're visiting from Europe, you might not think you want to go to a wine bar that feels like you're in Paris, but trust us, you do. This place is perfect in the Summer to just sit outside and watch the world go by.

 

Forsythia, 9 Stanton St

Forsythia is a place we've broken our 'new restaurants only' rule for, and we can't wait to go back. The Roman-inspired food is excellent, and we also love that all their servers are paid a living wage - ethical employers just make better tasting food, don't you think? They also do pasta making courses here, if that's your jam.

 

King's Imperial Co, 168 1/2 Delancey St

This place became a staple for us when Shoppe Object was still in their LES location. who wouldn't want a bit of (really good) Chinese to fuel them either after putting up their show stand, or while waiting for their empties to come back after a show (somehow we have the worst luck and we're always LAST to get ours back). Fantastic food, and really good cocktails too.

 

Short Stories, 355 Bowery

We happened past this cocktail bar during a Winter trip, and it's the perfect bit of warmth and retro. We've always meant to go back - feels like somewhere you could have a really good night out and walk out of there having made friends with everyone you'd met there (or maybe the cocktails are just that good).

We're always finding/trying new places, which is the beauty of a big city, so we'll update and/or post a part 2 guide after our next visit in the Summer.

 

Happy travels

- Jana