Drinking and Glasses Shopping

Three courses of a lovely French meal in a café garden as the sun sets, a glass of rosé and good conversation.  The perfect formula for an evening that can end in many ways.  Need I say more?  (OK, in fact, I was out with one of my best friends, but that's besides the point.)

Imagine my surprise then when I found that my post-dessert activity turned out to be buying two new pair of glasses at Tina Catherine, the coolest store on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea we just happened to fall into on our post-dinner promenade to the #1 train.  Well, they do say that alcohol lowers the resistance; so true...they should hand out beer and wine in department stores.

But I am not at all unhappy - quite the contrary! These glasses are the best, the boutique is sleek and easy to shop, and the young proprietors are lovely.  The team consists of two great guys with excellent taste and an optician who is relaxed and knows what he's doing.  They all make it way too easy to select a pair (or two) of beautiful, well-fitting - and very cool - glasses.  

Of course, after I made my purchases and then left them there for the prescription lenses to be ordered, I wondered on the street (and the morning after) what the heck I'd just done (you know, the usual remorse in the aftermath of dining, drinking and spending).  

I need not have worried.  My glasses are now a week old and I still can't bring myself to put in my contacts rather than wear these amazing glasses.

What I loved most, aside from the owners themselves, is the tight and well-edited collection.  Tina Catherine is not full of the designer names that are stamped on everything from perfume to shoes and towels.  The glasses they offer are names one may or may not know - Cutler&Gross, Dita, Lafont, OliverPeoples and Persol.  These are styles that are beautifully crafted and simply designed (but not trendy in a way that will no longer be so in a month).  I could have walked out with everything in the shop; that's how good they are.

But no need to take my word for it.  Go "see" for yourself.

High Line, Section II

This is one of the most Euro promenades in New York.  I say this because it's where the European tourists go.  This is not a scientific study, of course, but my own observation from High Line strolls I've taken.  I love to listen to the various languages - British English, German, French, Italian, and others not just in or near the EU, including Chinese and Japanese.  Outside the US, folks seem to enjoy walks and admiring architecture.  Here's a great spot for it, and now it's double its previous length.  

Sign at the bottom of one of the entrance stairways

Embedded rail in the pathway

The newer section is mostly narrower and greener.

Much narrower; traffic flows like a two-lane country road.

Doesn't this just look too perfect to be real? 

Dramatic architecture sprouting up all along the High Line

And we're high up enough to catch wall graffiti, too.

Since this new extension only opened in June, it's going to be a "thing" for a while to come so it's pretty busy up there.  It's worth the visit, though; there's nothing wrong with a slow stroll, after all.

And for hunger afterward, or before, there's always Chelsea Market if you're around the stairway entrances at the southern end.  Or, at the northern section, I just found a burger place (ala Shake Shake, without the lines out the door or the hype) called New York Burger Co.  It's right off the Highline; you can see the High Line from the open windows on Tenth Avenue and 23rd Street.  Pretty much fast food, but made to order and fresh ingredients make it feel almost virtuous.  If you bike down and back, even better.

Caffeinated Weekends - Ninth Street Espresso

Ninth Street Espresso is a charming little place in the East Village, in good company in a neighborhood full of excellent coffee bars.  It stands out in its cool interior feel.  Quiet, with a long bar along the exposed white-painted brick wall as well as the front window, it faces Tompkins Square Park.  (Yes, that confuses me, too - Ninth Street Espresso on 10th Street?)  Actually,  there are three locations, one of  which is on 9th Street.  The other two are on 10th Street (pictured here) and in Chelsea Market.

The East Village locations are perfect for resting between walks, or bike rides along the many bike lanes that weave through these avenues, or shopping excursions among the surprising shops, particularly the vintage and consignment shops, throughout this quartier I have begun to know and am so enamoured with.  Because it is quiet, it's also a good place to spend more time with work or a book at the counter, while the sun streams in through the large front window.  Or, take it to go (they use Intelligentsia coffee) and wander through Tompkins Square Park, a fascinating and lively patch of East Village activity - a far, far different place than it was when I was the age of the average inhabitant of this area.  Nonetheless, my view is - it's never too late!

MUJI

Packing light when traveling is always a gamble, hard enough to do under the best of circumstances.  But when the weather turns against the Paris méteo forecast you were diligently checking every day for a week before your flight, there you are, with a well-edited suitcase full of color-coordinated mix and match clothes that now are either too warm, too light, or too wet from the rain to wear.  What to do?

This happened to me a year ago in Paris during a stretch of unseasonably hot and sunny May weather.  No big sacrifice, to be sure, except that all I'd packed were sweaters, long-sleeve t-shirts, black pants and jeans, expecting the more typical cool and damp Paris spring.  It was over 80 degrees, no AC (as we well know), bright sunshine and time to do something about it!  Shopping is also no sacrifice of my time in Paris but I have enough summer t-shirts at home and didn't feel like spending a fortune.  It wasn't even les soldes!

That's when I walked past MUJI on Rue St-Sulpice and saw great basic color (gray, white, black) tank tops and spaghetti strap tees in the window.  I'd never been in there, though I've since discovered MUJI in New York City.  There are a few locations - in the New York Times Building near Port Authority, in Soho on Broadway and in Chelsea.  I love this store!  It's like not much else - clothes are just a part of it, for both men and women.  Paper things, pens (which I always love to shop for), notebooks, containers, kitchen, bath and organizing items, with a priority in style, minimalism and no-brand labeling.  Originally a Japanese, but now global, store, it's a cool place to browse even if you leave with nothing.  But the clothes I've purchased there are great quality for reasonable price.  The tees come in 3-packs, as do undies, if you run out of those and hate to wash on vacation.  All the clothes seem highly packable and great for travel, in that they tend to be in muted or basic colors, very wearable, layerable, washable, natural fibers and casual.  The notebooks and pens are a fun and useful purchase for travel, and many other items there, like bags and puzzles, make great gifts to bring home or to your out-of-town host. 

The predictability of unpredictable weather when traveling now has a fairly inexpensive solution (at least in Paris, New York and loads of other cities around the world). 

Fisch for the Hip

Shopping vintage and consignment boutiques isn't the most efficient way to obtain clothes and accessories; you can't just walk in with a particular item, size and color in mind, then try it on and walk out with your purchase.  But it's certainly one of the most adventurous, more like a game of treasure hunt, with a lot of luck and timing involved.  This requires time, which most of us have not enough of.  However, if you're willing to spend some of your hard-earned time in this enjoyable pursuit (that is, if you already enjoy shopping - if not, just skip this post, see you tomorrow), you can locate pleasures of this kind in many neighborhoods of NYC. 

I particularly enjoy shopping at Fisch for the Hip in Chelsea.  First and most importantly, it was Marya's find, whose taste I aspire to, so I think of her whenever I enter.  (Until then, the thought of buying - much less trying on - clothes that had been owned by someone else never crossed my mind, and kind of repulsed me, if I'm being honest.)  Second, when they say their stuff is "designer," they really mean it.  Part of the fun is being able to try on so many designers in one place that I'd never find in one store (except perhaps Barneys), that, at retail, would sell for thousands of dollars.  Here, it is possible to find Missoni, Prada, Chanel, and so many other big names in European and American designer clothing, and try them on with a view to an actual purchase.  The sales people are attentive and helpful.  The shop also carries men's clothing, including designer suits, along with jeans and more casual items for both men and women.  And the handbags are, well...I just have to walk past them quickly and look away, or else I'd be in big trouble.  They probably have more Hermès bags than any consignment shop in New York.

By the way, I came, I shopped, I conquered.  Took a while, but was well worth it!  If you're looking for some retail therapy of a more original kind, this is a great place to see how consignment shopping works at its best.

Gascogne

Mother's Day could not have been any nicer (except perhaps to have been able to spend time with one more son).  The weather in New York was perfect spring, and the outings for the day were just my style - fabulous brunch, fascinating dance matinee at the Joyce, a brief wander through a street fair and then wine and dinner with family (as the official Mother's Day part of the day).

Sunday noon at Gascogne, right near the Joyce, was French-does-brunch, which actually is all the rage now in Paris and, of course, has been a weekend fixture in New York forever.  What made it a special little surprise was the back garden, so rare to find in Manhattan, and such a charming quirk in a restaurant right on Eighth Avenue.

The fixed price brunch menu is reasonable for the amount of courses (three) and quality of cuisine (excellent).  They were authentic French (the food and the service) and were not to be rushed, as I was told when I notified the waiter of our need to get that second course moving since we were headed to the Joyce, "Yes, Madame, everyone wants to go to the Joyce."  Oh, well, that shut me up.  But it was just too nice there, with the sun streaming in and the lovely setting, for me to feel compelled to force further discourse on the subject...or to move any more quickly.  

I hope all the moms had as nice a day yesterday.

Come Hungry

... to Chelsea Market, that is.  In another of those "I can't believe I've never been here!" moments I keep posting over and over (there's a sad trend here), there is Chelsea Market.  The other day, I decided to get over to The High Line, quick!, while we were experiencing that rare, elusive thing called a spring day (that I've also been posting about too much).  I walked through Chelsea en route from the #1 train at 18th Street, and all of a sudden found all these people walking into this ENORMOUS building on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets. 

The building's main hallway runs the entire length of the block between Ninth and Tenth Avenues!  It was the home of the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco), in which Premium Saltines, Fig Newtons, Mallomars, Oreos, Animal Crackers and other childhood favorites were produced.  As Chelsea Market, the building now houses dozens of retail and baking establishments, restaurants and food stores, utilizing all that open space to maximum effect.  Read more about the building's fascinating history here.  It's not just a place to grab a bite, or two, or three, to carry up to The High Line (or to dine in or take home, if you prefer), but also to wander and take in an interesting bit of New York industrial history.

My pictures can tell you more (and better) than my words today, but suffice it to say that Chelsea Market and the High Line are a great combo...

Picasso and Marie-Thérèse: L'amour fou

It's spring (so they say), and who doesn't love love in the spring (as my last post so wonderfully displayed)?  Well, another location in Chelsea is also displaying love - for free.  That doesn't sound quite correct, but stick with me here.  To get to the point, the Gagosian Gallery on 21st Street between 10th and 11th Avenues has an exhibit that would make most museums envious.  (As my old Wharton friend asked as we walked through the gallery, "What's the business model behind this?")  Yeah, well, given there is no entrance fee to walk through the well-lit galleries that are filled with many of Picasso's most daring works of the period 1927-1940, of and inspired by his muse, Marie-Thérèse, someone else (more educated in the art biz than myself) will have to answer that question.   This wonderful exhibit will be open through June 25, 2011.

And, if spring ever does arrive, The High Line is right nearby for an inspiring stroll before or after.

Spring Fever

Birds do it, bees do it...

Even jaded New Yorkers do it -

and even the driving rain yesterday didn't cause this smile-and-sigh inducing poster taped to a wall on a side street in Chelsea to wilt and collapse in yet another puddle.

Don't you just want to know what happened with these two people, and what may yet still?

seen taped onto a wall in Chelsea, April 23, 2011