Although we survived Snowcapolypse 2010, winter isn’t over. Nevertheless, tiny apartments or hotel rooms compel New Yorkers out into the low temps and wind tunnels created by those super-tall buildings. It’s a good thing, then, that this city is full of places that offer “two-for-one” experiences. Once you arrive at one of these eating-shopping combos, you don’t have to leave for a long, long time.
Jeffrey’s Grocery, a charming “groceraunt” in the West Village, sells basics like coffee and tp while serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pop in mid-afternoon for a refreshing selection from the raw bar and a glass of white. At Tehuitzingo Deli Grocery, you have to push past dusty shelves of Mexican staples and into the back. Here, out of a glorified supply closet, come some of the city’s best tacos. A few pollo and al pastor, a bottle of Jarrito fruit punch, and we’re set.
Stay at the Ace Hotel New York City, where you can hang out and snack on your goodies in the atmospheric lobby.
Eataly, Mario Batali’s paean to all things edible and Italian, will first serve you an excellent meal at one of its many restaurants, including Le Verdure, featuring the city’s only vegetable butcher, and Manzo, a steakhouse. Then it will sell you the ingredients to re-create what you just ate at home. (Good luck.) Brooklyn Fare also stocks gourmet groceries, but the tiny, BYOW Chef’s Table recently received two Michelin stars. The restaurant offers an inventive prix fixe (think rarely seen fish from Asia topped with foam) in an actual working kitchen. Bloggers beware: the 18-spot restaurant doesn’t allow photos or note-taking.
Stay at the Off-Soho Suites Hotel New York City, and use the on-site kitchen.
Don’t worry if you eat too much at 202, because you can simply buy yourself a new outfit. Nicole Farhi designs the clothes on offer and handpicks the housewares from her round-the-world jaunts. Try the gigantic English breakfast for brunch. At Brooklyn Flea, a rotating roster of DIYers selling everything from vintage dresses to artisanal soda to ironic Ts to cake lollipops to lobster rolls. Browse the gorgeous pillows, linens, carpets, and other housewares on offer at ABC Home while waiting for your table at ABC Kitchen, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s sustainable temple to seasonal American cooking. There’s something about ogling a vintage chandelier that simply stimulates the appetite.
Stay at the Benjamin New York City, where the closets are big enough to hold all your purchases.
If you’d rather sip and shop, head to The Dressing Room, a clothing cooperative-cum-bar. This Lower East Side boutique features up-and-coming designers along with excellently mixed cocktails. Newly opened, already trendy Beauty & Essex has a functioning pawnshop in front, a bar decorated with peacock feathers and motifs featuring finger foods and interesting drinks in back, and a bartender serving champagne in the ladies room. Chelsea’s B.E.S. (Boutique Eat Shop) carefully displays art installations, then sells them to patrons who pop in for the elegant gastropub’s “death after dark” (vodka, absinthe, and brandied cherry) or lobster ravioli with Tabasco foam.
Stay at the Peninsula New York City, where you can primp at the spa before heading out to the trendy spots listed above.
—Jess and Garrett of We Heart New York
[Photo: Flickr/gsz (Garrett Ziegler)]
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