cherrypatter nyc

i cannot believe that this post will be my absolutely first one on a true children’s and baby clothing store.  i think i must have subconsciously decided that i shouldn’t be visiting these kinds of shops, especially as my oldest k just cannot fit into these gorgeous clothes anymore (now that she’s 6 we are in a whole other shopping experience, and it is not fun).  but i have been missing out big time.   i visited sweet william first this summer and was absolutely smitten.  the clothes are amazing. not too frilly, or cutesy, but everything in the store was of fantastic quality.  the color scheme was perfect too — bold red, hot pink, lots of navy, grey and brown, and almost no light pink or light blue, my least favorite kid colors of all time.  

sweet william’s owner, bronagh staley who was recently profiled, used to work at the sadly departed cookie magazine as a fashion editor, and as much as liked the clothes in the magazine, i like them even more at her shop.   she picks out really great looking pieces, with lots of european brands, that kids will like to wear but which are made of organic materials. classic but not boring seems to be the theme.  i really loved the fantastic puffy jackets in navy and silver by mini rodini, and for girls there were fun faux fur jacket.   sweet william had the cutest knit hats and mittens in bright reds, yellows and greys by the likes of makie.

sweet william had some amazing striped blue and pink cashmere sweaters, pink knit sweaters by mormor.nu from denmark, and other knits by dagmar daley.   blouses by devon rose and great t-shirts by nico.  to keep warm, there were also some one-piece long johns in grey and red that i might just have to get s.

and last but not least the toys.  my favorite current stuffed toy maker is i golfini della nonna, and sweet william had plenty from that maker.  the shop also had some great chains of elephants by airdeje that you could use as decoration or would be good with those under two (we had something similar that our neighbors brought back from india and they were a huge hit.)   there were also a small selection of beautiful wooden alphabet blocks and a menagerie of buffaloes, leopards, ostriches, llamas and others creatures by hansa.

i think i will need a few more trips to williamsburg to stock up at sweet william before my son (turning 3 new year’s eve) also outgrows this perfect shop.  sweet william, 112 n. 6th street near berry street, brooklyn, new york, .

i’m all about the single focus food shop, even if that shop is usually way out of my way, and especially if what they do is good and most importantly it’s very hard to find it elsewhere.   the very new sigmund pretzel shop meets all those criteria for me, and so i may be dragging the family back to the east village yet again (the critters don’t mind as long as they get to play for hours at the fantastic tomkins square park playground) just for another go. 

i’ve only had a couple pretzels at sigmund pretzel shop so far, but the basic one i had was perfect.  warm of course, with a few bits of salt, the texture and freshness were excellent.  the pretzel was chewy, and somewhat doughy and moist in a good way with a slight crust on them which tasted very faintly of butter reminding me of some of the best pretzels i have had in berlin.  not surprisingly, it was a huge improvement over anything we can get on the street — and i have had my share of those unfortunately.

sigmund’s has about 10 kinds of pretzels including sesame, caraway and cinnamon raisin and you can choose from a few dips like herb goat cheese and beet-horseradish mayo.   i tried the gruyère paprika pretzel which was not quite as winning.  it tasted just a little soggy, and maybe too gooey. i imagine it would be better right from the oven.    sigmund also has a few sandwiches which sounded tasty.  some of the options included bresaola with arugula and mustard-mayo and the norwegian smoked salmon with dill creamcheese and cucumber.  

and there are appealing treats.  one of the women behind sigmund’s, lina kulchinsky, used to be a pastry chef at bouley and she has been making  homemade donuts that are selling out early and often.  the chocolate gingerbread with pear and chocolate ganache looked pretty good too.   now if it were only possible for sigmund to have a small beer selection this would be come more than an occasional place to visit.    sigmund pretzel shop, 29 avenue b between 2nd and 3rd streets, manhattan, new york, .

when i moved my day job’s office from madison square park to the grungier part of 5th avenue in park slope back in 2004, the only food (or should i say caffeine) highlight for our new spot was café regular.  and boy was that a highlight.  i still love that location’s fantastic space.  tiny, decked out with a tin ceiling, stools and little wooden desks with a “faux” french feel, the south slope café regular was a most welcome place to hang out for hours.  

it of course didn’t hurt that the coffee was, and is, excellent at café regular.   using la colombe beans, each cup has always been perfect.  the beans have no bitterness, and the cappuccinos are rich and frothy. 

as has already made all the food blogs, café regular this past summer opened up a second branch in the north part of the slope  called café regular du nord.   although the space is decked out with a big (and a bit menacing) mardi gras like painting and a gorgeous chandelier, the space is not quite as inviting or as well designed for seating.  there is an ongoing balancing act between the people who want to linger with those who want to grab a quick bite.   compounding this is the fact that café regular du nord is located in the north slope which has that “park slope” feel that, you know, is the one that everyone likes to make fun of for good reason.  so i see more fussiness, more hogging of seats, and just less friendliness among the customers at café regular du nord and as a result the hanging out is not quite as fun.

café regular du nord’s coffee seems to be fairly close to the original (though i felt my double today was too big).  on the plus side, in contrast to the original shop, du nord is super super well staffed.  this branch not only has a big area for the baristas but i feel like there are always 3 or more on duty so there is never ever much of a wait even when the place feels jammed.   not to say that the south slope baristas are not efficient — no one could say that about martin — but it’s more like an assembly line up north.

both café regulars’ carry hard boiled eggs, as well as the same croissants and danishes from and breads from sullivan street bakery.  i keep hoping café regular will take the next step and try some more exciting pastry options but so far no luck.  

if i had a choice, i would spend more time at the original café regular.  however, since i’ve now moved my office to gowanus, i usually find myself at café regular du nord.  i miss the coziness from the south slope shop but i think i’m not doing too badly with its replacement.   café regular du nord, 158 berkeley place close to 7th avenue, ; café regular, 318 11th street between 4th and 5th avenues, , both in brooklyn, new york.

happy turkey day everybody — one day early.  i was going to run another post today but then just decided that can wait, i have a wee bit of cooking to do in the next 24 hours and it would be much more fun to gaze at zelda the turkey.  i found her after we all went up to the crown of the statue of liberty (that was a great tourist trip, and i highly recommend reserving ahead), and k and i were wandering back to the subway.  zelda was hanging out happily right in the middle of battery park, amid all the hot dog carts and the tourists.  and apparently she has been in new york for a while.

hope you have a great thanksgiving and see you next week.

the donut pub definitely has a  and all the basic doughnut treats – cake, chocolate, chocolate dipped, cream filled, sugar, cinnamon buns and crullers.  nothings fancy.  just the basics, and just what you would like to get at a dunkin’ donuts but this is in fact an old-fashioned place so at least it feels like a better experience and definitely not a chain.  donut pub started back in 1960s, and there is still a sense of where it came from inside with some of the charm remaining with a great long counter, a tiled floor and cute chrome benches.

i was excited to find that they not only had black and white cookies, but my they actually sold, as a product an all-white or an all-black cookie.  since i’ve never been much of a fan of the chocolate side this seemed like a spot made in heaven.  now if only that donut pub cookie hadn’t been so darn sweet.  i cannot say i would recommend going out of your way to the donut pub, which also carries sandwiches and soups, but if you’re in the neighborhood and need a treat it’s a good alternative.  donut pub, 203 west 14th street at seventh avenue, manhattan, new york, .

if you live in south brooklyn, there really is no reason to go to manhattan if you need asian stuff, and places like hong kong supermarket are exactly where to go. this place is quite big, bustling but not over crowded and has free parking (major plus if you have a car and have ever tried to navigate chinatown).  they have lots of produce, and all the asian varieties in one place, and really every kind of sauce or condiment you could ever think of in the asian department.  oh, and the major bonus is that it is incredibly cheap so you feel like you really need to quit the coop immediately (well, i kind of feel like that all the time, sorry coop lovers, – just ask j).

 

also, on a side note, i have no idea if hong kong supermarket of brooklyn is related to the one that burnt down in manhattan this spring or this one in queens, and it seems it may even be related to this conglomerate. anyone know?

i guess i’m getting a little obsessed with crafts and art these days, or just envious of people with time and energy to take classes, and new york has so many amazing classes its hard to pick i guess i’ll be checking out a bunch.  so first there was printmaking, and now glass.  the urbanglass studio was founded in 1977 as the new york experimental glass work shop, and back then it was the first workshop open to artists, and it is now the largest.  before urbanglass opened, according to urbanglass’s literature, if you were interested in working with glass you had to be at school, or have access to a factory or a private studio.  urbanglass changed all that, and boy is it a cool place.

first off, it’s huge, and it’s toasty in there — nice for the wintertime — though next visit i’m bringing my sunglasses.  it’s way too bright with those fires. urbanglass offers access to a studio space which can be rented by the hour and for the glass experts there’s everything you need here to get your beauties made.  urbanglass also hosts a whole range of classes including glassblowing, hot casting (no idea what that is), stained glass, lampworking and jewelry making and others.  or private lessons if that’s what you feel like you need.  on my visit, i saw the incredible susan clark (her stuff is gorgeous) in action teaching her students some bottle technique (or that’s what it looked like to me).  while the work definitely looked scary – super hot, molten stuff that you somehow manipulate with lots of spinning, poking and handling with extra special oven mitts – the glass looks so awesome while in process and the end product is amazing.   

if you’re not up for a class but just want to experience the process, urbanglass also has periodic “open houses” where various artistans get to show off.   here’s a short video of emrys berkower during his venetian glass demonstration last year.  the next open house is this sunday, november 22nd, with tours every hour between 12 and 5 p.m. be sure to call ahead or go early though as each slot can only accommodate 25 people.  and for good eating and shopping nearby, see my mini guide below.  urbanglass, 647 fulton street at rockwell place, brooklyn, new york, .

note: many thanks to the staff of urbanglass including kristin and brian for helping me access the studio and gaining permission to take pictures and to susan and her students for allowing access to their class and allowing me to photograph their work.   

often, when i’m heading to a brooklyn academy of music production at the howard gilman opera house on lafayette avenue just off fulton street, i am a bit disoriented and disappointed. first, there is all the stuff that is on fulton on the other side of flatbush heading toward downtown brooklyn which just is so unappealing (very affordable but very unappealing) and then in terms of food it seems on first glance my only options are applebees or juniors.  so when i started doing more research on the fantastic urbanglass studio space located right next to bam, i finally realize how close it all is to fort greene, and there is a pretty heavy duty strip of both shops and food not too far away.  below, i have listed some ideas for roaming around the neighborhood and helping you to avoid the fate that is applebees.

shops:

cloth, this charming independent boutique with women’s clothes is big into organics and comfort with style.  138 fort greene place between hanson place and lafayette avenue, brooklyn, new york, .

greenlight bookstore, i was very jealous when i walked in here last week. big, spacious, clean, chock full of great recommendations and even a cute, but not cutesy, children’s nook.  i’m so thrilled they’ve opened and they were super busy.  excellent news.  686 fulton street at south portland, brooklyn, new york, .

stem: at the recommendation of thistle & clover, i stopped in here and the flowers are gorgeous. i’ll be back soon and there were quilts.  112 s. oxford between lafayette and fulton street, brooklyn, new york, .

saffron: i have not been yet, but the photos look enticing. vintage clothes mixed in with artists’ things and cut flowers.  excellent location too.  31 hanson place between saint felix and fort greene place, brooklyn, new york, .

food:

brooklyn fare: we just had our first take-out from here last night.  braised ribs, fingerling mashed potatoes, garlicky brussel sprouts and eggplant lasagna.  all delicious.  200 schermerhorn street at , brooklyn, new york, .

aqualis grill: have not been here, but if you’re into fish i think this is the place to at least try.   773 fulton street between south oxford street and south portland avenue, brooklyn, new york, .

cake man raven: i of course have heard of this guy for ages, and his amazing red velvet cake so i’m curious.  a little worried that there’s been too much hype but it’s worth checking out.  708A fulton street at south oxford street, brooklyn, new york, .

greene grape provisions: a great little condensed fancyish grocery store (union market without the pretense) with great sandwiches and treats from all the best locals like whimsy & spice and my new obsession liddabit sweets.  753 fulton street at south portland avenue, brooklyn, new york, .

barbara shaum was one of my happy discoveries as i was wandering the east village this fall.  truly beautiful handcrafted leather goods can be found in this teeny tiny shop where barbara shaum designs and creates these leather goodies which she  has been doing since 1954.   the shop feels like stepping back in time, and i was really in awe of the belts, which are basic but gorgeous, and those cuffs pictured above. 

barbara shaum is best known, however, for her hand made leather sandals which have been featured in places like italian vogue, esquire and gq.    if you want a pair, your feet will be measured and you can pick from about 30 classic styles.  

the painstaking custom work takes about three weeks, and the finished product costs somewhere between $300 and $600.   according to the new york times, barbara shaum learned her craft from menalkas duncan, a nephew of isadora duncan. 

barbara shaum herself is pretty incredible.  at the age of 80, she continues to work 6 days a week, and has no plans to retire.  spotlight magazine, which seems to be a german publication designed to help people learn english did a short interview with barbara  recently if you want to hear her talk a little about her work.  and i’m trying to get my hands on barbara leather a 10-minute short film directed by seth lind in 2005 which gets a little more in-depth with barbara’s  history in new york including having been one of the first women to be served at mcsorley’s.   barbara shaum ltd., 60 east 4th street between the bowery and 2nd avenue, manhattan, new york, .

i’m thrilled to run this incredible interview with rand niederhoffer and camilla gale which is bursting with ideas of their favorite places to eat and shop in new york and beyond.   rand and camilla are the brains behind the amazing little shop thistle & clover which opened up in fort greene in the fall of 2008.  with a real focus on up-and-coming designers, thistle & clover hosts regular trunk shows.    and tonight they are hosting one featuring lauren wimmer’s jewelry and marais usa’s party shoes.  complimentary sweets and bubbly will be there too so if you are in.

on december 12th and 13th, they’ll have a pop-up party shop in conjunction with lucky magazine and the brooklyn flea’s “gifted” holiday market where they’ll be launching their first edition run of their private label jewelry collection (the pieces are so cute).  the pop-up shop will also have holiday dresses and an outfit styling kiosk (hmmm, i could benefit from that!).

clearly, rand and camilla are out and about quite a bit, and i really must go to joseph leonard after all the raves, among their other recommendations.  rand lives in park slope and camilla is in fort greene.  thanks so much c & r!  

shops:

top spots for clothes and shoes (in addition to your shop!)?

c:  ludivine and albertine in the west village (she has an amazing array of french designers), catbird in williamsburg for jewelry, and barneys for shoes

r:  it’s always fun for us to see the way another buyer curates the season’s collections.  i’m currently obsessed with frances may’s online boutique. the portland, oregon, based shop carries a lot of the same labels as us: lewis, rachel antonoff, ymc and church & state.

house warming gift?

c:  i always like to give candles or home fragrances. jo malone on the upper east side or red flower in soho always has great scents.

r:  abitare in brooklyn heights has the best home accessories. their staff is so friendly. it’s a pleasure shopping there!

click here for more: interview: the girls behind thistle & clover: