cherrypatter nyc

i am constantly asking around for interesting shop ideas — what’s the newest thing, what has a great collection, what is affordable – and kiosk came up constantly.   it was hard for me to believe that i had never heard of this design store that everyone seemed to love, and now in retrospect write about everywhere too (see here and here).   so finally, after a few failed attempts with the wrong address and some strange ideas in my head as to where kiosk should be (i could not believe it would be in soho, as opposed to nolita, but i was very wrong), i found it and yes, i am in love.

located on the second floor of a nondescript space on spring street, kiosk seems to me to be a store full of character, whimsy, ideas and wonder.   the store is kind of an excellent excuse for its owners to travel around the world.  alisa grifo and her husband marco ter har romeny spend  lots of time away picking up local useful goods, and then bring them back to new york where they provide detailed witty commentary about each one — describing where it came from, what it is about, and some pithy insights into its use or not.   the charm is not just in the how the things reflect the place where they came from, but also how kiosk stamps its personality on these favorites.  for the finnish children’s book “who will comfort toffle?”  the description reads, in part, “tove jansson’s moomin characters are popular all over the world but still have not made much headway in the united states. we have the most beautiful edition we could find. great as a gift for people who are on the verge of divorce.”  

their latest exhibit is entitled “american installment number two,” with a focus on florida where they trawled for the essence of that state.  as a result, kiosk is currently overrun with citrus — citrus clippers, citra spoons, citra sipper and orange bubble gum that looked like little oranges as well as other florida-influenced finds like plastic hotel keys and blow-up space shuttles from cape canaveral.   see more pictures here.   kiosk’s prior exhibits from all over the world have focused on japan, sweden, german, finland and mexico, and they continue to carry some of their favorite finds from those visits. 

although lots of kiosk’s stock fall into the silly category, there were plenty of great gift ideas such as a cute tea kettle, an extremely useful though stylish wiremesh basket, great toys for kids, tiny stencils, various journals and even some furniture.  basically, kiosk is the kind of place that would be good for getting someone who doesn’t actually need anything, and likes a gift with a little personality.   while i would rather go with them, i guess i will just have to wait and see what they bring back from their next adventure.   kiosk, 95 spring street, 2nd floor, between broadway and mercer street, manhattan, new york, .

so without meaning too, i seem to have been doing a few posts lately on shops with some amount of vintage including general and finds and franny and roey, and they are great stores.  i have one more to report on today deluxa, which opened last fall, and then i plan to give the vintage a break for the summer no matter how popular this kind of shop seems to be.   it’s funny that i keep profiling them as i almost never shop for vintage clothes but i am drawn to these stores with their charm and old-fashioned sensibility, and maybe a little bit of guilt too as this should really be the way i should be shopping if i were really thinking green. 

with a varied collection of clothes for kids as well as men and women, deluxa is well suited for a “family shop” — well except for the fact that they aren’t so big so maybe it’s not such a good idea to bring lots of little kiddies around with the beautiful old perfume bottles, lots of glassware and tons of just incredibly appealing colorful knicknacks that any toddler would love.  fortunately, deluxa is just down the block from my favorite dumpling spot eton and now that it is warm again, and eton is serving their fabulous hawaiian rainbow ices, it’s easy to split up and leave j and the kids there while i check things out at deluxa.   (and my apologies for the more spring, than summer, photo above but i had taken photos a few months ago and still find that sweater dress combo adorable.  their current store window showcases a more appropriate vacation look with lots of cute travel trunks.)

deluxa also has a strong mid century modern furniture obsession and put their recent finds on craigslist making it easy to find out some of their great pieces like this cute vintage daisy lamp and this shiny brass cube.   i think i might just have to put them in my google reader so i can keep track of their finds.  another good way to keep up with the store, or to just be inspired, is to follow their very informative blog.  so given how easy it is to know what is going on here, how excellent the clothes are and that i’ll be nearby often this summer snacking at eton, i might finally start buying vintage.   deluxa, 187 sackett street between henry and hicks streets, carroll gardens, brooklyn, new york, .

 i do seem to be incapable of not eating every donut i pass, so when i found myself in yura & company for a not such exciting coffee recently, i discovered the oddly named cinnamon puff  which is really a little donut in the form of a mini muffin.   the donut was quite fresh and and covered with a nice coating of cinnamon and sugar.    at only a dollar a pop, i could have eaten quite a few — fortunately, i only ate two and that was plenty. 

yura & company is a high-end deli spot, and the morning i was there, the sun-filled store was filled with upper east side women catching up and uniformed teens loading up on snacks.  not many of yura’s other pastry items looked so tasty.  however, for take-out, i thought the fried chicken looked good and some of the other prepared foods though i am sure that is all super pricey given the carnegie hill location.  if this more than 10-year old review from eric asimov still holds true, then the food might be worth it.    so next time i need to go to the upper upper east side, maybe for one of those dreaded doctors appointments, i’ll be sure to stop by for a donut snack.  yura & company, 1292 madison avenue at 92nd street, manhattan, new york, .

before we ventured over to vinegar hill house, we had never been to vinegar hill the neighborhood and boy is that a treat.   one of what feels like the few spots in new york that have been untouched (at least too much) from all the crazy development that has gone on over the last few years.   although there are plenty of new buildings including this one and this one which dominate gold street, for the most part the cobble stoned streets seem quite isolated from the hustle and bustle of dumbo and the rest of gentrified brooklyn.

 

after our first surprise with the great neighborhood, we were less surprised with the super quaint and fetching look of vinegar hill house given the amount of amazing buzz (here, here and here  just for starters) this little restaurant has gotten.  it seems this mostly comes because the restaurant is the creation of two former employees of freeman’s (which is super trendy but i cannot say i have been impressed with the food the few times i’ve gone).   vinegar hill house has a great low key, quaint feel, done in an all americana style (if that is even a word), with mismatched wood tables, some flag decor and homey plants and flowers and even a really lovely bathroom (that is always an added plus).  there were of course the current necessary accessory du jour of bell jars for drinks and food. 

now down to the food.  for the most part, we were pleased and we will definitely go back and not just because the atmosphere was perfect.  j particularly loved his red wattle country chop (pictured up top), a delicious pork cooked perfectly medium rare and served with fingerling potatoes, and i was equally happy with my appetizer portion of house made tagliatelle with pork, fava beans and olive oil as well as a small dollop of creme fraiche.  our starters included zucchini ribbons with a poached egg and hot bacon vinaigrette which was good but too watery, and then the star was the chicken liver mousse served with vinegar onions and pistachios and especially toasty bread.   service was on the slow side, and given that we had the kiddies with us and arrived bang on at 6 we would have thought they would have been a bit more attentive, but we were still waiting for dessert an hour and a half later.  as we rushed out of there, we did take a piece of that amazing guinness cake with cream cheese icing to go, and at least for me that was totally worth it.  they are also now serving brunch so we’re hoping to check that out soon.  they do not take reservations for parties under six and my understanding is that things get crazy later on so be patient and lower those expectations.  vinegar hill house,  72 hudson avenue between front and water streets, brooklyn, new york, .

this ernesto neto exhibit called anthropodino, at the park avenue armory, is really fabulous, and kids will be especially smitten.   k and i visited last weekend, and it’s definitely worth a few hours.   while i could go on and on with some not very well written commentary about this obviously creative brazilian artist (who i had never heard of till this from sweet fine day) from rio de janeiro, i’ll spare everyone, and let the pictures speak for themselves. 

what didn’t photograph so well were the fun stations set up throughout the ernesto neto installation. there was a huge ball pit, kind of like the ikea ones, but this one had only calm light blue balls and were set in a big swimming pool-like container and kids (and a few adults) could wade on in for a few minutes at a time.  there was a big poufy purple pod with some netting above that you could sink into and a smaller red pod area with a soft pad and big masks that looked like sleeping masks which were filled with scents.   and scents were a theme with all the big fat pod-like forms filled with spices throughout filling the air with a semi pleasant odor (kind of like sachets of an unusual size). 

only on for a couple more weeks, if you’re in new york i highly recommend stopping by.  park avenue armory, 643 park avenue, manhattan, new york, .  on through june 14th.

and as a post note, since this is a friday post it should usually be accompanied by a mini guide.  however, i had promised, really promised, not to write any more mini guides for the upper east side for a while, and so i am taking a break.  plenty of mini guides for the upper east side can be found here and here and here.    i obviously need to venture elsewhere in this fair city of mine.

 

i am constantly wracking my brain for good places to suggest for pre or post theater dining.  usually i just come up with either all these super fancy restaurants or some on the super low end (see here), but nothing really seems to fill that need for a great in between spot.  i want something casual, with good food that’s not too filling because we’re either eating way too early or way too late late, and an added bonus would be a pleasant, attractive atmosphere.  basically, i want a place to take the fussy friends from out-of-town, the parents, or the grandparents, or maybe even the cousins (if they’re well behaved) before the show, andit’s shockingly hard to find.

fortunately, after lots of hunting, i think i have found my solution in casellula, a “cheese & wine cafe” (don’t really like the name, or the café in the name but whatever, it’s their restaurant).   first, the cheese, and there is a lot of it, and there are lots of ways to try it, and as j and i are huge cheese lovers this was heaven.   casellula has many many kinds of cheese on hand, relying on on approximately 20 different sources, both domestic and imported, and the selection changes daily. 

on the night we were there, casellula had more than 30 types categorized by softness (with somewhat corny titles like “bloomy and soft-ripened” and “cooked and pressed”).   they offer individual cheese tastings or flights with three cheeses paired together.   casellula puts together some of these flights, and yet again giving them cheesy names like  ”mixed emotions” and “italian stallions.”   all this goofy wordplay did make me worry that we might be in tourist land after all.   fortunately, the actual cheese and food made clear that this was the real deal.  we got the “creamy goodness” which included epoisses from burgundy, blue ledge farm crottina from salisbury, vermont and oh my heart from lazy lady farm also in vermont.  served with good bread, each cheese was paired with a delectable fruit, jam and one even had a carmelized onion and they were all delicious. 

in addition to the pure cheese selection, casellula offers much in the way of food, mostly cheese influenced if that is even a phrase.    we had the delicious “pig ass sandwich” with fol epi, pickles and chipotle aioli as well as the roasted beet salad served with buffalo mozzarella and pistachios (i was not as crazy about the latter which just didn’t seem to have that oomph or freshness i love from great beets).  there are a few dishes without cheese like the wild boar sausage served with lentils and root vegetables, and the chicken wings adobo with coconut buttermilk (that sounded good) and a selection of cured meats are  (bresaola, genoa salami and mortadella, for example).  there are desserts though it’s hard to imagine indulging given the general richness of the mains (like a cinnamon raisin sticky bun with caramel sauce and cream cheese ice cream or the tapioca mascarpone pudding with candied fennel and rhubarb sorbet). 

caselulla also has a decent range of wines by the glass and a number of what seemed to be reasonably priced bottles (but don’t look for my expertise here) all listed on the menu.   the space was great — warm and open.  service was good.  attentive and quick, if a little bit sharp at the beginning which did mellow out.  i did see some reviewers not so thrilled to maybe that occurs more often than not, and hopefully they will nip that in the bud.     but for us, we left for our play happy and full, and will definitely go back to caselulla despite the fact that they could really use a good copy editor.    casellula, 401 west 52nd street between 9th and 10th avenues, manhattan, new york, .

 

general and finds (which until very recently had been store518)  joins some of my other favorite little shops and food pit stops (including ruby moriarty and prime meats) concentrated in this great area at the far end of court street in brooklyn.   

general and finds is the creation of  designer nadia tarr, who got lots of acclaim this past year (and maybe elsewhere i just am not the most up to date in the fashion world) with her crazy wrap dress that has about a zillion configurations and looks pretty cute too which she designs as butter by nadia.  set up like a general store with all sorts of cute wooden drawers and shelves filled with all sorts of treasures, general and goods is first and foremost a great source for the butter by nadia designs.  With many of the stylish wrap jersey dresses on hand, in lots of colors, the shop has become quite the source for hip bridal parties, and i have to say that seems like a promising trend (please no more j. crew).

but the general and finds is more than just jersey dresses.  nadia collects lots of interesting vintage clothing such as mexican sundresses and indian prints.  she also features the occasional new designer such as archibald leach, a red hook designer, who reconfigures oxfords and other mens’ shirts into super cute sundresses (i love her slogan — dresses for girls inspired by boys).  there’s some great children’s vintage too with jumpers   from gay sprites.

general and finds offers some great vintage jewelry too with an emphasis on victorian memorial rings made out of cut glass or cellulite and rock crystal globe lockets.  she’s also currently carrying some reworked vintage necklaces by a brooklyn designer.  and if you’re a fan of the old coach, she seems to be obsessed with vintage coach bags of all shapes and sizes.

general and finds also offers my favorite soaps from saipua, and then there are some knicknacks as well as lots of nostalgic candy — squirrel nut zippers, necco, sky bars and cherry mash – all still made fresh but just reminders of the “good old days.”  from the candy, to the soaps and the dresses, it’s hard to imagine leaving this shop without some find.  general and finds, 518 court street between huntington and court streets, brooklyn, new york, .

 

 maybe this is true in all cities, but in new york  for the more utilitarian things there seem to be areas where these items are concentrated.   for example, the wholesale flower market (smaller than it was) is located in the 20s off of broadway, the lighting district can be found along the bowery close to chinatown and the restaurant kitchen supplies just above the lighting district.    and then, there seems to be the paper and office supply district concentrated along 18th and 19th streets between 5th and 6th avenues.   as i used to work nearby, i got to check out all the shops including sam flax, print icon and a.i. friedman among others.   

of the bunch, i think that my favorite is  paper presentation (which had been called paper access, so maybe ownership has changed — the stock seems to be the same).  this vast store, running from one side of the block to the other, really has nearly every item related to paper that you might ever possibly require.   they have every color, shape, size and texture of paper, labels and envelopes under the sun, at decent prices, as well as a vast variety of other stationery related things that you might need such as the fun tape pictured above, ribbons, storage boxes, stickers, pens, pencils etc…   

paper presentation also has a printing service but i have never used them for that so don’t know the quality and i expect i might be a bit more fussy in that department (just waiting for when i can justify greenwich letterpress).  what i do know is that paper presentation is super utilitarian and if you have some kind of paper need it is more than likely that they can satisfy it (and just a note that their website seems to have only a fraction of what they offer at the store).   paper presentation, 23 west 18th street between 5th and 6th avenues, manhattan, new york, .

 right before the oscars, j and i went on a movie binge and i think i at least needed a few months to recover from seeing so many films in way too short a time.  within a couple weeks, we somehow packed in frozen river (fortunately i didn’t tell j anything about that bleak but incredibly well acted story), followed by the terribly long benjanim button, and then slumdog millionaire (jai ho has become a family dance favorite).   and then crazily we did back to back milk and the wrestler, which was just a little insane and depressing end to our movie spree. 

so i’m now reading to dip back into the movie scene, and i thought  the french film summer hours looked pretty good based on the new york times review last week.  summer hours is about the challenges of inheritance, and the fun of divvying up the goods among siblings and the squabbles that ensue.   juliet binoche is an added attraction.   i also liked that it is playing at the ifc center located in the village which focuses on small, independent films and the space itself has been getting positive reviews.  although it had been renovated in 2005 and gets , i still have not made it to ifc for some reason, so i’m curious how it compares to my current favorite theaters sunshine cinema and the brooklyn academy of music.       the ifc center, 323 6th avenue at west 3rd street, manhattan, new york, .

my mini guide for shopping and eating nearby is below.

the ifc center, located at the intersection of 6th avenue and west 3rd street is kind of in the middle of the west village just bordering on what i think of as the “central” village — the grungier, super touristy part of the village.  the actual location of the theater is villagequite grungy but just 100 yards away in almost any direction there is much more charm.

the food choices are huge – from super high end at babbo to more trendy at 10 downing (not that i would recommend that spot given the attitude i experienced there) to more affordable spots like ino, market table and blue ribbon and not to mention the high concentration of gelaterias (grom, l’arte del gelato and ).  cute, independent shops are a little harder to find, and most require walking a few blocks west but when you make the trek there are some treasures including some prior profiles here of  shoe garden, travel 001, (which according to racked is closing its park slope branch) and mxyplyzyk.   here are just a few other favorite recommendations:

shops:

greenwich letterpress: the sweetest greatest collection of papers and gift things in one small shop (photo above).  a little bit of a walk away but worth it as the real charm of greenwich village shows itself here.  39 christopher street between waverly place and 7th avenue, manhattan, new york, .

three lives: no better place for the latest and greatest in fiction and nonfiction in this well-edited classic bookstore.  154 west 10th street at waverly street, manhattan, new york, .

dig o mig:  a tiny shop filled with stylish danish clothing mostly for infants and toddlers and a few things for older kids.  150 7th avenuen south, manhattan, new york, .

food:

cabrito: quite well known for their goat tacos (and their iconic goat that  had been mysteriously stolen from above their door some months ago and has fortunately been returned), this mexican restaurant has some great (and pricey) margaritas (pictured up top) and other treats like huaraches and. not outstanding but not a bad option for a group. 55 carmine street between bleecker and bedford streets, manhattan, new york, .

mas: i have been wanting to go to this french-country restaurant for a while. on a lovely street and definitely on the fancier side, with a seasonal focus and it seems solid food. 39 downing street close to bedford street, manhattan, new york, .

little owl: this place is high on my list to return to. having only been here once, i really want to try their sliders among their delicoius dishes. 90 bedford street at grove street, manhattan, new york, .

minetta tavern: although i think that keith mcnally’s last effort at morandi was so unimpressive, i am willing to give his latest steakhouse venture a go just to satisfy my curiosity since frank bruni gave it three stars this week.  it is now on my list for sometime soon.  113 macdougal street at minetta lane, manhattan, new york, .