cherrypatter nyc

for some bizarre reason, despite being the coldest creature on the planet, i only started wearing hats maybe 10 years ago. maybe it just wasn’t “cool” back in salt lake city, but now i am a believer, and am almost always out in winter and summer with some kind of covering.  hats are definitely one of my favorite accessories.  if i were a guy of a certain style or a certain age, then, worth & worth would be my splurge.  located up on the 6th floor off of 57th street, worth & worth, which has been around since 1922, has a great little space to show off their wares, but really if you want one of these hats they are mostly made-to-order, and they do all the work on the premises (who knew there was a workshop on 57th street?).

worth & worth has plenty of classic hat styles. my favorites by far were the handcrafted felt hats.  the feel of that felt was like a plush carpet using great deep browns, greys and greens for colors, and of course so much structure in a variety of shapes like a 1930s english-styled fedora, a trilby with a wide ribbon and the stingy. other hats included more formal ones like a christy’s bowler or a top hat, tweeds and wool caps and then these insanely luxurious fur hats lined with silk.  worth & worth has some straw and tennis hats which were not quite as special, as well as some for women but their real strength lies in those with the mad men vibe.  apparently, they shop is also in demand during fashion week as they provide hats for some of the shows there too.

in addition to the hats, worth & worth also has a limited selection of great looking shirts in purple and pink checks, a few suits as well as some more out there looks like funky jodhpur plaid pants with orange trim and green leather laces.  if my grandfather were still alive, though i would definite head to worth & worth for a worthy hat for his delicate bald head!  worth & worth hat shop, 45 west 57th street between 5th and 6th avenues, 6th floor, manhattan, new york, .

as i may have mentioned once or twice, my hubby j. is a brit (but the friendliest one you’ve ever met), and on occasion although he is doing his best to lose that accent (wasn’t that in our marriage contract) he craves random things from the homeland.  chief among the weird ones include some kind of cream that he must get only there (it is at myers honey!), and which he implores his friends to send over, and also some super special cleaning pads for the kitchen. yes, they seem not to be available in the good old u.s. of a.  fortunately, for most of these things, we have myers of keswick, an english market in the east village. catering to a whole mini-country.

some of the treats that myers of keswick keeps on hand for the homeland include pg tips, angel delight, mcvitie’s hobnobs, thornton’s candy, heinz baked beans, basset’s candy, weetabix, hula hoops, jamaica ginger cakes and the good ole spotted dick.  for baked goods, myers of keswick has a whole counter full of sausage rolls, shephard’s pie, pork pies, cornish pasties and steak and kidney pies. at christmas time, we always load up on those mince pies too — can’t quite deal with the christmas pudding though.

fortunately, myers of keswick is ready for all the holidays weeks ahead of time, so if you find you must have a super sweet cadbury egg in preparation for easter (just 2 weeks away), they have a whole pile.  myers of keswick, 643 hudson street between horatio and jane streets, manhattan, new york, .

i have a newish morning snack obsession and it is this scone from scratchbread above with crystallized ginger and lemon. it’s saying a lot that i am craving this thing as i am not exactly a lemon fan, and usually scones just don’t work for me (unless of course i’m having them for tea at the lanesborough).  but i am, and i will hunt it out even though this scone is not on my route from school dropoff to work — what’s a little visit to gorilla in the morning.  i don’t know what the genius matthew tilden who is behind scratchbread does to these things. it’s magic, i think.  the scones are dense without being heavy, and have this incredible yeasty flavor and then i completely obsess over the pieces of crystallized ginger, slightly charred, sunk into the top.

i also just tried the scratchbread buttercream brownie.  again, i really thought i wouldn’t like this thing (i’m not a fan of super dense chocolate) but when i met mr. scratchbread himself he couldn’t help going on and on about it. so i decided to check it out.  with a dusting of bittersweet chocolate, the main bit is soft but not gooey chocolate with a hint of salt maybe and a little bit of sweet chocolate. pretty darn good.  while i haven’t yet tried scratchbread’s other scones, and i have no idea where to get their breads or if they’re even available right now — he was making them for a while and i have heard good things so i’ll be on the look out), there are lots of places to get these treats around brooklyn including café grumpy, gorrilla coffee, southside and blue apron among others.  see the scratchbread website for more details.

of course the weather is just about perfect today so this post is not as on point as i had hoped it would be.  silly me, thinking that march would be full of wet, cold, rainy, gray days and so you all would need lots of ideas for how not to go stir crazy.  so, maybe not for this weekend, but i would definitely tuck away brooklyn boulders for one of those things to do on yucky days.  this pretty huge place, located in a warehouse in gowanus (my first official gowanus post despite working there — very exciting) is pretty much heaven for someone stuck in new york who loves to climb.  with lots of different rooms, and even some arches that look like the brooklyn bridge, some of brookyn boulders’ ceilings are more than 30 feet high, and there are 15, 30 and 45 degree overhangs along with caves as well as a freestanding boulder which makes this place challenging for all levels.  they have classes, free climbing (a day pass is $20, cheaper for a 10-pack), and they welcome all sorts of groups or teams to come by as well.

needless to say, my little monkey is obsessed.   although on her visit, i was incredibly sleep deprived (due to this creature), and so there was no way i was going to learn to belay that day, so she was on her own but she found ways to amuse herself.  we’ve since been back and she’s gotten a go on the ropes which both thrilled her and made her the hungriest i have ever seen her.   maybe i will even learn to belay!    brooklyn boulders, 575 degraw street between 4th and 3rd avenues, brooklyn, new york, .

when j and i first moved in together, we found a run-of-the-mill apartment with fantastic views (we could see the empire state building from our kitchen) on the 24th floor at the corner of 55th and broadway. although it’s a weird, very touristy location, i loved being so close to central park and would go running regularly (when will i ever do that again), loved being able to walk to work (fortunately i can do that again now) and just being on top of a zillion subway lines.   in my travels up to the park, i would often pass by lee’s studio which at that time was on broadway. it was a curious shop.  chock full of stuff, design stuff, a mishmash of furniture and more lamps than i could ever imagine.  and while i usually cannot stand shops that are so crammed, lee’s just pulled me in with the variety and the quality.

over time, we purchased four lights from lee’s, all modern, all a little funky (our pride and joy is the monster egg) and all have stood the test of time and multiple moves.   lee’s has since moved to their 57th street location where they combined the lighting and furniture section with a vast art supply collection with other knicknacks (it seems the quality of those things has not gone up).  the 2nd floor is home to more than 200 different lighting designers with every kind of configuration available.  i don’t think lee’s is really the place to get your recessed lighting or something that isn’t super special — i don’t think pricewise it makes sense and they are on the high end.   however, if you want something spectacular, or just interesting, and you’re not willing to deal with the bowery shops (that quality is all over the place i think), lee’s is the place. 

some of their more interesting designers include andromeda, venini, flos and leucos though they have plenty of more traditional stuff (especially on their website).   i am sure lee’s is not the only great light shop in new york, it’s just that we’ve found it works for us every time.    lee’s studio, 220 west 57th street between broadway and seventh avenue, manhattan, new york, .

task is a lovely new shop located on one of williamsburg’s side streets and filled with a very well chosen selection of home goodies, and is also perfect if you happen to obsess over notebooks and paper as i do.   the shop carries lots of great notebooks including some by o check design graphics and eeboo notebooks along with some must-have colored pencils (i didn’t know i needed those but i do now).   

i was also surprised, and in love with, task’s small collection of fantastic handmade children’s goodies including these insanely cute wooden blocks by fidoodle and the must-have notebooks above by ganapati studios.

task’s main focus is on the home. they carry the stunningly simple heath ceramics line, linen towels by finnish designer jokipiin pellava, cutipol cutlery from portugal as well as a nice array of pillows and some incredible mirrored vanity trays.  task carries a smattering of clothes, more in the black, grey and silvery flowy line of things with tops by burning torch, megan park skirts and a pieces rozae nichols.  i really liked the chunky silver and black necklaces by sachin+babi.  task is a great place to browse with it’s wide selection of well-edited goodies.  don’t expect a bargain but the investment will be well worth it.  for some really great photos of the shop visit task’s blog and then you’ll know you have to take a peak.   task, 100 n. 3rd street between berry street and wythe avenue, brooklyn, new york, .

i like finding something that feels like a bit of a secret, has been around for a while and still consistently provides good food.  the tamarind tea room fits this niche for me. located on 22nd street, in an area where there aren’t that many charming restuarants (though there is good food here and here), tamarind is still a place to go for a relatively inexpensive yet interesting lunch.  the tea room is a sliver of a spot, with just a few tables (there is a bigger, fancier restaurant next door which i have never tried), and it is an oasis of calm.  the service is good but the staff (well really the one waiter on duty) will leave you in peace for as long as you like.

although i have been to tamarind years ago, i recently visited to see how it has stood up to the test of time, and the answer is well.  tamarind’s food is tasty. it’s nothing really fancy but the dishes taste fresh, and seem quite healthy, i.e. not a lot of excess grease.    the bhel poori was as addictively sweet and savory as it should be though maybe it was missing just a tiny bit of its crunch.  i also had the lamb sholley which was basically a lamb wrap with not too much wrap (and the wrap was not super thick in a good way).  the insiders were well marinated strips of lamb covered in a mint yogurt dressing. it was refreshing and i was full.  they also serve tea at tamarind although sadly i haven’t yet tried that, maybe because i have not yet acquired an indian sweet tooth.

tamarind has been the kind of place that i tend to forget about but after eating there again i think i need to keep it on my radar.  it’s always nice to know of a spot to take friends that is casual but a wee bit special.  or if you must meet for work (and shake shack just won’t do), tamarind is an excellent option.  tamarind tea room, 41-43 east 22nd street between broadway and park avenue, manhattan, new york, .

one of the best parts of my time in china long, long ago, was all the time i got to spend in hong kong on the way in and out of the country.  there, i had the most fantastic dim sum ever.  i loved the setting — always in some palatial room with views of the harbor –; the incredible variety and freshness of the food; and just the general hustle and bustle of the scene.   i haven’t really found that in new york, and have been particularly disappointed with dim sum in manhattan’s chinatown (i’ve tried out both golden unicorn and jing fong), and my sunset park experience has been even more mediocre.  if i really must satisfy my dim sum craving i head out to queens. 

this past december, for my birthday i dragged the family out to flushing to try out jade asian, and i was not disappointed. nice and bustling (though we didn’t have to wait too long at noon).  we got our own table, and the place was filled with very active carts with lots of options though it did take a while for some of my favorites to circle by.  i tend to be a bit more conservative on the food choices than in theory i would like but whatever. this is about eating what you want right.   to push my adventurous side, we tried out the fung zau, or chicken feet (nice and chewy), but moved on back to the dumpling side of things quickly.  the har gow were steaming hot, and plump with shrimp, my obsession — the chee cheong fun or steamed rice noodle roll with shrimp — was sticky, thinly wrapped and filled with fresh shrimp, and lastly the lo bak go (or the turnip cakes) were dense but not too heavy, not too greasy and had plenty of that delicious sauce . the final jade asian treat, the egg custard tarts, were nice and warm and quite tasty too.

i was especially happy that my carbohydrate-focused daughter had a good time (mostly peeling the bun off the char siu bao and the lai wong bao) and playing with the cute umbrellas.  the jade asian service was efficient – i don’t expect friendly — and we were able to hang out as long as we wanted. and of course it was very cheap.  while it wasn’t just like hong kong it was definitely good, and we’ll be back after we try out a few more of the favored dim sum spots that are on my list.  jade asian, 136-28 39th avenue, flushing, new york, .

as usual in new york (in all my hum drum daily activities, i do sometimes need a daily reminder that we live in an amazing cultural place) there is something artisty and out there to go and do.   this weekend is the last few days of the umami food and art festival.   the festival focuses on projects that use food to “integrate art into daily life and broaden the horizon of food as an artistic medium. “  so definitely a little bit out there, but it looks fun.

and although we’ve missed it, there were some super panels already including one moderated by darra goldstein of gastronomica where she discussed with robert kushner and several others his 1972 performance piece robert kushner and friends eat their clothes where everyone dressed in vegetables and fruits. my kids would love to see that.   there was also a mushroom obsessed session where various kinds were identified followed by mushroom inspired cocktails (delicious i’m sure) and a mushroom focused dinner at macao trading co.  or there was the anarchy in the kitchen event as well.

all is not lost as there are still a few more events.  tonight’s is free and starts at 6 p.m. at the astor center for food and wine.  at the bread salon, california based artist sarah klein will bake and talk about sourdough bread (tasting and starter sharing is involved).  and on sunday, there is an urban garden roundtable with artists, gardeners, food activists and chefs  who will discuss how food affects our culture, including food security, sustainability and health.  sunday, march 14th at noon at the solar one, green energy, arts & education center located in stuyvesant cove park which is at the intersection of the fdr drive and 22nd street, manhattan, new york city.  email here for more information. .   have a great food-filled weekend.

all photos from umami food and art festival.  the artist works pictured in the two portraits are by robert kushner and diane borsato. 

it’s been a while since i’ve fallen in love, or fallen in love with a shop that is, so i was greatly surprised when that happened on a recent expedition to the lower east side. i was trying to check out alfie rivington club, and when they required more emailing and supervisor contacting to take photos, i had more time to roam down the block and i discovered this little gem of a shop with the most talented 25-year old, szeki chan.  this small shop is bursting full of great, detailed, unexpected designs and all at reasonable prices.  szeki puts together super cute collections of one-off samples from various designers.  right now, the spring roll out includes gorgeous dresses and blouses in lots of taupes, light pinks, some purples and some black.   the pieces have very careful tailoring and attention to detail — each blouse or dress seemed to have a little flare like a deep black blouse with a neckline trimmed in a tiny row of fur, or pleats combined with a fancier collar — made for a really smart, sexy style that could easily go from work to play.  

szeki also has a jewelry collection that she designs herself where she mixes vintage pieces like the watch above with her own chain, as well as a fairly simple line of various charms made into bracelets or long gold chains.   szeki also features work by her mom stella chan, which is  called 7115 and these pieces are great too (and i bought a really great button down navy cotton short sleeve shirt, with the cutest grey cuffs and buttons on the side for a whopping $58).  in addition to clothes, her mom also designs leather bags as well as some jewelry too. quite the talented family i must say given that szeki just started selling her wares on the street two years ago, and now she has her own storefront (recently moving up in size from a smaller shop around the corner).

szeki’s prices are definitely affordable (dresses in the the $130 to $230 range and blouses from $98 to $128), and for the quality (almost everything is silk and leather), incredibly reasonable.   the shop szeki is starting to get some great press so i’m sure it won’t be a secret for long. plus, szeki herself is a charmer (so sweet), and so i cannot wait to return when i am really in a spring clothing buying mood for some real upgrades to the wardrobe.  szeki, 157 rivington street between suffolk and clinton streets, manhattan, new york, .