La Bonne Soupe

La Bonne Soupe is a midtown eatery that’s high on quality and low on attitude - refreshing from the neighboring Michael’s, where it’s all about table location, location, location. For nearly three decades, La Bonne Soupe has been serving up French bistro fare that’s wallet-friendly and convenient for the theater-going crowd. And for this New [...]

Bar Veloce

Not quite ready for the trendy Chelsea nightclubs, plush velvet ropes and snarly bouncers on Ninth Avenue or you’re tired from hauling Loehman’s and Williams & Sonoma bags down Seventh? Relief is here in the form of tasty three-finger sandwiches, a resident sommelier, and a vast collection of award-winning and downright delicious wines.
From the owners: [...]

il laboratorio del gelato

There is no shame in dragging your friends fifty two blocks, past the industrial clothing factories dotting Orchard Street where bearded men hock paisley dresses and orthopedic shoes circa 1969, all for the minor miracle of huddling in a tiny shoppe - just to get a taste. Yes, my obsession with il laboratorio del gelato, [...]

Ceci-Cela

After spending a luxurious two weeks in Paris sampling mousse and berry tarts, coming home to a sultry New York summer replete with hour-long lines at Starbucks and crowded thoroughfares, I was desperate for a little bit of Paris in Soho. Meet Ceci-Cela: a charming, cozy (cozy in New York speak = claustrophobic) cafe that [...]

Naidre’s

Hankering for walnut brownies, overstuffed ciabatta sandwiches, homemade granola, piping-hot peanut butter cookies without all the yuppified Park Slope attitude? My home base for long conversations and tasty fare has been Naidre’s, a sweet cafe that escapes the stroller-mom madness of bustling Park Slope.
Inside resembles your breakfast nook replete with cookie jars, coffee pots, [...]

Pala, Lower East Side

I stumbled on to Pala by sheer accident. It was a late Saturday night and Allen was buzzing with outdoor conversations, bottles of wine being uncorked and cabs screeching to a collective halt. My girlfriend and I were famished and headed into the open-air restaurant to grab a slice on the run.
We certainly didn’t expect [...]

Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Owners Peggy & Debbie, former theater actors who ran in the corporate circuit and former employees of the famed Magnolia bakery, took their love of baking and launched a full-scale operation in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Armed with dusty Betty Crocker cookbooks, quite simply, the two best friends wanted to open a cozy, comfortable shop [...]

priti organic spa, East Village

Chickpea

A favorite among Cooper Union and NYU students, Chickpea, a new falafel joint in the epicenter of the East Village, is perfect for the budget-minded gal who has a hankering for savory shawarma (roasted marinated lamb, chicken or turkey fillets). Although the food is served in a rapid-flash style, there is nothing “fast food” [...]

Agnes B

Ladies, I confess - I am addicted to chic, well-tailored clothing. Cigarette pants, a car coat, and daring red ballet flats? I’m seduced. For over twenty-five years, Agnes B, a French designer who must be channeling Audrey Hepburn as a muse for her elegant but not conventional fashions, has charmed her way into our closets.
The [...]