New York City Black Book

New York keeps us all humble. There’s always someone/something/somewhere that even the most in-the-know local doesn’t know about or can’t get into. After being away for the last few months, and with so many shifts and changes in the past couple of years, I thought it would be fun to poll our friends for their favorites in the big city, from breakfast sandwich to martini bar to underrated museum to design shop. There are a bunch of surprises and more than a little consensus—this could be the unofficial Sant Ambroeus, The Lowell, and Keen’s PR wire.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

• Ashley Baker. Deputy editor for Air Mail, she recently relocated with her family to London, but left pieces of her heart in NYC. You can hear “Morning Meeting,” her always entertaining podcast with fellow deputy editor Michael Hainey, here.

• Kate Berry. Kate is the creative director and chief creative officer of Domino and Saveur, who lives near Columbus Circle where she grows and farms the most beautiful garden in the sky. 

• Nate Berkus. Nate and his partner, Jeremiah Brent—both interior designers—recently moved back to Greenwich Village with their two children after giving west-coast living a shot.

• Sarah Clary. A former stylist for J Crew, Sarah writes a newsletter full of great styling tips and thoughtful opinions called Laundry Day and lives in Brooklyn.

• Andrea Franchini, a Roman based in NYC, is the market director of culture and entertainment at Edition Hotels, and has his own consulting firm, AF+ Partners.

• Tom Freston. The former CEO of Viacom and UES denizen, he’s the board chair of the ONE Campaign to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030. 

• Ashley Harris. Former director at Sotheby’s auction house, Ashley lives in Brooklyn and is the founder and creative director of the playful jewelry brand, Don’t Let Disco. 

• Shanika Hillocks. Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 Tastemaker of 2021, Shanika is a brand strategy consultant working in the hospitality, food, and beverage worlds who lives in Sugar Hill, Harlem. 

• Matt Hranek. Does he really need an intro? Creator of WM Brown and Yolanda’s other half!

• Nikki Kule. Nikki’s fashion brand Kule is the perfect synthesis of uptown-downtown NYC—and she has lived all over the city.

• William Li is the co-founder of Asian wellness brand, The Hao Life, and writes about design, food, travel, and culture for Town & Country and Elle Decor. 

• Leandra Medine. Man Repeller’s founder now writes The Cereal Aisle, her Substack newsletter on how to get dressed, from her UES apartment.

• Chris Mitchell & Pilar Guzman are our beloved friends and former Condé colleagues, Brooklyn neighbors, and the authors of the just-published Patina Modern. 

• Ann & Sid Mashburn. Based in Atlanta (but NYC alums!), our dear friends just opened their first boutique here, on Madison and 74th.

• Rachelle Hruska MacPherson is the founder of Lingua Franca, cashmere sweaters hand-stitched in NYC.

• Dewey Nicks, our dear friend, is a photographer and director who lives on the West Coast, making him a great hotel and restaurant reviewer for us! 

• Bruce Pask is the men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, and a dear friend for decades. 

• Lucinda Scala Quinn was the food director at Martha Stewart during our time there, and wrote the Mad Hungry cookbook series about feeding her three sons on NY’s upper west side.

• Jenny Rosenstrach. Our pal and former colleague is the author of The Weekday Vegetarians and the ever-approachable Dinner a Love Story newsletter on Substack. 

• Zach Weiss. Our friend Zach is a writer for Vogue, Ralph Lauren RL Magazine, and head of brand for Outerspace. 

Okay, then! Here’s our highly subjective, scattershot list of everyone’s favorites, organized from uptown to down and over the bridges.