Nothing quite compares to the sights and sounds of New York. You could spend a lifetime exploring the grandest of all cities, but if your time there is limited, focus on a few key neighbourhoods that are positively overflowing with restaurants to try, places to shop and things to do.

SOHO & NOHO

Where To Eat
Try Emilio’s Ballato (55 E Houston St), one of Manhattan’s best Italian restaurants. There, you’ll find that Rihanna and Obama – whose photos adorn the walls of the restaurant since their visits – share our love for classics like ricotta ravioli and veal parmigiana. Alternatively, do not sleep on the coconut crab curry and prawn karee at Fish Cheeks (55 Bond St), a family-style, seafood-oriented Thai eatery.

 

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A Little Extra
One of the best things you can do for yourself while in SoHo is scoop up as many flavors of ice cream as you can at the ever-inventive Morgenstern’s (88 W Houston St) parlour. Olive Oil Chocolate Eggplant? Pineapple Salted Egg Yolk? Banana Frosted Flakes? It’s all here and it’s all delicious.

 

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Where To Shop
When you can’t bear to try on anymore ‘fits at the hundreds of big-name shops on the main streets of SoHo, make an appointment at Bite Beauty Lip Lab (174 Prince St) to create your very own custom lipstick with the help of a beauty expert, or spend some time browsing McNally Jackson (52 Prince St), where the books are categorized by country of origin – a great way to discover foreign literature.

What To Do
To visit artist Donald Judd’s living and working space in downtown New York, you’ll have to make an advance reservation for a 75-minute guided tour of the Judd Foundation (101 Spring St), but we promise it’s worth it.

 

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If you’d rather be spontaneous, make sure to drop by Elizabeth Street Garden (Elizabeth Street), a peaceful community garden just steps away from the hustle and bustle.

LOWER EAST SIDE

Where To Eat
One of our favorite noodle bowls in the city can be found at Ivan Ramen (25 Clinton St), but that doesn’t mean you should ignore all the other goodies on the menu, whether that’s a bowl of “curry flower” or Japanese fried chicken.

 

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But if what would make you truly happy is an entire table covered in Greek mezzes, look no further than Kiki’s (130 Division St), a local favorite that’s always packed thanks to affordable and highly satisfying plates of tzatziki, spanakopita, and grilled octopus.

A Little Extra
The menu at Supermoon Bakehouse (120 Rivington St)
changes every week, but the pastries are always out-of-this-world good. Think: passion fruit curd doughnut, Ferrero Rocher cruffin, or… croissant butter ice cream?! Supermoon, we love you to the moon and back.

Where To Shop

Find a little something for your home at the masterfully curated furniture and design store Coming Soon (53 Canal St), and fill up on treasures and inspiration at Bode (58 Hester St), a luxury brand that handcrafts one-of-a-kind clothing out of antique fabrics.

 

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What To Do
Through guided tours of two tenement buildings and of the neighbourhood, the Tenement Museum (103 Orchard St) celebrates the stories of immigrants and migrants. By recreating the homes in which newcomers lived between the 1860s and the 1980s – sharing single-family units with three or more other families – the museum promises “a glimpse of the past” as well as “historical perspectives that relate to current conversations about immigration.”

WILLIAMSBURG, GREENPOINT & BEYOND

Where To Eat
In Williamsburg, try St Anselm (355 Metropolitan Ave), a fun and lowkey steakhouse that offers some of the best value in town and all the fixings you could possibly crave, from pan-fried mashed potatoes to spinach gratin.

 

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A little further north in Greenpoint, Paulie Gee’s (60 Greenpoint Ave) churns out a pizza as unforgettable as it is unusual: the Cherry Jones, a wood-fired pie topped with fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, prosciutto, dried Bing cherries, and orange blossom honey. If there’s one thing on this list you should trust us on, it’s this one.

A Little Extra
Stop by for pre or post-dinner drinks at Maison Première, (198 Bedford Ave) a New Orleans-inspired speakeasy that offers one of the widest varieties of absinthe and oysters you’ll find anywhere. It’s a great place to indulge in iconic cocktails or sample an innovative concoction. It’s also where yours truly first discovered the pleasures of bivalves almost a decade ago, and if that’s not proof of the bar’s enduring appeal, I don’t know what is.

 

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Where To Shop
Tuck into Bellocq’s (104 West St) quietly luxurious Brooklyn atelier, in Greenpoint, to explore a collection of thoughtfully selected and beautifully packaged teas and blends, rare Japanese incense, and artisanal gifts for tea lovers.

 

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Just a few minutes away, visit lifestyle boutique Adaptations (116 Franklin St)  to dwell over vintage and modern objects, furniture, and artwork.

What To Do
Take it easy at Marsha P. Johnson State Park, (90 Kent Ave) a newly inaugurated park that not only honors a pioneer of LGBTQ+ rights, but also offers great waterfront views of the Manhattan skyline, or at McCarren Park, (776 Lorimer St) where Brooklynites love to picnic.

If you’re prepared to go further afield, grab a ride to the awe-inspiring indoor-outdoor Noguchi Museum (9-01 33rd Rd, Queens) and sculpture garden, dedicated to Isamu Noguchi’s life’s work.

 

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To wrap things up, ride off into the sunset by catching a cab to the Tramway Plaza on Roosevelt Island, (Tramway Plaza, Roosevelt Island) via which you can head back to Manhattan while gasping at one of the best views of the city.

 

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