New York City Recap

A few months ago I went to NYC for a celebratory part anniversary trip part birthday trip for Joe. It was my first time flying since the pandemic, and it felt so good to get back into the swing of things with travel. We spent the whole time visiting friends, exploring the city, and drinking the best cocktails. It was colder than I expected it to be so we didn’t do as much walking around as I hoped for. I DEFINITELY am already wanting to go back for summer!

We flew into Newark and headed straight to our hotel. The first few days we stayed at the Freehand in the Gramercy neighborhood. The interior is to die for! I always go to the Freehand Los Angeles for drinks, and the New York location did not disappoint. The first night we were wiped from travel and my gals Jenna and Cort from A Whimsy Wonderland met up with us for drinks at the hotel bar Bar Calico. Definitely recommend stopping by for a cocktail if you’re in the area! Next up we were ready for food so we hopped downstairs to the hotel restaurant Comodo for dinner, and then finished off the night at the rooftop bar Broken Shaker which had a fun tiki-inspired vibe. We literally didn’t leave the actual hotel all night and it was exactly what we needed after a long day of travel. Honestly wish we would have had more time to hang out around the hotel later on because I loved all of the spots there.

The next morning, jet-lagged and a little hungover we caught up on sleep before heading out to a late Japanese-style brunch at Hi-Collar. As soon as we stepped in it felt like we traveled to Japan. I opted for the hot cakes which were DELISH, and Joe had the omurice. They have amazing coffee options, and Joe got the fancy siphon coffee. In the daytime, Hi-Collar is a Western-inspired Japanese café while at night the space transforms into a Japanese whisky bar. I didn’t get to experience it at night but will definitely be coming back for that!

A shopping day was in order. We wandered around SoHo and hopped in and out of shops. A few spots we stopped by were L’Appartement Sézane, Gorjana, Catbird, The Citizenry, and CB2. We wrapped up a long window-shopping afternoon meeting up with Jenna and Cort for a wine at La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels. I loved this spot on our last trip, so we had to revisit. They have an amazing natural wine selection and a really fun game where you can order a mystery glass of wine and if you correctly guess what it is then you get the whole bottle. So fun! Next up we went to Joe’s fave tiki dive Otto’s Shrunken Head for some tiki drinks and talked about our most ridiculous high school stories which was a hilarious tipsy time. We wrapped up the evening by heading over to Williamsburg to grab drinks at a honky tonk bar Jenna reccomended called Skinny Dennis, then we finished the night at Goldie’s Bar (the frozen “cold fashioned” is perfection, highly recommend). We grabbed some late-night bodega food and headed back to Cort’s apartment to hang. Talk about a packed evening! It was so nice to get the whole gang of friends back together. Miss them tons!

Of course we ended up majorly sleeping in the next morning and then headed out for a late brunch with a friend at a hi-fi record vegan cafe public records. A healthy meal was exactly what we needed at that point.

You know I love a good tiki bar, and I was bummed that New York is pretty lacking in tiki. But after some serious digging I found this amazing hidden gem that just opened a few months ago and had to visit! It’s called Sunken Harbor Club and it’s tucked into the upstairs of a Gage & Tollner. The drinks were incredible (and strong! I could only order one, haha.) It felt like a true nautical escape. I ordered the rum barrel and it came in a literal barrel, I felt like a pirate! Such a fun spot. If you go definitely get there early because there was a line outside when they opened. Once we got our sea legs we headed out for some NY pizza and then topped off the night with a hilarious show at the Comedy Cellar and called it a night. It was one of those perfect days for sure.

We kicked off the next morning with a New York must — bagel breakfast sandwiches — and then explored a bit of the area around our hotel. For coffee that morning we stopped by Felix Roasting Co. which is basically straight out of my art deco Wes Anderson dreams. The interior is so beautiful I would love to bring my laptop and work from here every now and then if I lived in the city.

Clearly cocktails were a prime priority on this trip and choosing the cocktail bars to visit was a highlight of this trip. When I was planning our trip most of the places I had marked from our last NYC trip back in 2019 were closed, so I got excited to discover some new gems and there were some really special places that recently opened. When I found Bandits — a literal 70s dream — I knew we had to go. The booths, the retro vibes, the cocktails, and the disco playlist were perfection. I ordered the Bobby Wasabi and the Sunny Side up and both were *chefs kiss*. The street cart tots were the perfect combo with the drinks too.

After drinks we grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed over to Jenna’s to “check-in” to her adorable pink apartment for the rest of the trip. You can see more of her cute apartment on Instagram here too. We grabbed dinner at a cute spot in her neighborhood and then hung out at her place and browsed her coffee table books and record collection. It was the perfect way to end the night and reminded me of old times when we lived in the same neighborhood in LA. How adorable is her pink shelf situation?

The next morning we explored Greenpoint for a day of thrifting, shopping, and trying to escape the freezing cold. Here’s some of the spots we shopped!

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Shopping Spots:

Feng Sway
Seven Wonders Collective
Beacon’s Closet
Awoke Vintage
Dobbin Street Vintage Co-Op

After we got all of our steps in shopping we headed to Bohemien Bar to kick off our last evening in the city. It quickly became my favorite place of our trip! Amazing drinks, decor, music, and food. This was definitely my happy place. We kept ordering drinks because they were THAT good. You can see more in my reel here.

For the last night we went to dinner at Four Horsemen, and then headed over to St. Mazie’s to grab a drink and watch a live jazz show. It felt like we traveled back in time to the 20’s and was the perfect way to end the trip.

For the last day we wanted to keep things chill so we went to Central Park for a walk with Jenna. We chatted about all of the things we wanted to do next time we’re in the city (like finally see a Broadway show!) and snacked on warm nuts which a squirrel literally climbed up Joe’s pants to steal. Haha! Then we headed for Maman for breakfast, and got ready to head out to the airport.

On our way to the airport we had to stop at our favorite coffee shop Sey Coffee. It’s a bit out of the way, but it was an easy stop on the way to JFK so we were glad to squeeze it in last-minute. All of their coffees come with a glass of sparkling water and it really elevates the whole coffee experience. I’d definitely stop there if you can fit it in.