Where does Jay McInerney buy his hand-me-downs? Where does Lucy Sykes get her
cocoa fix, or John Cameron Mitchell his veggie sandwiches? Nobody knows New
York like New Yorkers, so we asked them. It’s the complete insiders’ guide.
Jay McInerney
The “Brat Pack” writer shot to fame with his 1984 book Bright
Lights, Big City. His latest novel, also about New York, is The Good
Life
“New York restaurants come and go, museums you can find in guidebooks, but I
love to haunt the consignment shops and used-clothing stores on East 7th
Street, in the East Village: funky little places such as Tokyo 7, run by
young Japanese kids who barely speak English. These guys are real
fashionistas — they don’t even take in an item unless they think it’s worthy
of their store. The spirit of punk rock flows in their blood.
“I like clothes, and it’s the kind of place you go to pick up something by
Yohji Yamamoto, Alexander McQueen or Imitation of Christ, at knockdown
prices. Lots of wealthy New Yorkers wouldn’t be caught dead in the same
outfit twice, and some of the stuff still has its original labels, but at a
quarter of the price. And because this is America, there’s no shame in
shopping there.Last time I was in Tokyo 7, I ran into Chloë Sevigny.
“It’s the old CBGB neighbourhood, good for people-watching while you shop.
There’s a great pub on East 7th, McSorley’s: 150 years old, a basic beer
joint with sawdust on the floor. They reckon it’s the oldest ale house in
the city — until 1970, they didn’t allow women inside. And the other place
to stop off is Momofuku Noodle Bar: tiny, just a few stools, and a really
great chef doing innovative Japanese/Korean fusion food. It’s quite new, but
already an institution.
“There’s another strip of vintage thrift stores uptown, on East 83rd Street,
for the more conservative, buttoned-up clotheshorse. I picked up a Ralph
Lauren Purple Label cashmere topcoat there for maybe $500, which would have
cost $3,000 new — frankly, I think it was new.”
The details: Tokyo 7 is at 64 East 7th Street, between First and Second
Avenues. McSorley’s (www.mcsorleysnewyork.com)
is at 15 East 7th; Momofuku (00 1-212 475 7899, www.momofuku.com)
is at 163 First Avenue.
Addie Tomei
The New York food guru (and mother of movie star Marisa) runs Savory
Sojourns, offering culinary tours of the city
“There are so many great restaurants here. Roberto’s, in the Arthur Avenue
neighbourhood in the Bronx, for down-home Italian — much better than
anything in Little Italy — and Great NY Noodletown in the Bowery, where
you’ll usually share a table with a Chinese family. Always order what they
order! “One really lovely thing to do, which even many natives don’t know
about, is to take the New York Water Taxi. Board at the World Financial
Center, on the Hudson side of Manhattan, and hop to Fulton Ferry Landing in
Brooklyn: you sail right past the Statue of Liberty and step off under
Brooklyn Bridge. There, call in at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, in a
1920s fireboat house on the waterfront. Mark Thompson, the owner, is
passionate; he makes a dozen flavours, all with fresh fruits. Tell him Addie
sent you.
“Sit eating it in front of the classic New York skyline, the one
from all the movies. It feels like a vacation every time I do it.
Afterwards, stroll through Dumbo, the old warehouse district that’s become
known for art galleries and home-design stores, then walk back into
Manhattan across the clackety-clack wooden slats of Brooklyn Bridge.”
The details: the Water Taxi service (www.nywatertaxi.com)
runs from May 1 until October 15; ferries leave the World Financial Center
hourly from 11.33am to 3.33pm. The Ice Cream Factory (718 246 3963) is at 1
Water Street.
John Cameron Mitchell
The outré actor-director is best known as the writer and star of Hedwig
and the Angry Inch. His latest movie is Shortbus
“I’ve lived in the West Village for 15 years, but it’s getting so expensive
now. Luckily, I can still afford to eat at ’sNice, a great veggie cafe on
Eighth Avenue. It’s a perfect bolt hole, with good food and a West Coast
mission feel. The decor is steel and exposed brick: very casual. It’s
popular with students — hippieish, even — and Mike, the owner, buses the
tables himself. It seems like he’s just popped in from San Francisco or
Seattle.
“I’m not vegetarian, but the food’s tasty enough to convert me. The caprese
sandwich, with basil, mozzarella and tomato, is sensational. Reasonable
prices, good waiters: you can tell it’s a cut above because they don’t all
long to be actors, they want to be painters or concert musicians.”
The details: Nice (212 645 0310) is at 45 Eighth Avenue and West 4th
Street.
Lucy Sykes Rellie
The British It girl, fashion writer and children’s clothing designer, twin
sister of Plum Sykes, has lived in the West Village since 1996
“I’m running around the West Village and the Meatpacking District all day
long, popping into Yoya and Scoop, both of which stock my clothes; Auto, to
buy presents; and occasionally to Christian Louboutin, to exercise my
husband’s credit card.
“We like to eat breakfast at Pastis and drink cocktails at Soho House. In
between, when we’re not stuck in our offices, we dash down the street to
consume mounds of cocoa at Chocolate Bar. It’s a sweet shop for grown-ups, a
cool update of the cafe concept, with a fantastic range of chocolates and
chocolate drinks to cheer up the most drab day. But it’s also a great place
just to hang out, populated by a motley crew of students, yuppies, models
(honestly, even really skinny ones) and famous actors. We love the punk
hipster girls in the back making the chocolate bars.
“Our son, Heathcliff, thinks he has been transported to Willy Wonka land. He
does a pretty decent Augustus Gloop dance. We love their classic New York
egg cream, and the pains au chocolat are authentic and delicious. In
spring and summer, we go for their hot chocolate on ice — much better than
regular chocolate milk.”
The details: Chocolate Bar (212 367 7181, www.chocolatebarnyc.com)
is at 48 Eighth Avenue, just south of 13th Street.
Angus McIndoe
The Glaswegian restaurateur’s eponymous Broadway eatery is frequented by
Nathan Lane, David Hyde Pierce and scores of other stars
“I live in Brooklyn and I love it: like Glasgow, rough-and-tumble, but
cultured, lots of history and culturally diverse, the real-deal New York.
Prospect Park, where my son, Cameron, and I go biking and sledging, is
fantastic — bigger than Central Park by miles, with a million things to do
in summer. There are outdoor concerts and theatre in the Bandshell there,
and on the Fourth of July the whole city descends for an enormous impromptu
barbecue.
“I’ve one other favourite spot. Even after 15 years here, I still get winded
by walking into Grand Central station. It’s the tour de force
of American architecture, that enormous arched space, the vast windows
flooding it with shafts of light, and a hundred little kiosks to buy
tickets.
No tacky stores are allowed to clutter the scene, and I like to sit at
Cipriani Dolci restaurant, on the West Balcony, sipping bellinis. It’s like
watching theatre — being there makes you want to buy a ticket at random and
get on a train, just to be part of the magic. I really did do that once.”
The details: for Prospect Park events, visit www.prospectpark.org.
Cipriani Dolci: 212 973 0999, www.cipriani.com.
Luke Cresswell
The co-founder of, and performer with, Stomp (running nonstop in New
York since 1994) has an apartment in Union Square
“I love the fact you can walk and walk for ever in New York, then jump a
yellow cab home. My favourite route is weaving from St Mark’s Church towards
Greenwich along Eighth Street, lined with hip stores and great diners. When
Stomp opened, that East Side neighbourhood was quite dodgy, but now it’s
really up-and-coming.
“You must check out the basketball court on the corner of 4th Street and 6th
Avenue, bang in the middle of the West Village, where the city kids come to
shoot hoops. A game goes off most nights at about 6pm. Baggy shorts, street
rules, but really hot players — much better entertainment than the NBA! It
always pulls a crowd of spectators, and the competition is fierce — I’ve
seen bust-ups plenty of times.
“My favourite hang-out after performing is Pianos on Ludlow Street, a cool
place to see live music. It’s the authentic New York, on the Lower East Side
among narrow streets, a district straight out of a Scorsese movie. By all
means go see jazz at the Blue Note, or shop at Bloomingdale’s, but if you
want to be with locals and catch a really good up-and-coming New York band,
Pianos is the place.
“The downstairs is a club. It holds 300 people, and you often see something
that’ll surprise you — mad punk, R&B, whatever. Upstairs is
a more casual hang: a lounge bar, usually with a DJ. You can sit and chat
till 4am. Very chilled.”
The details: Pianos (212 505 3733, www.pianosnyc.com)
is at 158 Ludlow Street, at Stanton.
MC Reggie Reg
The hip-hop pioneer founded the seminal 1980s collective Crash Crew, and he
still MCs between stints guiding music excursions around Harlem for Hush
Tours
“If you’re interested in seeing a different part of New York City, away from
the tourist drag, come to 125th Street in Harlem. You’re going to see real
society there, not something dressed up and putting on a show. It’s a big
part of what’s shaped the atmosphere of the city, and it feels different
from 30 years ago — it’s multicultural now, and visitors are very welcome.
“There’s everything you need: movies, shopping, and the best soul food,
especially at Manna’s, on Eighth Avenue at 125th Street.
It’s not as famous as Sylvia’s, where Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela ate, but
it’s catching up — I’d say the food’s even tastier. Eat your diet book
before you go down there. You’ve got everything: jerk chicken, fried fish,
collard greens, and especially the peach cobbler, a peach pie with an
extra-thick, buttery crust. I can taste it now...
“For great Caribbean food, you want MoBay, between Lenox and Fifth: very
classy and romantic, a mixed crowd. I can recommend the curried goat. The
music is beautiful — R&B or gospel on Sundays — and there’s the
owner, Ma, a tiny West Indian-Chinese woman. Nobody knows her real name —
she’s just Ma.
“If you want to check out Harlem history, you need the Abyssinian Baptist
Church, on West 138th Street — grand as a cathedral.
“As for a music spot, my pick would be Shadow, on West 28th Street and Eighth
Avenue. It’s R&B, hip-hop and old school, but for an older,
dressed-up crowd. There’s a room with sophisticated jazz and a reggae room.
The women are looking good and the gentlemen are courteous. It’s a grown-up,
sexy kind of place, and I’m never disappointed.”
The details: Manna’s, 00 1 212 749 9084, www.mannasrestaurants.com;
MoBay, 212 876 9300, www.mobayrestaurant.com;
Shadow, 212 629 3331.
