GUIDE TO THE L.E.S.

One of my favorite apartments that I've lived in was right in the heart of Manhattan's Lower East Side at Ludlow and Rivington. With pretty much anything I wanted to get into at arms reach or a few stops away on subway, I was a very happy camper. Margo Ducharme, owner of my go to shopping spot Assembly, shared with Vogue a few of her favorite LES spots and I couldn't agree with her picks more. Read more here...

THE REFORMATION

NYC's Lower East Side is a haven for shopping in independently owned, styled and truly bad ass boutiques—gratefully I lived in the heart of it. The Reformation was my go to, for a night out, special occasion or just had too frozen margaritas next door and needed some retail therapy. Alexa Chung recently did a shopping guide of the area with Lucky magazine and here are some snaps of the occasion.

DEM BELLY FULL

When moving from NYC to SF recently I became nervous that I would miss those special restaurants and dishes that seem irreplaceable—I'm looking at you Chinese sausage with sticky rice from the Lower East Side's Kuma Inn. Luckily San Francisco has a banging food scene, here's a comprehensive guide from 7x7 on how to eat your way through the city.  View the link for an easier read and download-able pdf.

SEX MACHINE

My brother from another mother (but are dad's are the same, jeez) Sex Machine - doing work in the LES.

PILGRIMAGE

On one of the nicest days in NY summer yesterday The Shop took a stroll down to Orchard and Broome for some retails therapy. Found a few goodies, but by far the highlight were theses Kenzo platform booties found at Pilgrim. The store is a stylist's wet dream - vintage pieces from almost every big fashion house and jewelry, art books and accessories to please almost any style. The owners are two of nicest men with impeccable taste, not to mention hilarious. Now is time to strap these puppies on and strut !

FAT KID PARADE

 

Ok, no joke after hitting up Sigmund's Pretzleshop (in the post below) we walked right into The Dessert Truck...we stretched out, sat down and got down. After roaming the streets of NY and making quite a name for themselves, Dessert Truck Works is now located on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side.  We ordered the Goat Cheese Cheesecake and Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding, which beat Bobby Flay's bitch ass recently in a Throwdown !  The menu is creative, staff is extremely kind and fun and they even let our crazy cousin Zio post his own quote on the chalkboard menu.

DAS IS GOOD

Pretzels remind us of biergartens, lederhosen, and goodness. While cruising down B Street in E. Village, The Shop passed by Sigmund's and the doughy smell of crusty pretzels demanded we come inside to test it out. Gruyere with paprika, seven chile and caramel pecan seemed to be the bangers, but with about 10 different types of dip to complement each pretzel, more testing must commence. Oh yeah, they make bomb ass sandwiches on these perfect pretzles too...get some !

Teddy Boy

Cruising down Allen St in the LES, The Shop came across a fairly new menswear boutique that has got us all hot and bothered. Teddy Boy, a British term from the 1950's for a tough youth wearing a modified style of Edwardian clothes, has a well edited, styled and handsome store at 164 Allen. Exposed wood floors and beams mixed with vintage furniture, projectors, cameras and sunglasses all set the tone for the beautifully tailored menswear that is all part of the Teddy Boy line. Satin shorts, slim suits, salvaged boots, clean button downs and a great vintage tie collection.