If you want to try something outside the city center this is a really beautiful small gem. They cook delicious seasonal food and have a nice selection of cheese and charcuterie for your wine. Best to book table beforehand. 

As Jim Jarmusch put it in the documentary Blank City, the address is roughly between Bowery, Avenue B, 14th Street and Houston. This area of the city is steeped in art, film, and music history; so many hugely influential artists, film makers, and musicians still live and work here. For such a small area, I think it's had more concentrated influence on contemporary art and culture than anywhere else.

About 10 miles away, there's a tiny old mill town on the Haw River called Saxapahaw that's attracted an interesting mix of really wonderful, creative people, including Heather and Tom LaGarde who turned this giant old mill foor into a combination ballroom and coffee house. It's an amazing venue for music at night and during the afternoon, it's a giant and quiet sanctuary that feels a million miles away from anything else.

Vibrant place for lunch / dinner, high level street food, Urban vibes. Cozy during winter and a large sunny terrace during summer. Highly recommended!

If you're anywhere near the Cathedral Quarter. and in search of a Guinness (or beverage of choice), Muriel’s Café Bar will call out to to you with a great big warm glow. A haven of velvet and neon, with a string of fancy pants adorning the ceiling (perfectly normal). This was a cosy, friendly bar, with an enviable liquor collection. We went back a couple of times during our stay. We didn't eat there but I think it does food too.

Right in from Mont-Royal subway we have this amazing bookstore named L'exchange with great books and great environnement.

Delicious drinks, nice courtyard, good music. 

Smartly curated and art savvy, Mauve has been putting together reliably excellent shows with a focus on contemporary painting since 2012. Mauve’s bar features a neon cactus, a choice of favourite drinks and a crowd of artists in their natural habitat.

Melrose and Morgan is a grocery shop and kitchen providing freshly prepared food and artisan products in the heart of Primrose Hill and Hampstead Village.

You enter La Fidelity and will find a very classic Parisian Brasserie, probably almost empty. Maybe one or two people at the bar. In the middle of this place you will find the stairs that go down to the cave. Have fun!

Beautiful minimalist Japanese ceramics.

Located near to the Alamo square's Painted Ladies is this wonderful gothic "stick" Italian villa with a long weirde history. Built by a Candy Baron in 1889, it's housed variously; a Russian Czarist nightclub, Jazz musicians, Satanists, a Manson family member, and one of the first 60's Hippy communes -Calliope. Creepy as hell enshrouded in fog after dark.