I'm a huge Japanophile: if there's one other place I'd like to live, it's Tokyo. I must have been there seven or eight times, most recently just after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Anyway, EN is a gem on Hudson Street, serving real Japanese cuisine. It turns out that EN is a chain in Japan; there are a lot of branches making lovely bosky food in cosy neighbourhood locations. But their New York incarnation is grand in scale and ambition, with solid, warm interiors (not unlike if the Whitney were a Japanese restaurant, oddly) - a remarkable hybrid of this city, and the other one that I'd love to live in.

Moss is a store that always inspires me, mixing conceptual art and design. I could spend ages in there looking at the ideas or how designers’ executed these products. Almost everything in the store is one of a kind.

The best freshly pulled noodles. My favorite is braised pork with noodles in broth, celery and cilantro add a delicious freshness. Perfect for a cold day.

Stupendous views of Manhattan and what feels like all of Brooklyn from the only tall-ish building around. And very good beer.

It's a sweet agave bar hidden in the fridge of a Mexican grocery store that use to be a laundromat. It doesn't get more Brooklyn than that but the tourists haven't found it yet so I highly recommend it. Music is really good and they have a great selection of mezcal. Felipe, the owner, also owns the adjoining restaurant Cerveceria.