Patisserie Tomoko is a French/Japanese bakery tucked away at the base of a condo building on Union Avenue. Patrons are seated at a U-shaped bar that overlooks their busy open kitchen, allowing you to feast on their sweet delights, while you sneak peeks at how pastry Chef Tomoko and her talented staff create. Known for their Prix Fixe menu that pairs wines, teas, or coffee with three courses of sweets as divinely delicious as they are beautiful, Tomoko also offers à la carte desserts like my favorite year-round pumpkin pie (unlike any you’ve tried before), or you might choose layered yuzu or green tea cakes, divine cream puffs, and a variety homemade ice creams and sorbets. Freshly baked yuzu doughnuts appear on the weekends. And no matter when you visit, Billie Holiday will likely be singing soulfully to you as you sup.

An experiential event series dedicated to working with artists to bring new ecologies to architecturally unique spaces through transcendent audio and visual performance.

My favorite coffee ever in NYC ! The first place I went when I lived in Brooklyn. The music is perfect, food is excellent. Definitely the perfect spot to read a book on sunday morning and a good work place for freelancers.

ANTHOM’s gallery-like store on Mercer Street is all about presentation, and their selection of pieces from designers like Lady Artigas, Mari Giudicelli, Yune Ho, Marni, and Suzanne Rae is displayed with an eye for design.

My second-favorite outdoor-place in Manhattan. The abandoned 1.6 km rail tracks running above Chelsea down to the Meatpacking district were turned into an above-ground park. Perfectly nice place for sitting in the sun, reading, relaxing, having lunch in some green spot in the city. Nice views at the Hudson River, New Jersey, the Statue of Liberty (little small from there but still visible) and the architecture around Chelsea.