Bites from the Big Apple: Setting sail for spring
Sailboats, townhouse shopping and simply the best cuts... Sarah Kennedy talks the latest trends from the city that never sleeps.
The Mark's 'boldy lavish' yacht soon sets sail
Old school charm is to be found at Tribeca’s North Cove Marina this summer. Here, The Mark Hotel's sailboat will embark on a cruise each evening, with cocktails and canapes from the The Mark's world class chef Jean Georges Vongerichten.
Only snag is you will also need to be a guest at the city’s most “boldy lavish” hotel to book a trip on this classic American yacht built in 1921. She features a mahogany hull and Indian teak decks with interiors to match her namesake, by design master Jacques Grange.
The Mark sailboat is truly “yare” as Bing Crosby said of the ‘True Love’ in High Society, offering a taste of summer in Rhode Island without having to actually schlep out there. Sailings start June 28th.
Seriously Chic Home Shopping
At Five Story on the Upper East Side you almost feel as if you're in owner Clare Distenfeld’s chic home. The pioneer boutique has re-booted the 1960s notion of shopping at someone’s groovy pad and though the brands are familiar, exclusive ranges from The Vampires Wife and one-off, crystal-crusted minaudieres by Judith Leiber make it a must-stop for the style-curious.
A few blocks away, Hayward House owned by Marin Hopper (daughter of Dennis), occupies a sumptuous second floor townhouse apartment. Hopper’s California vibe features embroidered western-style hats, photography by Dennis, a special Warhol collaboration with Calvin Klein and vibrantly coloured leather accessories .
Downtown, The Apartment by the Line can be found on the serene third floor of a Soho walk-up. Carrying urban, modern looks by Gabriela Hearst and Khaite, most offerings share the cool, neutral hues of this dream pied-a-terre.
Fashionable Art Starring Lourdes Leon
Art installations are the new runway shows. It would be challenging to find space for Jacolby Satterwhite’s mesmerizing 20 minute video odyssey Blessed Avenue (at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise until May 10) in even the most cavernous Tribeca loft but it could be worth picking up one-off merchandise in the gallery shop.
Blessed Avenue is a cornucopia of monsters, misfits and dancers including Madonna’s daughter Lourdes in imaginary dreamscapes in clubland and beyond. Satterwhite has said he is more concerned for his work to be shown in museums than private collections. In contemporary art in New York, the industry thrives much more upon knowing the names and M.Os of the most cutting edge creatives, rather than actually owning any of their work.
Grass Fed Geeks
In New York these days, it’s not what you cook but where it came from. People who wouldn't have known an Osso from a Bucco five years ago will now tell you exactly which bit of unfortunate beast you will be eating as you arrive for dinner.
In a city where everyone used to eat out and there were hardly any decent butchers, a whole new guard of domestic meat purveyors have sprung up, such as Hudson & Charles on the Upper West Side and Honest Chops downtown, where Wall Street types queue up for the best lamb shoulder cuts (lamb is hot by the way, after years of lumbering around in a meaty wilderness).
At White Gold, also on the Upper West Side, you can not only select the finest cuts from their wall charts but eat them there too. The shop offers casual dining all day and a more sophisticated evening menu in a white tiled store front with leather banquettes.