Five Very Aesthetically Pleasing Places
aes*thet*ic
/esˈTHedik/
adjective, mood, thing one can ooze, basis of evaluation, can be destroyed by improper use of succulents, derived from Anthropologie and Restoration Hardware
1. concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty.
“did you see the macrame hammock, showcased against a white-washed brick wall at that place that serves charcoal matcha lattes in gold chalices?”
2. giving or designed to give self-value through beauty; of value-enhancing appearance.
“if I don’t get 100 likes on this instagram, I’m going to waterboard myself”
3. an intangible element that you mindlessly justify as an unwritten surcharge that is bumping your plate of eggs up to $17.
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I’m proud to say people ask me for advice. Not your standard life advice, which is fine seeing I haven’t been falsifying myself as a some sage-being like Splinter from the Ninja Turtles, but I get a lot of questions pertaining to dining in the city. As my friend Hiro said, I am a human yelp review, which was the kindest compliment I’ve heard in a good while. But the content people are looking for doesn’t simply pertain to the quality of the eats – people are looking for mood, vibe, aesthetic.
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Because it’s 2018 and general aesthetic plays a instrumental role in evaluating a restaurant, last year Eater released the most beautiful restaurants in New York City, with Chinese Tuxedo taking the crown. No, the Rainforest Cafe in Edison, New Jersey didn’t make the cut.
For five of my favorite, casual-esque, beautiful places in New York as of recent:
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First of the bat, one of favorite spaces in the city is the Studio at the Freehand Hotel in Gramercy. The hotel itself boasts other gems like the George Washington Bar and Simon and the Whale, but Studio offers a relaxed environment for solo dining, intimate catch up, or unabashed instagram fodder.
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So according to my instagram activity, I’m a regular at Williamsburg’s Devocion. This cafe is nothing short of stunning: incredible lofty space; breathtaking juxtaposition of brick, leather, and a live-plant wall; and the coffee and bites here are grade-A for a coffee-focused cafe.
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Bushwick’s Carthage Must Be Destroyed is simply begging to be photographed yet slyly on every page of the menu, there is a reprimanding statement against “photo shoots”. “Personal Shots” are fine, so you are more than welcome to take overhead captures of your breakfast bowl and steal shots of the artfully done all-pink decor.
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Ask me where I want to spend my last day on earth and it would probably be in a sultry, leather clad library that doubles as a cocktail bar. So, yes that would be The Library at the Nomad Hotel. The bar is housed in a 19th century library with the original spiral staircase imported from the South of France. Oh and did I mention, cocktails and finger foods are curated by Daniel Humm, chef of the 3 Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park?
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So if you follow enough people who live in New York, La Mercerie in Soho has gracefully blessed your instagram feed at least once. While personally I didn’t love the food (small, Parisian bites are fundamentally against my moral code of ethics), the artistic beauty of the restaurant makes you feel way more sophisticated and important than you probably are. A+.