New York City
Labor Day is a great time to visit New York City, especially if you like the city relatively quiet and empty! Alex and I were able to spend two whole weeks in New York thanks to the generosity of friends who let us stay in their place on the Upper West Side while they were traveling. Such a wonderful way to live like locals, while the locals are away!
Thanks to Alicia for the 7am breakfast meetup! Redeye life. Mamoun’s falafel for lunch.
Fantastic first dinner at Lola’s, as named for the chef’s Filipina grandmother. All of the food was great, of course, but the buckwheat chocolate chip cookie with oolong milk was the one that will live forever in my head, rent free.
Brunch with Walter and Fiona at Buvette.
Followed by tea at Té Company.
Adorable stationery, Goods for the Study.
A visit to Adorama! But I didn’t buy anything– yet. I did get a Romeo and Juliet vinyl from Academy Records down the street though.
The eclectic, beloved home goods of Fishs Eddy.
Our first time visiting Taiwanese restaurant Wen Wen, by the same proprietors as 886.
From Wenwen: pining passion mocktail, peashoots with tofu skin, pork terrine; lo ba beng; beef noodle soup; and fried tangyuan with ice cream.
Drinks interlude at Good Bar. Vinyls! But divey.
And then, when eventually got off the waitlist we made our wave over to Eavesdrop. Very pretty!
Little morning run in Central Park, which genuinely was just at the end of the block where we were staying. So nice!
Japanese breakfast for lunch! We visited the Manhattan pop-up for Okonomi, but they’re usually in Brooklyn.
Soho wanderings
Sorate matcha cafe.
And walking over through Chinatown…
To the newly reopened Yu & Me Books!
This Asian American bookshop was opened in 2021, burned down in a fire, reopened a temporary space last year, and finally reopened its permanent home in Chinatown. We were actually at the grand opening of their pop-up last year and signed their poster, which now hangs in the corner of the back room.
Dinner at the Beekman
I don’t remember our drinks, but the dishes were a Maine lobster roll and Prime grilled hanger steak.
World Trade Center. Still haven’t been to a show at the Perelman yet. It just opened in late 2023.
Oculus, of course.
Then we were off to the Hudson Valley!
First meal back in the city, Parm. The casual offshoot of Carbone!
Oh, then we visited B&H, photography central. And I did not walk away empty-handed! I got a new Sony lens and then a new Sony body and a new Canon body and lens soon thereafter. Is it silly to be invested in two different, incompatible camera brands? Yes. Am I doing it anyway? Also yes!
New lens! Before we got to dinner, we were a bit too early for our reservation, so we started walking around randomly… and ran into Timothee Chalamet all dressed up in black and coming out of an SUV. I couldn’t think of his name right away and described him to Alex as “a younger version of that guy from The Bear.” Accurate.
Dinner at Konban was excellent though! They are known for their katsu, which was great. But I loved the other dishes too. Pork loin katsu; Branzino with mushroom; Nuku udon; and Konban corn ice cream! Yes, corn shaped, but it’s ice cream on the inside. Very amusing.
Some easy casual faves: simple bagels from Zucker’s. And burgers from Shake Shack.
Bar Goto. Alex was looking out for plum drinks for me, but this one was only ok.
Fish Cheeks, a Thai restaurant. A wondrfully cozy place to be sheltering during a crazy rain storm outside. Shrimp chips; Grilled pork cheeks; Rawaaeng duck curry; and Crab fried rice.
Back to our Taiwanese American corner of Williamsburg! Win Son Restaurant, Win Son Bakery, and Yun Hai all in one spot.
Camped out at the bakery and did a little bit of work too.
Then walked down the street to Yun Hai, which sells Taiwanese pantry staples and other goodies.
I picked up a second copy of A Gong’s Table, which you can see in the corner of the first photo below. We already featured the cookbook in one of my Taiwanese American cookbook clubs, but I also managed to see George Lee and Laurent Hsia on their mini book tour in both New York and back in California. More on that later! I also got this beautiful Taiwan Pride flag, which I then wore to Taiwanese Heritage Night with the San Francisco Giants. More on that to come too!
For two people staying on the UWS of Manhattan we sure did spend a lot of time in Brooklyn! Greenpoint wanderings…
It’s become something of a mini Japantown, with such cute little shops and restaurants.
Uzuki, for August’s birthday! This was the most wonderful soba shop, where they make the most delicious soba and beautiful ceramics in-house.
So so good!
I split off to go to the A Gong’s Table talk, and then I met back up with all of the boys on the rooftop of The William Vale, where they were having a drink. I love a good rooftop view!
Morning portrait session on the Upper East Side! Such beautiful light.
A classic ramen experience I’d never tried before! Ichiran Ramen, where you get to eat in your own little individual booth. I took this photo with Alex and then had him put the divider back between us so I could eat in silence, haha.
Then we visited the MLB store, which isn’t just for one team but is for all the teams! Gems we found: A Mets/Yankees split hat (which later garnered quite some controversy when Mayor Eric Adams tried to rock both teams, to the chagrin of both fan bases); A NY Giants vs NY Yankees World Series hat (fun!); A Giants and Reds section. And the New York or Nowhere brand, which I think is beautiful, but I am not a NYC person nor am I a Yankees fan.
NYPL! I love a library!
Beautiful Bryant Park
We also visited Muji at least two or three different times. Still so sad that the only Mujis in America are all in NYC now.
Casual Malaysian dinner at Kopitiam: Tok tok mee; Kaya toast; Sambal sauteed water spinach; and Lychee bandung drinks in bags.
Multiple people recommended Book Club Bar to me, and for good reason! Bookshop meets bar meets cafe, love it.
Zabar’s bagels & coffee.
Ah yes, baseball! We went to a Yankees game just for fun. The Mets didn’t have any home games because it was US Open time. Alex has of course been to both the Mets and Yankees already so it didn’t count towards checking off a new stadium, but we did go get a stamp for our stamp book!
Again – not Yankees fans – but their branding is very solid! And now that it’s a Yankees-Dodgers world series we are obligated to root against the Dodgers a.k.a. for the Yankees. Alas.
They have a fun fan tradition where the outfield bleachers chant each of their player’s names until the player acknowledges them.
Halal Cart at Yankee Stadium!
Then we rushed back down from the Bronx to go line up for Double Chicken Please, which was named the #1 bar in America and is owned by Taiwanese Americans. We had the misfortune of being in New York for the exact two weeks that they were closed for renovations and popping up in San Francisco instead(!). This was the only day they were reopened while we were still in town. We arrived half an hour before opening and the line was already down to the end of the street.
They let us put our name down, for a three hour wait! No worries, went bar hopping in the meantime. First in line for Death & Co. This was the plum drink I had been waiting for! Genius of Love: rye, ume plum, sesame orgeat, lemon, rose.
Very excellent cocktails. This is one of Alex’s favorite spots.
Got a shrimp roll to make sure we weren’t too hangry on our three hour wait.
Off to more wanderings around East Village. We happened upon Mast Books and saw a Japanese book about Mexican architect Luis Barragan. Alex opened it straight to the page about Casa Gilardi, which we visited in CDMX. I guess this book wants to come with us! We took it back to Book Bar Club to read for a while, until we got the text…
Our spot at Double Chicken Please is finally ready! Their time estimate was very accurate.
Alex’s first drink came with a dried ham lollipop on top. Red Eye Gravy: whiskey, coffee butter, corn, walnut, wild mushroom, and microwaved coppa.
Yes, there is also chicken at Double Chicken Please! We probably didn’t need to order both of these, but we got popcorn chicken and the chicken sandwich.
Their drinks are all modeled after foods. Custard bun; Waldorf salad; and a buckwheat soft serve (I think?).
A peek at the front, which was clearly still under renovation but has since reopened!
Another Central Park run.
Then we happened upon the 79th Street Greenmarket. So many colorful late summer fruits and veggies!
We got a whole plum-pluot sampler! Whatever you do, don’t eat an Italian plum. It’s hands down the worst.
More Japanese breakfast! We went out to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, again, haha. Rule of Thirds. A very beautiful space.
Spirited Away n/a cocktail; Japanese Breakfast Set; Kakuni Donburi; and Japanese Souffle Pancake. All delicious, would do again.
Spotted some Taiwanese friends in local bookstores: A-Gong’s Table (which I actually saw all over the place!) and stickers from Jane Li.
Turns out there’s also a Taiwanese stationery store in Greenpoint, Yoseka. I got these tiny brass scissors made by Toolstoliveby in Taiwan.
Justin matching with the Gymshark truck in the wild! And picking up a Radiohead record.
Then Alex’s friend Lindsay met up with us too, and we popped into Kettl tea shop. When we came out I recognized my friend Jen’s yoga studio! Never knew this is where it was! I texted her about seeing ‘her first baby’ and she told me she gave birth to her actual baby that same day, haha. Amazing. Thank you universe!
Empire State sighting, and Korean upscale dining spot Atoboy.
It’s a prix-fixe meal that comes with rice, banchan, and kimchi, and way more things that aren’t pictured here, but below are sea urchin; mussel guksu; and pork belly.
It feels at this point as if this post will go on forever, because we actually permanently live in New York. But no, we have reached our final morning on the Upper West Side! Starting off with this interesting new kid on the bagel scene: PopUp Bagels. They require that you buy bagels three at a time, and it comes with a tub of cream cheese, no slicing, no other toppings. But fresh out of the oven! Actually very good!
Saunter through Central Park and on down to Michigan Ave.
Went on a bit of a Lego mission for Westin’s upcoming birthday party! Gift secured!
And just as we were leaving, our hosts finally arrived back in their home. Thank you again for such a wonderful stay in New York, Anika & Vijay!
Truly wonderful. Looking forward to five hundred more, new, delicious things the next time we’re in town!
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She embraces any excuse to travel. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.
