Cappuccino Thoughts 78: On a Perfect Day in Soho [Neighborhood Guide]
+ bags go bicoastal and an Irish book
Soho is the neighborhood that made me fall in love with New York when I was 15 years old and spent the summer living with my older brother here. Although his apartment was on the Upper West Side, I would scamper downtown after my internship or on days off to go window shopping at all the boutiques and admire the glamorous people walking around. I remember being absolutely mesmerized
Now as a New Yorker myself, I have to admit that Soho can become a grating experience when, on beautiful sunny weekends, the tourists and influencers descend and it becomes impossible to even cross Broadway.
Still, there is an undeniable magnetism to the neighborhood. To remind myself what made me love this neighborhood so much, here’s my guide to how I would spend a perfect day in Soho:
-Start the day with a cappuccino (obvs) at Drip Drop Café, a hole in the wall spot run by a very kind man named Rodrigo. Take your coffee to go and walk over to Soho News, single handedly the best magazine store in NYC. (15 year old Claire blew much of her internship budget on foreign issues of Vogue. No regrets). Casa is also of course amazing, as is Iconic (the one on Mulberry).
-If it’s a summer Saturday morning, grab your yoga mat and join a free outdoor class at Elizabeth Street Garden. If yoga’s not on the docket, it’s a great spot to sit among the beautiful sculptures and greenery and pet the passing dogs.
-For a touch of culture, take your pick among The Broken Kilometer, The Earth Room, The Judd Foundation, or the Drawing Center. The Broken Kilometer and The Earth Room are both installations by Walter de Maria (who also created the Lightning Field)—the former is comprised of 500 brass rods, and the latter is a room filled with dirt. You kind of have to see it to understand! Both are free and are a quick stop. The Judd Foundation is minimalist artist Donald Judd’s home and studio, housed in a four story Soho loft (jealous!). You have to book tickets in advance and you have to take a tour to see the whole space. It’s about two hours and totally worth it. He truly lived his vision: every floor felt like one of his rectangular sculptures come to life. But what really took my breath away was the art from his contemporaries. He traded for work from the likes of Frank Stella, Donald Flavin, and Claes Oldenburg. (My junior year dorm room overlooked Oldenburg’s Lipstick Tank. Truly my peak.) As I wrote in Cap Thoughts 25, I gasped out loud when I walked into the top floor room, with no lights except a site-specific Flavin piece lining the windows that overlook the Soho streets. The Drawing Center is a lovely exhibition space that features drawings (duh). I saw an incredibly moving exhibit and talk by the art group General Idea there and the curators have a very good eye for bringing surprising works into the space.
-After your dose of culture, it’s time to go window shopping. I’d stop at Staud, Toteme, and Tory Burch to see what the fashion girls are wearing. (The Tory Burch Mercer street store is designed to look like a honeycomb and has a store-specific line of Lee Radziwill bags I covet) Then head to Save Khaki United for quality made-in-America socks and shirts for the men in your life. Then stop at Sabah to admire the supple leather Turkish slippers, Polène to see bags in surprising shapes, and Dagne Dover (if youneed a more practical bag). Then do some more serious shopping at APC’s surplus store on Broome, drool at Rachel Comey but wait for her sample sale in the spring, and hunt through the racks at Gu, a new Japanese store by the makers of Uniqlo. And it’s hard to resist stopping at Goods for the Study and stocking up on gorgeous pens and high quality notebooks curated from around the world.
-When it’s time for a refuel, grab a coffee at Manhattan’s newest bookstore Bibliotheque. The cafe/bookstore does sell books, but they do look like they’re mostly for show. For real book shopping, walk around the corner to Mercer Street Books & Records, where you really have to hunt through the used books, but you can find something you’ve never seen before. Or for modern fiction,walk to the newly renovated McNally Jackson location or Housing Works.
-For dinner, if you’re feeling spendy, Le Coucou is $$$$ but truly an experience you’ll remember. It’s also where famed scammer Anna Delvey liked to eat, so you know you’re in good company. However, the 1940 song “Coucou” that plays on repeat in the bathroom is enough to drive anyone a little nuts. La Mercerie is also a stunning French restaurant that draws a fashion crowd if you want some people watching with your entrée.
If your budget is more $, Hamburger America makes a highly satisfying onion burger for $7.25. The chef George Motz has been called a “burger scholar” and has written not one, but two books about the perfect burger.
-If you still have any energy, see an independent film at the iconic cinema the Angelika or grab a drink with the glitterati at the Crosby Street Hotel.
Updates on the bag brand
Big update from bag land! We’re officially bicoastal!
Claire Akkan bags are now available at the Designer Consigner in Presidio Heights, San Francisco. I’ve been shopping there since I was in high school and the store is run by the most amazing mother-daughter duo. I’m so excited to be included in their store. There are three Gucci bamboo handle bags available only there. Go check them out if you’re in town!
If you’re not in SF, I uploaded a few new bags on the site—lots of black leather Gucci, some black suede, and one special Bottega Veneta bag.
Look of the week
On my recent trip to Cappadocia, Turkey (land of the hot air balloons), I spotted this couple. I have to respect a bride who is committed to getting the shot. This region of Central Anatolia is significant for its “fairy chimneys” (on the upper left), a geographical feature shaped by the wind, as well as for its cave cities that housed Christians fleeing persecution by the Romans in the 4th century. I like how the flowy silhouette of her dress and veil mirror the natural landscape. And peep the fellow’s sneakers. It was a hike to get up to this site, filled with dust and about 90 degrees. I hope her photos turned out great.
What’s on the bedside table
I was enthralled by Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Say Nothing about the Northern Irish Troubles. I previously read his book about the Sackler family and the opioid epidemic Empire of Pain (highly recommend) and he has a gift for unraveling complex and challenging stories. Say Nothing focuses on four key figures involved in the Troubles—a mother of ten who was “disappeared” by the IRA, a leading Sinn Fein revolutionary, a young woman who bombed London, and someone who became disillusioned with the republican movement. There’s been a surge in popularity of Irish literature recently (call it the Sally Rooney effect) with Claire Keegan, Caroline O’Donohughe, Louise Kennedy, and I’ve loved their work. Yet, I was surprised by how much I didn’t know about the conflict between Northern Ireland and England. I do wish a bit more historical context had been included to understand why the Troubles started. But if you’ve ever watched Derry Girls and wanted to know why some people call the town “Derry” and others “Londonderry,” then this book is for you.
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This week I am….hoping the weather holds to see a French film in the park and attending the ballet.
Catch up on recent issues:
The reason for your "undeniable magnetism" to Soho might be because the neighborhood is in fact very magnetic! Because of all of the cast iron used in the buildings, most of them are literally magnetic 😄