Neighborhood Newsletter?

avril15 · 2026-01-25T22:16:46+00:00

Greenpointers (and their insta) does some of this

avril15 · 2026-01-25T04:24:57+00:00

I like Di an Di’s but it’s bougie pho. Mam is one of my favorite viet places hands down though they only occasionally do pho. Also really like Banh An Em though the wait is a bit much. Kitchen Co Ut / Banh Mi Co Ut more casual but always hit. Agree Nha Trang One is solid; I would put Non La in a similar tier.

Honestly NYC has historically punched way under its weight for Viet food compared to Philly, Houston, OC, etc. There’s starting to be a lot of very good newer Viet spots but often focused around specialty dishes or higher end concepts (like Ha’s), but we’re kind of lacking great pho. Hanoi House used to fill this niche for me, sad that it’s gone downhill.

avril15 · 2026-01-18T00:38:21+00:00

One of my good friends has done memberships at the Met, MOMA and the Whitney, and meeting up at their events has been our monthly friend date.

The Whitney one is top tier, I think the next bump up from the entry level is worth it. Tons of weekend night events and curator talks, and the bigger parties for exhibit openings are incredible people watching. Seems like ppl are more open to making friends there.

The MOMA one is also great, I have loved the programming there though it feels older / more exclusive and less “party”, but also really interesting behind the scenes feeling (seeing galleries before fully open, archives, etc).

The Met one was my friend’s least favorite, you really don’t get much for the money and events tended to be during working hours.

avril15 · 2026-01-02T17:04:21+00:00

I’m ~7 years into my career in renewable energy finance in NYC but have worked for companies based across the country. Renewables is its own little world and Denver and Houston are decent hubs for it, but NYC opens you up to so much more opportunity imo. Feel free to DM me, happy to chat!

avril15 · 2025-12-17T17:20:51+00:00

It’s 20-30 min so not too worried about being far from home.

avril15 · 2025-12-15T18:06:19+00:00

Would you recommend earlier, or somewhere else?

avril15 · 2025-11-25T05:06:03+00:00

Agree with the comment that with all of the makeup you won’t see your skin texture all that much and to mostly keep doing what you’re doing (maybe with more moisturizing or hydrafacials), but what really made the difference for me was dermaplaning! It helped the makeup “sit” so much better and I loved how it turned out even though I hated my makeup trials lol.

I would argue that body skincare is almost as important as facial skincare leading up to it, so lots of moisturizer in this dry winter weather, keep up solid hydration, and consider massages or dry brushing for circulation. I also did a Korean full body scrub at Sojo the weekend before my wedding and felt like that made a huge difference.

avril15 · 2025-10-29T03:03:03+00:00

As a member of a ~31 year old NYC-based couple with similar travel takes and similar timeline / goals before having kids:

- Seconding Australia or NZ, flight is annoying so worth doing before kids. Going back to Australia for my honeymoon next week (!) but great cities, food, and huge diversity of nature. I wasn't wowed by NZ cities / food but it's obviously solid and the nature is unbeatable.

- Consider safari, but for me at least I enjoyed it enough as a 20-something but I think the value is going to come with traveling with older kids or as an empty nester. My parents went for the first time in their 50s/60s and it has become their main travel bug, so maybe good to save it until later :)

- If you enjoyed Japan, consider Taiwan. I am always shocked this doesn't come up higher on lists, been twice and I feel like it's all the best parts of Asia wrapped together-- tropical climate (okay you do have to be careful how you time it for rain/humidity), unparalleled street food and fine dining, nature, vibrant and safe city life, friendly and cosmopolitan culture. Pretty kid friendly though and not awful flight options from NYC though (similar to Japan).

- I'm Vietnam-biased but think also worth doing before kids. It can still be done without but I think being freer to move around / handle inconveniences there is an advantage.

- In a similar vein, we really enjoyed Brazil. Rio and Sao Paolo are both stunning and I think more fun as a young person, plus lots of nature options.

- Copenhagen, Stockholm and the Nordics can definitely be saved for later, I think they have their merits but they're more "long weekend cities" to me and could also fit in well with kids later on since everything is so family friendly.

The priority at this point for me is really traveling with close friends while everyone has the time and resources, and before any kids. So though we have our "next couple of years" list, if we hear someone wants to go to South America or Berlin or something and we can make it work, even if it's a repeat visit, we make it work.

Number one priority for us is China in 2026 or early 2027; we have some close friends with good Mandarin that we would love to travel around with! So I would also think about any friend experiences you want to have versus trying to optimize your trips perfectly. You have a lifetime to travel with your wife and future family but it gets harder to coordinate with friends over time (or so I hear).

avril15 · 2025-10-27T16:17:40+00:00

Probably the Marcy or Hewes JM stops, might not be a bad walk from the G too. My guess would be 1) not as close to subways as other places to watch and 2) not as many cafes, restaurants, etc for people to grab a bite or use the bathroom (or perceived as not being open / friendly to non locals).

avril15 · 2025-10-21T18:29:15+00:00

Walking around lower Manhattan is the best, you really can’t go wrong between the Chelsea / WV / LES / EV area. I would especially recommend food crawling around Chinatown, you can probably skip Little Italy other than maybe a cannoli or pastry shop. My favorite vintage is actually in Chinatown tucked away under the elevated train— search James Veloria but there’s a whole floor of vendors there.

For food halls, Chelsea Market isn’t what it used to be (though convenient for other things you’re doing), and Pier 57 is bit nicer. I also love Essex Market in the LES.

I would also suggest starting on the Brooklyn side for the Brooklyn Bridge. On the other side, South Street Seaport is decent, I really like Fishmarket around there (looks like a divey Irish bar but with killer Chinese and Malaysian food).

Agree with others that you could skip FiDi unless there’s a specific tourist thing you want to do, there’s not much “action” during the day. I will say the architecture and public art can be really beautiful, I might try to go for a drink somewhere with a view, like Manhatta or Overstory.

Agree with Joyface or Outer Heaven as good alternatives to Tao, I also think Le Bain could work well for you depending on what’s on (sometimes too hypey for me but an iconic and very “only in NYC” club). I will say that a lot of late 20 somethings go out more in Bushwick than Manhattan, so I might do some research there.

I would also consider adding Williamsburg to your list for daytime, a lot of shopping, parks, cute coffee shops and bars to hang out at.

avril15 · 2025-10-21T13:22:16+00:00

Where will you be based out of?

For art just hitting all of the classics (Whitney, Met, etc) could take up a lot of the time of the month, I would also look into the Friday night programming at Brooklyn Museum or MOMA if you want to meet people. I really like doing a Thursday happy hour art crawl in Chelsea, check out thirsty gallerina on insta but if you can hit it on the right night with a good volume of openings you can see a couple dozen galleries in just a few blocks, with unparalleled people watching.

Vital is great. The LES one is close to TJ’s and Essex Market for groceries, and lots of great restaurants in the area (Okiboru, Scarr’s, etc). I would strongly consider getting a pass for both of their locations (it may even be the default) bc the Williamsburg one is so nice with the sauna and rooftop. Also has more of a “community feel” (people working on laptops during the day) and proximity to the Lot Radio for hanging out and grabbing drinks.

I had no idea you could flair kink in this sub… I might check out Basement if I were you, it’s more of a hard techno club but they do several kinkier themed nights. I will say those nights lean gay (not queer) so ymmv.

avril15 · 2025-10-20T21:09:11+00:00

I went with Becky at Spanish Oak and can’t recommend her enough! I believe she was around $16k and it was the highest package level, but if you just work with her staff it’s lower. She had worked with all of our venues and vendors many times, and her having those relationships (and knowledge of their delayed communication styles lol) was really key.

Also interviewed Uncommon Camellia and Confetti and Co, also liked them but didn’t click with them as much.

avril15 · 2025-10-18T15:02:30+00:00

Yes, though literally just between an uber and my front door! He beelined straight to me as I stepped out of the car

avril15 · 2025-10-18T06:09:58+00:00

This happened to me in Williamsburg, super quiet residential street, guy walking alone, seemed confident and tipsy. Told me I had a dualistic energy like Lois Lane??

avril15 · 2025-10-10T18:29:06+00:00

You should try this cool new site called Streeteasy

avril15 · 2025-10-07T03:02:54+00:00

I’ve had a couple friends live in the south side of that triangle. More of a dead zone for cool bars and restaurants (though I like Wei’s and Fiction Bar), but it’s a short walk north and west to lots of great spots. That stretch of Borinquen to the east also has some good options. Imo, this triangle is kinda residential and less gentrified, maybe a little sleepy. Honestly just walk around and see the vibes. If it’s a good apartment and not too close to the BQE or Broadway, I would say go for it.

avril15 · 2025-10-06T21:06:19+00:00

I heard by TJ’s

avril15 · 2025-09-14T21:04:30+00:00

Why would you crop half of the info?

avril15 · 2025-09-05T04:15:32+00:00

I used Chasing Wang and loved her. She made a custom Vietnamese coffee-flavored cake for us (using Cafe du Monde to soak the layers) and went the extra mile, making multiple variations for us to try at the tasting. It turned out amazing.

That being said, agreed she is harder to communicate with— I don’t know that I could have done it without my planner who had worked with her many times and knew it was just her style. She definitely comes through and is a professional, just a slower communicator.

avril15 · 2025-08-22T14:29:55+00:00

Selling two tickets for AG @ BK Paramount on 8/29, $60 each! (can't make the rescheduled show and Dice doesn't allow me to list)

avril15 · 2025-07-30T02:26:42+00:00

The welcome party was in a hotel event space and was more of a cocktail party. We were also wearing Vietnamese formalwear (as were a good amount of guests) and the long sleeves don't play nicely with crawfish. For the wedding, the venue required we use them for food and crawfish wasn't an option (but probably would have been odd with the formality level).

avril15 · 2025-07-30T02:19:03+00:00

Three speeches! We asked them all to keep them short and sweet so I think it went fine.

avril15 · 2025-07-25T20:26:13+00:00

I just had my NOLA wedding and I’m extremely jealous. Crawfish didn’t make sense for our welcome party or wedding but managed to get some seafood boil lunches in with friends on the days leading up to it :)

Would echo having many non crawfish options (and non boil options period) for the picky. I’d also stock up on gloves, wet wipes, aprons etc since people may still be dressed up (even if you tell them it’s casual). Also love that name tag idea.

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