This is Best of New York, a monthly recap of the city’s very best restaurants, bars, arts, culture, shopping, etc. etc. It’s not necessarily the latest, greatest, newest, hottest (but those spots find their way in, too); it’s simply the places that made the city sing every month that I think you might like, too.
I attended the opening party for Fasano Bar New York (above), a new addition to Fasano’s restaurant and jazz club off Park Avenue in midtown, excited to meet hotelier Gero Fasano. Having stayed at two of his hotels in Brazil, Fasano Rio de Janeiro and Fasano Angra dos Reis, I’m a big fan of his brand of tropical modernist South American luxury. The new bar in New York is sumptuous and warm with soft lighting, plush carpeted floors, wood-paneled walls, plenty of tables and banquettes and a sleek bar where barmen were stirring perfectly balanced Vesper martinis that evening.
Having seen a few videoclips of Gero on Instagram, I clocked him right away in his signature look of studious, dark-rimmed glasses and suit with a light sweater draped smartly over his shoulders. I introduced myself and he toured me around the space, including the restaurant where he pointed out the actor who played Freddie Mercury dining, whose name we couldn’t remember until… boom! It came to me, Rami Malek. Gero volunteered the origins of his nickname (Rogerio is his full name) and we chatted about how much we love Angra.
But before all of that, out of the corner of my eye, who else did I spy at the party, but Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City. Standing at the bar alone with my Vesper before my friend arrived, I lapsed into a momentary despondency. I couldn’t help but wonder… after all these years, what was I still doing on this party circuit? What was Candace doing? What was the point of any of it? But then the barman opened a bottle of Champagne, my friend showed up and we tucked into a banquette, a boy texted me back, and equilibrium was restored to my universe.
As Candace was on her way out, I hopped up to say hello. And while I meant to make her my new best friend and mentor, I only managed to thank her and tell her what a big fan I was and that I saw her one woman show and loved it. She was sweet and said, I’m doing it again. Tell your friends. I said, I have.
For those of us still around as the evening wound down, waiters appeared to offer a late dinner, reciting menu items by heart. To my delight, the paccheri was on offer. I’d had it before at the jazz club upstairs, a beautifully simple and indulgent dish, the paccheri perfectly al dente, bathed in a rich three tomato pomodoro sauce. When my invitation to the party arrived, I immediately envisioned myself enjoying that pasta at some point in the night—and that moment had arrived.
It was a fun night out in a space I’d most definitely return to, especially when marooned on Fifth Avenue on a shopping outing, desperate for a warm, convivial place to revive. But mostly, I just couldn’t believe I was at a party in Manhattan in the year 2025 with Carrie Bradshaw.
Culture
Waiting for Godot
My most highly anticipated Broadway play of the season was Jamie Lloyd’s Waiting for Godot (through January 4) starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter of Bill and Ted ‘90s childhood nostalgia. I’ve caught every production the British director has brought to New York (Betrayal, A Doll’s House, Sunset Boulevard, Cyrano), and when he’s at his best, his slick, minimalist productions set the stage for astounding performances where the text truly soars.
Bill and Ted struck me as the perfect pair to embody Beckett’s tramps and Lloyd’s aesthetics as the perfect void to stage this tragicomic existential masterpiece. The production met my expectations, silly, stylish, plaintive, a delightful night of theater. Winter’s interpretation of Vladimir in soliloquy occasionally felt Shakespearean in surprising and profound ways, and perhaps my favorite moment was Keanu miming eating a carrot, crunching sounds and all.
The Frick
The Frick Collection reopened in April after a multi-year renovation with access to the second floor for expanded gallery space. The former 1914 home and art collection of wealthy industrialist Henry Clay Frick, I most enjoyed walking through the rooms where big windows face out to Central Park across the street, imagining life inside a Gilded Age mansion on Fifth Avenue. Having just returned from Madrid and the Prado, it was remarkable to see the same Golden Age and Renaissance masters, like Goya, El Greco and Titian, in the context of a private collection.
Soho Afternoons
On a Sunday shopping outing in Soho, I swung by bodega/magazine shop Soho News International and was tickled to find the latest issue of Drift on the racks, featuring my essay “It’s Not Love, It’s Just Coffee,” which you can now read on Hoteligence.
I’d been long overdue to replace my gym bag and after several attempts with other brands, whose bags I found either too bulky or too ugly, I remembered Le Sportsac and sought out their flagship boutique on Greene Street. On my walk down from Prince on a gorgeous fall afternoon, that corridor of luxury boutiques was eerily quiet, aside from influencers and TikTokers posing for photos and doing dances every few paces, which always feels like a sign of the apocalypse. At Le Sportsac, I found a fantastic, smartly designed, black minimalist tote that I’m so excited about I also bought a small carryall duffle that’s currently only available online and I might just keep them both.
Across the street, I couldn’t resist popping into The Webster, a luxury concept shop born in South Beach, where it’s always fun to peruse their edit of Saint Laurent, The Row, Chanel, etc. A lace-trimmed pair of Under Armour x Balenciaga leggings stayed on my mind as perhaps not a totally ridiculous purchase, considering how much wear I get out of my Lululemon leggings, especially if I wanted to fit in with all my new friends after a stay at the Equinox Hotel in Hudson Yards.
Wining & Dining
Morandi – W. Village neighborhood staple for comforting bowls of pasta and sbagliatos inside Keith McNally’s vision of a cozy, cavernous Italian trattoria
Central Park Boathouse – newly renovated and under new management, swing by for an ice-cold glass of Champagne at the outdoor bar and patio overlooking the lake with its romantic row boaters, and revel in an iconic Manhattan scene before it gets too cold.
Café Bel Ami (UES) – perfect cozy café on Lexington for a cup of tea (or cappuccino and macarons) on a chilly early fall evening while waiting for a table at Café Commerce
Also, went dancing at Aman one night. It was fun.
