This week we’re answering all of your NYC recommendation q’s, sharing our Montreal Travel Guide, highlighting cool shopping & dining pop-ups and introducing you to our cool new friend: Sean Kim of Wooj Design.
Again Vintage
Bed Stuy’s newest vintage stop, Again Vintage, is coming in hot with beautiful new old objects that we have our eyes on. This store/coffee shop hybrid aims to redefine how we experience our homes and its founders, Sara Elise and Ryann Holmes, believe in transforming spaces into personal sanctuaries with a curated selection of both vintage and sustainable objects. Their approach emphasizes the fusion of retro, vintage, and contemporary pieces. Head over now at 377 Marcus Garvey Blvd!
If you’re looking for a getaway to a city with great food, lots of culture, and isn’t too far, you absolutely need to consider the 1.5 hour flight to Montréal. We visited ourselves for the first time less than a month ago and already started to feel nostalgic as we put together this extensive guide to our neighbor up north.
As a part of The Good Batch’s Playdate Pastry series, we worked with cool friend Chef Anna Gordon to create an amazing cake inspired by late-summer southern ingredients and flavors that are quintessentially New York City.
The cake, available every weekend this month, has a rye & ginger base, with peach jam, whipped vanilla & goat cheese frosting, a mint soak, and fresh peaches and mint. Swing by The Good Batch at 936 Fulton Street in Clinton Hill BK to snag a slice OR pre-order a whole cake. While you’re there don’t miss out on The Good Batch’s fantastic ice cream sandwiches, coffee, and scones!
Photos by Shea Salisbury
POPUPFLORIST, the NYC-based experiential florist, is hosting an immersive, citywide event this Tuesday, September 24th to mark the launch of founder Kelsie Hayes’ new book, Say It with Flowers. The POPUPFLORIST team will be dropping off signed copies of the book and fresh flowers at 10 surprise(!!) locations across NYC. The day will end with a celebratory cocktail event at Essentiel Antwerp in Soho where the team will be serving drinks, cake, and, of course, flowers. The team is teasing the full list of participating locations here, but from what we’ve heard, you can expect lots of coolstuff faves like Bon Bon, From Lucie, &&& Cafe Kitsune, to name a few. Keep an eye on their Instagram for the full list to be announced the night before on 9/23.
Ask us a question, recommendation, or well…anything in the comments section of the newsletter & we’ll reply within 24 hours. This is your chance for personalized NYC recommendations - from a date night spot in the West Village to the coolest shops in Cobble Hill - we’ve got you covered! All you have to do is click the comment icon at the top or bottom of this week’s newsletter to get your questions over to us :)
See you in the comments?
Late September almost always brings some of the best of NYC weather, and what better way to celebrate than dining al fresco. This is exactly what Street Lab’s One Big Table aims to do as it moves around Brooklyn this month in a celebration of small businesses and public spaces – simply grab takeout from a nearby restaurant, then pull up a chair alongside neighbors and friends. RSVPs are recommended but not required.
Boerum Hill – Sunday 9/22 from 12-2p (Hoyt Street between Atlantic Ave & State St)
Fort Greene ft. Live Jazz – Friday 9/27 from 4:30-6:30p (Fowler Square between Lafayette & Fulton St)
Cool friend Jessie Sheehan is celebrating the release of her cookbook, Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes, this week (out on Tuesday) with a handful of fun and tasty events around the city. Here are a few that caught our eye:
Stop by any location of Mah Ze Dahr from 9/23–9/29 to try out an Old Bay Ched-dahr Chive Scone inspired by a recipe from the upcoming book!
On Saturday, 9/28, Jessie will be collabing with Wildair for their Donut With Friend series with a fun Hot Pepper Jelly Donut.
Also on Saturday, 9/28, Jessie will be at the Union Square Greenmarket for a demo and signing copies of her book from 11a-1p.
Meet Sean, the founder and designer behind Wooj Design. All of Sean's designs are 3D printed and manufactured in Brooklyn, making modern lighting pieces that don’t rely on exploitative labor practices on excess creation. We caught up with Sean to hear more about how he’s grown his small business from a single design.
How did your career in design begin?
I had a very different career working as a software engineer in San Francisco but I was getting very disillusioned and burnt out because everything felt very abstracted and intangible. I craved a bit of physicality in my work. I had always been interested in design and had been working on small products ever since I had been in college. In particular I was really fascinated with tools like 3d printers and laser cutters - tools that could take something defined on a computer and translate it into physical space. At the time, there was a business called the Tech Shop in SF (RIP), a maker space that had all sorts of tools and machinery that you were able to use as part of a subscription - kind of like a gym for making stuff. Working there, I was able to learn a lot about the tools that I use today. At a certain point, I realized that I really wanted to be working on physical products, even if it would mean that I didn’t have the financial security of a tech job, so eventually I applied to grad school and eventually made my way to Brooklyn. During the pandemic, I posted the Wavy Lamp on Instagram while finishing my grad thesis. Surprisingly, it took off and kickstarted the business and my career.
Tell us about your lighting company, Wooj Design! How important is sustainability to the brand?
Wooj began as somewhat of an accident, when I posted the Wavy Lamp on Instagram while I was still in school. The company was founded on the belief that great products can be made in the US at low cost, without exploitative labor practices and using methods as harm-reducing as we can manage. In our case, that's achieved with a combination of robotics and craft manufacturing techniques. Sustainability is very important to us, and we don't do it perfectly. All of our products are made using recycled plastic filament (no first-use plastic), and packed for shipping using only paper materials. Since 3D printing is an additive form of manufacturing, this means that instead of subtracting materials as we build (e.g. building a chair out of wood, cutting the wood, putting it together, having leftover pieces) or using an injection mold, we precisely deposit the filament we print with into exactly the object we want. However, we still end up with failed prints, prototypes, and ends of filament spools, and until recently this was waste. We're now in a bigger space and have started experimenting with melting this waste and turning it into new lighting products, which is something we've wanted to do since the company's inception and a huge step in our circular design/sustainability efforts.
What’s your favorite part about the New York creative community?
The thing that I love about New York is that there’s a sense of collaboration and competition that happens at the same time. Everyone’s trying to be the best, but even with that in mind, most people are really willing to share and collaborate in some form. This is a really cool dichotomy because it always encourages you to push yourself a little harder - you keep seeing increasingly cooler/more sophisticated/more compelling work from people you know and you’re simultaneously impressed and proud of them, but also a tiny bit jealous that you didn’t think of something yourself. Everyone’s just working really hard on their work and I love that. I feel really proud to be a part of it.
We love the new collaborative lamps Wooj is releasing! How do you find the designers you're working with to bring new ideas in?
Thank you so much! It depends – in the case of Christopher Merchant and Analuisa Corrigan, both reached out to us wanting to make their handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces more price accessible and available to people. We found Mina Wright on Instagram and loved her work, so we reached out to her about bringing the Ruff Lamp into our collection.
Are there any new exciting lamp designs on the horizon?
Definitely. We've got a few more collaborations in the works, and are releasing more colors of our new Brut Lamp on 9/24. We're particularly excited about what we're calling our Puddle Sconces, a favorite version of the melted/upcycled prototypes we've been experimenting with, which will come in the New Year.
Follow along:
@wooj.design
@seanwooj
www.wooj.design
Favorite spots in Hell’s Kitchen / Midtown West? Open to restaurants, bars, events, and whatever else they could offer!
Favorite hidden gem in Carroll gardens/cobble hill/gowanus/brooklyn heights?
I already have my tried and true favorites, but wondering if there are any great restaurants I’ve seen a million times but because they’re not buzzy, I’ve been missing them.
Thank you!