All the best magazine & art book shops in NYC
& MOVIEPUDDING's picks for outdoor Summer movies
This week we’re highlighting our Best Mag & Art Book Shops list, featuring block parties, pop-up shops & workshops to check out this weekend, and introducing you to our cool friend: Chef Lauren Bruhn.
Cubitts SoHo
Despite being NY-first in almost every area of our lives, British spectacle maker, Cubitts, has long been where team coolstuff shops for frames (Garrett has been a daily Cubitts wearer for over 3 years!) Needless to say, we were so excited when they opened their first US showroom right in SoHo. The jewel box of a shop is just down Mercer from Fanelli’s and is open daily from 10a–7p and 11a-6p on Sundays. Our favorite part? In celebration of the new space, Cubitts designed a handful of wildly cool NYC-exclusive frames inspired by landmark institutions like the Breuer building (the original Whitney) and Studio 54.
Son Del North
The Lower East Side just got a new burrito spot…and it looks amazing. Son Del North showcases Northern Mexican flavors from a mix of high-quality local ingredients. Their menu features a half-dozen styles (all without rice!) ranging from classic carne asada to the vegan papas & ‘chorizo’. Son Del North is currently open Wednesday from 3p - 10p, Thursday - Saturday from 3p - 12a and Sunday from 12p - 5p with late night hours coming soon. It’s all happening at 177 Orchard St.
Guest written by Madeline Montoya
New York is full of bookshops and has a great public library (sign here to prevent budget cuts!!!), but as a graphic designer in print and editorial, my favorite kind of bookshop is one that is magazine abundant or has avant-garde art books. Below is my working list of places worth checking out - ranging from chains, to cafes, to bodegas…here's where to get your magazine + art book fix.
Maille at L’Appartement 4F
Maille and L’Appartement 4F have teamed up with Chloe Crane-Leroux to launch an exclusive, *one-day* collaboration at L'Appartement 4F's Brooklyn Heights bakery. Tomorrow, L’Appartement 4F will release a special Maille Croissant with French Gruyere and Maille dijon, developed with Chloe and crafted with Maille’s iconic dijon mustard.
In collaboration with the team, Chloe has created a vegan edition of the exclusive pastry and will be there connecting with friends and fans ahead of the launch of her new book, The Artful Way to Plant-Based Cooking (out September 24th.)
The day includes:
Limited-drop Maille Dijon Mustard Croissant with French Gruyere (regular & vegan varieties available)
Mustard tasting
FREE giveaway of prizes for the first 10 people in line
The pastries will be available at 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 15th, at L’Appartement 4F (115 Montague Street, Brooklyn) until supplies run out.
Meet Lauren, a chef and writer based in Brooklyn. Lauren has served dishes at some of our favorite spots from LaLou to Dinner Party and is currently the chef in residence at the Old Chatham Country Store upstate. We caught up to hear how her family’s culinary legacy lives on through her food.
What led you to start your career as a chef?
Well, as is the origin with many chefs, I grew up in the kitchen with my mom. Her father, my grandfather, came from Sicily and owned a diner in East Hampton through her childhood. Basically, we’ve been a food centric family for generations. I couldn’t escape how important I knew food was through many career changes in my twenties. When I moved to New York, I thought, it’s now or never, and enrolled in culinary school. Since before my first day of school, cooking and eating and restaurants has completely consumed my life.
Tell us about your new venture, Fine Cooking!
I spent many years as a writer before I came to New York. I simply needed a thought outlet and sporadically started my Substack to talk about how food interacts with our everyday lives. It isn’t a food blog or recipe heavy, but rather a collection of stories where food is the focus. It’s free to subscribe and allows me to interact with other peoples questions and thoughts on the food they love and consume.
What’s the best part about the New York culinary community?
What isn’t the best part?! The most surprising part is how small it is. Cook’s tend to move around a lot, meaning that at any given moment I can coax a friend into getting me a seat at their restaurant. I just beam with pride when I get to see my friends or old coworkers cook and experiment. Plus, the eating options are literally endless and that’s a dream come true for someone like me who gets bored easily. I want every meal to be exciting and new, and living here definitely allows for that.
How does living in NYC inform your palette and menus for pop-up dinners?
I grew up in the South, which meant that we didn’t have any access to a lot of foods. Specifically, seafood and fresh produce grown locally. I basically live at the fish markets in Chinatown and the many farmers markets. For a year I forced myself to eat everything that I thought I didn’t like, and it truly expanded my pallet in a way I am so thankful for. There is food inspiration within every corner store, butchers shop, bodega, and farmers market.
Do you have any fun pop-up events planned for the summer?
For late spring and early summer I will be in upstate New York cooking at The Old Chatham Country Store as their resident chef. The five course fixed menu will change weekly and be hyper local. It’s the perfect time to cook with the seasons. I’ll be there until mid-June. After that I will be cooking in Paris for a month and then plan to continue with bi-weekly fixed menu dinner’s at my home. Dinner parties for a living! Dinner Party Dates and information can be found on my Instagram and Substack.
Follow Along:
@laurenaltheabruhn
The Coolest Outdoor Movie Screenings in NYC this Summer
Guest curated by Elissa Suh of MOVIEPUDDING
One of our favorite things about Summer in the city is free outdoor movie screenings. Something about sitting in a park and watching a movie in unison with a large group of New Yorker’s that’s so magical. There are so many different public spaces that host free outdoor movies all summer, so we asked our friend Elissa Suh of film newsletter MOVIEPUDDING to share her list of the best en-plein-air movies to catch this season.
P.S. Upgrade to paid to make sure you aren’t missing out on the rest of this newsletter including our line-up of outdoor movies this summer, workshops, and block parties !