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Jul 18, 2025

Dolores

Right in the heart of Bed Stuy lies Brooklyn’s hottest new restaurant – Dolores. The Mexican menu is full of regional specialties as well as dishes which pay homage to favorite restaurants in Mexico. Dolores also has a heavy-handed drinks list and soon will be staying open until 1a (complete with late-night tacos!) Walk-ins only, so swing by, play some dominos, and hangout all summer long.

Loaf on Paper

After months of building out the new space at 64 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Loaf on Paper has finally opened their doors! The new cafe comes from the same team behind Niconeco Zakkaya, the Japanese stationary shop. You can expect the same level of detail from Loaf on Paper, from doors and windows handmade upstate to fresh Devoción beans roasted down the street. Stop by for a great coffee, and to shop their selection of stationary and gifts.

Ăn Xôi & Dora Lê back at it again with another collaboration pop-up THIS SUNDAY. Head to Cafe Joah on Avenue A in the East Village from 11a to 3p for a very special popup featuring Vietnamese hot dogs! Their collab project, Tây Tây, will be serving up 3 hot dogs that are inspired by flavors unique to the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of Vietnam. Get 1 as a snack or 3 as a meal! Cafe Joah will also have a full menu of Vietnamese coffee to beat the heat. Pre-order for fun vibes this Sunday!

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 :)

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A key part of summer in NYC to team coolstuff, is free outdoor movie screenings in the park. We always check each park’s movie line up (all seen here!) But this year, Domino Park’s roster caught our eye. On select Tuesday evenings this July and August, Domino Square will transform into an open-air cinema, featuring nightly double features set in and shaped by NYC. Here’s what you can expect: at 4PM, there will be family-friendly movies and activities curated by @a.rosie.day, at 6PM, DJs set the mood for the second movie showing and at 7PM, films showcasing NYC from the ‘80s to the 2010s is presented by Nighthawk. RSVP for your favorite back 2 back ASAP!!

And all night long, enjoy drinks from Other Half Brewing @otherhalfdominopark and treats from Roni Sue Chocolates Plus, get 20% off Oddfellows when you show your ticket!

While we may still be mourning Karma’s move from the East Village (both the bookstore and gallery recently relocated to Chelsea) something we can all be excited about is their ongoing archive sale! Though today is the last day to find a niche artbook title for as low as $1, Karma has been holding back stock and replenishing the sale daily – meaning there are still great deals to be had! Stop by the new Chelsea space at 549 W. 26th Street to get your hands on rare and out of print books straight from the gallery’s archive. If you can’t make it in person, Karma is offering 50% off on their website.

We’ve got your key to seeing the Guggenheim’s newest show, Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers, AT GOLDEN HOUR! Summer Nights at Guggenheim give you access to the gallery until 8pm on Thursdays all month long. This late close time gives you allll the additional time to see the major survey exhibition and so many more galleries throughout the museum. See you there?

Meet Jessie, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Loeffler Randall. Created in 2004 out of Jessie’s garden apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn with her husband, Brian, Loeffler Randall is still doing what they love – making distinctive products in small, considered batches with attention to every detail. Since then, they've expanded from shoes, adding handbags, ready-to-wear & accessories to their collection. For over 18 years, and over 80 seasons, Jessie and her team have created products that are deeply personal, have a distinct point of view and allow their customers to confidently express who they are inside. We caught up with Jessie to hear more about how LR started and her favorite pieces in the newest collection.

How did your career in fashion and accessory design begin?

Not very glamorously!! I first started by being an intern at a brand called Katayone Adeli. Then I worked at Banana Republic as a very junior designer. I spent the majority of my time in the photocopy room making tons of copies of tech packs to send out to factories. I remember coming home from the subway at 10 at night with my ruler spec’ing handbags I’d designed.

Tell us about what it was like starting your womenswear brand, Loeffler Randall, at your home in Cobble Hill!

After I’d worked in the industry for a number of years my husband and I decided to try to start our own line of shoes. We were so lucky to find a factory and agent in Italy. We ended up selling into Bergdorf Goodman our first season which was beyond our wildest dreams. In the beginning it was just me home alone sketching with my little dog Romeo on my lap at our garden apartment in Baltic Street in Cobble Hill while Brian worked full time to support us at his job in advertising. Starting the brand was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. I was so afraid of failing and really believed I only had one shot to make it.

What’s your favorite part about the New York creative community?

I love the friendships I’ve made over the years. I think fashion gets a bad rap as being catty and having mean people. But the people I’ve met in the industry have been very kind and interesting.

We love that the Penny heel is the brand's signature shoe! Anna (coolstuff co-founder) even wore them to her wedding. How does it feel to have created a recognizable and sought after design?

That makes me so happy that Anna wore the Penny to her wedding. My favorite part of what I do is having our designs be part of important moments in people’s lives. I really believe that shoes have a unique power to bring pure joy to people. There is a true emotion and feeling that a great pair of shoes brings. I love that we can do that.

The Penny is one of the biggest hits the company has ever had. Before that we had a huge hit with our Matilde boot when we first started. These hit products are really rare and you have to savor the energy and momentum when you have them. We were lucky in that at the exact moment our Penny wedding shoe was having its moment, we were coming out of Covid, a time when there was over two years of a wedding backlog. The product just flew off the shelves. I think brides respond to that shoe because you can tell how much detail and care goes into the product. There are over 400 pleats in every pair. The hand tied half bow is asymmetric and unique. I think people feel like themselves in this shoe - comfortable physically and emotionally. And they feel very pretty too.

Do you have a favorite piece in the current Loeffler collection?

i really love what we have in the line right now. I’m wearing all of it! Current favorites are our rhinestone flip flops, our striped shorts, our red strappy Devon flats and our Left On Friday collab swim collection (including leopard printed suits).

Follow along

www.loefflerrandall.com
@loefflerrandall
@jessie_loeffler_randall