OPENING CEREMONY.

If you're in need of a fashion fix head down to Opening Ceremony (35 Howard St, nr. Canal St).  Kind of like Dover Street, more similar to B store, Opening Ceremony stocks a mixture of emerging American talent with both young and more established international designers, as well as one of a kind vintage pieces and select items from open-air markets.  Big at the moment are Alexander Wang and the Chloe Sevigny X  Opening Ceremony line. Be sure to check out the shoes downstairs.

ASHBY'S: BETTER THAN STARBUCKS.

Ashby's , just off the corner of 22nd and 6th is where the new york insider gets their pre-work coffee, mid-morning snack, lunchtime salad and afternoon treat.  The iced chai tea latte is the best i've tried although make sure to get a large as they go down so easily! If you're feeling a bit peckish then grab a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies, they're home-baked, delicious and only 50c each.  For a cheap lunch alternative they do toasted bagels with a wide range of fillings for less than $1.50.

LUNCHTIME FAVORITES.

Also on this strip are a couple of really great food places, the first being New York Burger Co  (678 6th Ave between 21st and 22nd St). It gets quite busy over lunch time but the food is cooked fresh and quickly.  The little deal is best, a (not very) mini burger with fries and a refillable soda for less than $6.  They've got those nice little sauce pumps too - I recommend the honey chipolte.

Secondly is the more upmarket Markt  (excuse the pun), a traditional Belgian brasserie offering delicious food.  Good if you want to splash the cash on a proper meal in nice surroundings - sit outside during the summer for a bit of people watching.  On the expensive side but worth it. (676 6th Ave/ 21st St.)

                                    

THE BEST SNACK IN TOWN.

I've craved one of these nearly every day since being back, they are SO tasty. Red Mango frozen yoghurt comes in a variety of flavours (original, pomegranate, tangomonium, green tea) and a wide choice of toppings - my favorites were raspberries, blueberries and yoghurt chips - the yoghurt chips are incredible, you should probably try them.  A small original with 3 toppings will cost about $5 and they're all over manhattan. 


If you're on 6th then pop into "22 Happy Cups", a former Red Mango with more flavours and a nicer (non-chain) atmosphere (688 6th Ave between 22nd and 21st).

PHOTOBOOTHS.

Since my trip to Berlin in 2006, I've been a little obsessed with old photobooths and before we left I made sure to check out photobooth.net to make a list of ones to visit in New York.  A lot of them didn't exist anymore or were out of order but we found working ones at:
Otto's Shrunken Head , 538 East 14th St. between Aves A & B.
Union Pool , 484 Union Ave at Meeker Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Coney Island , Surf Ave at Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn.


$3 - $4 fun.

MOLESKINE LOVE.

Whatever you do, buy yourself a Moleskine City Guide, they are perfect.  You've probably come across them before but if not then they're basically a DIY guide book so you can create a more personal guide to a city, and build on it each time you return.  Loads of nice litle perks like the peel-off sheets of tracing paper you can use to map routes, the folder at the back for odds and ends and the all important city, street and subway maps .  I sound like a salesman! Seriously though, can't recommend these enough.

NUMBER ONE.

So Jerome and I spent our summer in New York. It was pretty great and we even picked up slang.  We were supposed to do this as we went along, a "post a day" sort of thing and it would have been good if we had because when we returned my hard drive failed and we lost all our photos.  Still, mustn't grumble. Here is our guide to New York, hope you have as much fun as we did...