Each week, Alexa is rounding up the buzziest fashion drops, hotel openings, restaurant debuts and celeb-studded cultural happenings in NYC. It’s our curated guide to the very best things to see, shop, taste and experience around the city.
What’s making our luxury list this week? Flatiron gets a luxe new gym, a Miami wellness brand migrates north to NoMad, and a not-for-profit restaurant debuts in Brooklyn.
SWEAT EQUITY: Chelsea Piers opens in Flatiron
Chelsea Piers Fitness has opened their fourth New York City in the One Madison Avenue building in Flatiron. The 60,000 square foot space spans four floors, including one dedicated to co-working, with interiors by AD100 designer Dan Fink that integrate elements of the original Pier 60 location (like stained glass windows incorporating the hues of the Hudson River). The rest of the massive facility features the requisite top-of-the-line equipment, locker rooms with steam, sauna and Malin + Goetz amenities, Himalayan salt and infrared studios, and the Evolve lounge, complete with life-sized tree. ChelseaPiersFitness.com
MEAL PLANNING: Pura Vida Miami expands to NoMad
Fan’s of all day café and wellness brand Pura Vida Miami, rejoice. You now have 2,500 square feet of their health-conscious offerings, a little more conveniently located on Broadway in NoMad. For those not familiar, Pura Vida Miami was founded over a decade ago as a “space where health-conscious living and delicious food coexist.” The pretty much guilt-free menu includes superfood smoothies, organic acai bowls, salads, sandwiches, a dedicated kid’s menu and a true New York favorite: All Day Breakfast. PuraVidaMiami.com
CRASH COURSE: Life and Trust debuts at Conwell Tower
Seems like the experiential theater trend shows no signs stopping. The latest entrant: “Life And Trust.” It’s a “site-specific theatrical experience that realizes the Faustian legend in New York on the eve of the Great Crash.” And it takes place in Conwell Tower, a 1930s building in FiDi designed by Cross & Cross (who also designed the original Tiffany & Co. building on 5th Avenue). At one point the building became the First National City Trust Company, hence the choice of location for the show. Participants roam through at their own pace as the “lines between reality and performance blur.” LifeAndTrustNYC.com
FEAST OF REASON: Ikigai in Brooklyn
New restaurants seem to open every day in New York City, but a not-for-profit restaurant? That’s news. The eaterie in question is a 12-seat-kaiseki-inspired restaurant in Fort Greene called Ikigai, which translates to “sense of purpose” in Japanese. It is owned by Dan and Paige Soha, and helmed by Chef Rafal Maslankiewicz, with a 12-14 course menu for $165 per person. Offerings “look beyond Japan for inspiration…Chef draws on his Polish heritage, world-class fine dining experience at MASA and Eleven Madison Park, and time spent cooking alongside his grandmother.” All monetary profits benefit the New York City-based national organization Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, that redistributes excess food to people experiencing food insecurity. Ikigai.NYC
TRUE COLORS: Purple’s U.S. flagship
There isn’t a single piece of clothing on the first level of this Vancouver, B.C.-based brand’s first United States store. Why? To emphasize “its role as an experiential space for music recording, DJ sessions, and podcasts.” Purple, for the uninitiated, is a men’s and women’s fashion brand founded seven years ago with the goal of creating “an accessible product with top-quality hardware, designer fits, and innovative details.” At the time, that meant denim and tees; the collection now encompasses pieces to cover buyers head to toe, including jewelry. Which ostensibly will be found on other levels of the Howard Street space. Purple-Brand.com
