Moody Tunes for Casting Spells
I made you a witchy playlist. Plus, iconic bagels and lox at Russ & Daughters and the opening of SoSo's.
Happy Monday evening, everyone. Last week’s letter was cancelled due to a persistent cold that knocked Lou and myself out for the better part of a week. We watched scary movies (my favorite was Cuckoo with Hunter Schafer), made pumpkin bread, and listened to the new Phantogram album. I have a few backlogged things to share with you, including my first bagel review, a great moisturizer for fall, and the details on a new spot in SoHo where you’ll be wanting a reservation asap. But first, please admire my very organized pumpkin bread-making operation:
What did I listen to while making these delectable cinnamon and nutmeg-spiced loaves? I’m so glad you asked. The playlist I’m about to share is a great source of pride and my only notable accomplishment since October 5th. It goes on quite the journey, representing the full spectrum of witchiness, if you will. There are languid, reverb-heavy tunes by Cannons, Fleetwood Mac, and Lana Del Ray, which make me daydream of living in a bungalow in Laurel Canyon, where I would conjure potions in the garden and wear exclusively caftans. There are groovy little songs by L’Impératrice, Glass Beams, and Manu Chao that inspire thoughts of magic abroad. And there are heavier tracks with a bit more bite from artists like Halsey, MOTHICA, and PVRIS to round out the spooky end of the list. I hope it serves as the perfect soundtrack for all your witchy Halloween activities.
The Dark Art of Procuring a Bagel at Russ & Daughters
Russ & Daughters is one of the best-known institutions in the city. You can trace the shop’s roots back to 1904, when founder Joel Russ, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, started selling herring from a pushcart on the Lower East Side. In 1914, Russ opened his first store on Orchard Street and in 1920 he moved to 179 Houston, where Russ & Daughters (named after his three girls) still stands today. There are two outposts in Hudson Yards and the Brooklyn Navy Yard as well as a cafe on Orchard Street, which I imagine can’t be far from the original storefront, since Orchard is about 7 blocks long.
I visited the location on Houston on an unscheduled Saturday while running errands around SoHo. If I’d planned better, I would have come on a weekday, or at the very least, not the weekend before Rosh Hashanah. The place was rightfully mobbed and the scene was absolutely spectacular. Behind the long deli counter, filled with fish and every kind of schmear you can imagine, clerks were shouting numbers to a throng of at least 50 people (and the space, I remind you, is small). Sharp-elbowed old ladies steamrolled through the crowd, wielding 30lb grocery bags like wrecking balls. Bewildered tourists took a number and stood in line for about ten minutes before giving up—but good things are worth waiting for, so wait I did. When they called my number, I was so thrilled (and famished) that I excitedly yelled “Me! That’s me!” Five minutes later, I had one of the best lunches in New York in hand.
It was obviously delicious. I appreciate that the everything bagel at Russ & Daughters goes light on the poppy seeds and that they listened when I said I like it lightly toasted. The texture is a nice balance of chewy and spongy—you can see that the dough is substantial but not super dense. Notice the balanced ratio of the ingredients: there’s a tasteful amount of nova smoked salmon, an even layer of scallion cream cheese on top and bottom, and bite-sized red onions on both halves. I don’t do tomatoes on a bagel and lox sandwich; they make everything watery. What would I change? I think this particular sandwich could have used more capers, but that’s purely subjective.
On my soon-to-be codified rating scale, I give this bagel experience an 8/10!
A Great Fall Skincare Addition: Oak Essentials Moisture Rich Balm
In other news, I had the pleasure of trying out the Moisture Rich Balm from Oak Essentials, the skincare line created by Jenni Kayne. Perfect timing, too, since my skin has already started to flake from the drop in temperature. Unlike many moisturizers, this formula does not include water, relying instead on the emollient properties of various oils chosen for their soothing properties: coconut, sea buckthorn, borage seed, and a bouquet of rose, lavender, and chamomile. The texture is smooth and more lightweight than you’d expect from a balm, and I really enjoy the sensation of applying it to my skin. Not only does it feel luxurious, but it smells delightful too—like a hot cup of herbal tea. I’ve started to use this moisturizer every third evening to help calm my dry skin and I’m loving it so far. I’m currently rotating it with Tata Harper’s Water Lock Moisturizer and Rhode Barrier Restore Cream. Have a question about these moisturizers or other skincare stuff? Leave a comment below and we’ll chat!
Only in New York…
There are serendipitous things that happen when you live in a place like New York City, where you can throw a rock and hit a great restaurant, a cool new person, or a window you cannot afford to fix. One such thing happened to me a few weeks ago when I met our new neighbors across the hall, Liz and Luka Coyne. They’re a lovely Aussie couple who recently moved all the way from Sydney to work for Tuxedo Hospitality, the organization behind Chinatown establishments like Chinese Tuxedo, The Tyger, and South Soho Bar. It totally made my day when Liz invited Lou and I to join her at the soft opening of SoSo’s, where Luka is the new head chef. We said yes in a heartbeat!
SoSo’s is inside South Soho Bar (to clarify: the bar itself is not new, but the dining room is) on a chic block that straddles SoHo and Chinatown. To enter the restaurant, we walked through a sliding door at the back of the bar and entered what felt to me like a New York extension of Barcelona. There is luminous maple wood paneling throughout the space, levied by exquisite colored glass details that recall the organic shapes of Gaudí’s Casa Batlló. Toward the front of the dining room is an elevated area with cozy booth seating, and there’s an even more private room at the rear where I’m sure VIPs will enjoy hiding out. The whole effect is very swish and I wasn’t one bit surprised when three hours (and three cocktails) slipped by in a beautiful flash.
Naturally, we had to try everything on the menu. If I had to name a genre for SoSo’s, it would be brasserie à la mode—picture a modern brasserie where all the cool kids hang out and the food is borderline fine dining but also fun. I loved the classic appetizers, like the prawn cocktail and insanely good P.E.I. oysters with black pepper mignonette. There was also steak tartare that I wish I hadn’t had to share, yellowfin tuna with decadent beef fat potatoes, and a crab royale with red miso that was to die for. Oh, right, and we had strip steak with shiitake béarnaise sauce, and some heavenly raviolini that could have doubled as dessert… but it didn’t! We got dessert too! It was these little beignet-esque doughnuts topped with cream and a fabulous sundae that had a layer of rich, fudgy chocolate at the bottom. I have never been so full (and so happy to be a friend of the chef) in my life!
Anyway, you heard it here first: make a reservation at SoSo’s while you can.
That’s all for this week, guys. Make it a good one!
With love,
Alli
That NDA is no joke 💜
Great read 🤘🏼