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Walking into this Flatiron spot feels as if you’ve just stumbled upon the best stall at the flea market. Worn-wood shelves support stack upon stack of assorted rainbow-colored dishes ($1–$17), mismatched vintage china ($5–$23), toile teapots ($15–$39) and other kitschy kitchenwares. The amazingly cheap price tags make it worth battling the often-pressing crowds to stock up on assorted flatware ($1–$6 each) and glassware, including oversize stemless martini glasses ($6), elegant champagne flutes ($8) and Italian-style painted wineglasses ($5). If you’re in need of a serious discount, plunder the sale section in the back for never-before-used castoffs from restaurant and hotel suppliers. But there are plenty of affordable, freshly minted kitchen goods too. Local-specific buys include platters printed with the Brooklyn skyline ($17–$25) and Floor Plan dinnerware (from $8 for a five-square-inch “studio” to $33 for a 12-by-16-inch “penthouse”).

Tribeca's Muku has already achieved quite a milestone, and it hasn't even hit the six-month mark. In fact, two months after it opened, the tasting counter received a star from the Michelin Guide, the fastest awardee in NYC on record. And it is all due to chef Manabu Asanuma's personal approach to kaiseki cuisine.   The vibe: Tucked next to sister restaurants L’Abeille and L’Abeille a Côte, Muku operates in the former Sushi Ichimura space. If you used to frequent the sushi counter, you may recognize that little has changed, minus the addition of another gorgeous golden mural—this one dating back to the 17th century. It's a beautiful, serene scene, framed by tsuchikabe walls and a handsome, 10-seat counter. The vibe at the seemingly formal restaurant is convivial: I quickly made nice with repeat visitors who were more than giddy to rattle off favorite dishes from their last meal.  The food: Over 10 courses, Asanuma takes diners through kaiseki and its five signifying elements: raw, grilled, simmered, steamed and fried. Dishes rotate quite frequently, but a recent visit yielded raw preparations of mackerel and snapper, grilled rockfish in a sticky-sweet white miso marinade and king crab, whose claws and legs Asanuma personally seared over an intimidating grill at the counter. We can only hope that Asanuma's soba noodles have some permanence, as the toothy, woodsy noodles are made with grains sourced from his family's farm in Yamagata Prefecture. The add-ons were just as good,...

Hyderabadi Zaiqa’s footprint isn’t that much bigger than a hallway; its basement slip of space fits three low tables, a handful of red metal stools and is missing an ordering counter. And yet, this Hell’s Kitchen hideaway serves some of the best Indian food in town. We aren’t alone in this assertion, as the little restaurant that could has received praise from The New York Times, The Michelin Guide and has most recently become a meeting space for our latest mayor. It is due to the work of Mohammad Tarique Khan and Jayesh Naik, who have taken on the mighty task of sharing Hyderabad’s culinary history, peppering in dishes from the northern and southern sides of India. And they have done so extremely well with flaky, palm-sized samosas and tender chunks of chicken (or cauliflower) tossed in a shockingly-red sauce that blooms with sniffle-inducing heat. But their calling card lies with their biryanis, 15 of which feature on the menu. The Hyderabadi goat dum biryani is the most popular for a reason, as bones laced with tender meat and gelatinous, chewy fat sit like swollen humps underneath mounds of saffron and turmeric-tinged rice. The Hyderabadi goongura chicken biryani is a second favorite, whose chicken thighs easily soak up all the slightly sour, herbally and fiery notes, requiring good usage of the free raita or bright mint chutney to get you through. And before you request a knife, look around and you’ll soon see curry-coated fingertips, tossing and scooping bits of...

Prior to 2023, a cursory Google search for the phrase “FiDi hotel” would bring up plentiful options, from luxury outfits (The Beekman, The Wall Street) to your standard hotel-chain fare (Radissons, Holiday Inns and the like). But it wasn’t until March of that year that a singular hotel took on that SEO search as its official name, with the 131-room FiDi Hotel aiming to be “a welcome harbor for business travelers and holidaymakers in New York City’s Financial District.”  And welcome it is: Though similarly priced, the FiDi Hotel is immediately substantially cooler than the DoubleTree by Hilton rooted right across the street, with friendly, recommendation-ready staffers at the concierge desk and some rogue disco balls pepping up the industrial rawness of the lobby space. (Though there’s little in the way of seating downstairs, but more on that in a bit.) Designed by the New York-based firm Kroesser + Strat Design, the Stone Street building itself features a multi-colored, Piet Mondrian-inspired glass façade, hinting at the modern sleekness highlighted within.  Ranging from 151-square-foot Superior Queen accommodations to 283-square-foot Executive King suites, each guest room is edgily dressed with wood-motif wallpaper, brass light fixtures and bold black-and-white artwork, along with thoughtfully luxe touches like SMEG mini-fridges, high-fashion art books and sumptuous white linens. Though clean and spacious, the bathrooms are slightly less than tranquil with their dizzying,...

With a resume that includes host of MasterChef India and manning Michelin-starred revue, Junoon, chef Vikas Khanna's name alone is enough to draw a crowd. But months after his East Village restaurant opening, Bungalow's buzz stands on its own. Walking down the stairs to this subterranean space, the restaurant transports you to the social clubs of India's past with elements of deep green and gold, handcrafted peacocks commissioned from the chef's sister and a dining room drowned in natural light and draped with faux jasmine leaves. Tackling the broad scope of Indian cuisine, you can find Banarasi Puri with cilantro and tamarind chutneys and a pleasantly pink beetroot raita to lamb chops straight from the recipe book of the owner's mother. As you eat, don't be surprised if you see chef Khanna making his rounds, greeting tables and personally serving plates. 

Boasting 18 miles of books, the Strand has a mammoth collection of more than 2 million discount volumes, and the store is made all the more daunting by its chaotic, towering shelves and surly staff. Reviewer discounts are in the basement, while rare volumes lurk upstairs. If you spend enough time here you can find just about anything, from that out-of-print Victorian book on manners to the kitschiest of sci-fi pulp.

Those who can’t find Yemen on a map might as well just make their way here: Framed prints of the Middle Eastern nation’s green hillsides line the entranceway and dining room of this family-style restaurant, and will help you connect an image to the country. The food covers familiar native dishes—hummus and baba ghanoush—but we recommend you branch out and try the large portion of louybia: juicy white-meat chicken parts with fresh zucchini and carrots in a thick stew, served with mounds of clover-seasoned basmati rice and a platter of nan-like bread. Bring friends, push the tables together and feast.

The William Vale is effortlessly cool. Nestled on the border between the ultra-hip Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods of northwest Brooklyn, the five-star stay opened back in 2016, has 183 guestrooms over 23-floors and resembles something you’d see in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Tokyo or Seoul.  With a gym, pool, rooftop bar(s), and three dining spots that get many of their fresh herbs from the on-property Vale Garden, there’s enough here to enjoy The William Vale as an urban resort, all with the perk of being nestled in a lively, walkable part of New York area that’s not overcrowded like much of Manhattan. Why stay at The William Vale? First up, while in Manhattan hotels can feel pretty cramped, visitors to the William Vale will instead enjoy spacious, modern rooms (which each have their own balcony), plus access to the gym, pool, and three different drinking and dining options—you don’t need to leave the hotel if you don’t want to.  But, as it’s close to some of the museums, restaurants, bridges, and public spaces that make New York America’s top tourist destination, William Vale allows you to enjoy the Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods as a proper, temporary local What are the rooms like at The William Vale? There are 15 different room types, from the Queen rooms to the Vale Garden Residence, which has a large deck with a hot tub. And in case you don’t have the energy to make it down to the gym, the Vale Garden Residence has its own Freemotion Coach...

Located at the top of Museum Mile, the Museum of the City of New York is the place to explore the city’s past, celebrate its present, and imagine its future. The institution’s entire first floor is devoted to New York at Its Core, a sprawling exhibition including two galleries taking visitors on a tour of all 400 years of New York City history and a flagship space known as the Future City Lab where visitors use interactive technology to design the NYC of the future. Rotating exhibitions throughout the rest of the Museum focus on issues ranging from the city’s history of social activism to New York’s built environment, and include objects from the Museum’s extensive Collections of vintage photographs, costumes and textiles, theater memorabilia, furniture and decorative arts, and more. Don’t miss the amazing Stettheimer Dollhouse, created during the 1920s by Carrie Stettheimer, whose artist friends re-created their masterpieces in miniature to hang on the walls. Look closely and you’ll even spy a tiny version of Marcel Duchamp’s famous Nude Descending a Staircase.

The stretch of Park Slope near the elementary school where celebs do drop-off has never been a culinary destination. Well, until now. Vato, from the four lifelong friends behind Michelin-starred Corima was always going to be a different project: easy and more casual, rooted in their culinary traditions and all wrapped up in their truly transcendent tortillas. Although it might have been originally conceived as a low-key neighborhood restaurant, the crowds waiting outside every day beg to differ.  The vibe: Vato is walk-in only, which keeps the lines long but moving quickly. Most folks grab and go, but there are a few seats if you want to stay and linger awhile with your burrito in hand. In the summer, the outdoor seating is nice, but you might as well take your lunch a couple of blocks up to Prospect Park.  The food: The flour tortillas, which are pressed fresh daily, make Vato a destination. Slim, soft and stuffed with burnt ends and soft scrambled eggs or pollo en mole, these Chihuahuan-style burritos are worth waiting for. The pastry program, led by pastry chef Erick Rocha, is equally serious. The cinnamon roll is the standout (you may, in fact, have already seen it a hundred times on your feed), and the conchas are crackly-crunchy on top and filled with soft, tart yuzu curd.  The drinks: Grab a cold brew or a bright hibiscus aqua fresca to pair with your breakfast burrito, and watch your whole day turn around.  Time Out tip: If you walk by and there’s no line, go in....