Bar: The Violet Hour
Where: 88 Ninth Avenue, New York
Grooming for the season: The bar offers an array of stunning, divine-looking umbrellas with a limited-edition cocktail menu. It’s nice to close a New York summer with a drop of really good rum.
Food: Chapter One, 30e 17th Street, New York
Caters at table 1 in our outdoor kitchen on an otherwise normal Wednesday night. More sightings of your lovely and fashionable friends here than anywhere in New York – and in our outdoor kitchen!
Budget dinner for two: Artichoke & Lemon Sandwiches at Otium
Where: 111 Essex Street, New York
Fashionable pals making tasty-looking artichokes on the go – for sandwiches with chickpeas, fennel, salami and of course, lemon caper dressing. All this, and the heritage build at their Water Mill location.
Spin class: Peter Higgins (the doyen of modern British cooking) and Sarah Little at Lyle & Scott’s
Where: 10 Lyle St, New York
The insiders’ school specialises in making incredible, expensive things like lobster chowder, bone-in pork loin and roast beetroot, just in case you fancy it for dinner, but no pressure.
Come one, come all: Cafe Levitsky
Where: 111 Mercer Street, New York
Work in the office, pop out for some good jazz and drinks (hello, charcuterie!) and eat as quickly as possible before you’re caught by the time you call it quits – it’s a pretty cosy place with open kitchen…
Fancy an afternoon nap? CHEI
Where: 57 West 12th Street, New York
DJs, chic seating, some of the best cocktails in the city – it’s a pretty dreamy spot.
Cater at table 10: Peparium in the East Village
Where: 103 Avenue A, New York
Where do you take friends for a sophisticated, hygienic experience that isn’t full of props? Peparium is the answer. All the props are okay – the service is also a joy to watch…
Fancy the show: Milk and Honey
Where: 151 E Broadway, New York
Make yourself comfy and then pack your bags and run for it to this bar’s sometimes surprisingly massive basement where there are a range of acts including young, up-and-coming NYC musicians.
Chic spot: Deux Equipe
Where: 113 Spring Street, New York
Good for a sophisticated, seductive evening of “tastes” like pork fat and cream of pineapple. The bar itself, over the summer, was adorned with giant, glittery, tunnel-like ventilation ducts and custom, dyed fabric that was transformed into oversized furniture – the kind of fun they wouldn’t usually be able to replicate on the ground level.