WEEKEND GUIDE – GRANDLIFE RECOMMENDS

EAT: 

It’s fitting that this high-minded spot, Atera, opened on the first day of spring, since its chef, Matthew Lightner, is famous for using foraged foods. Lightner made a name for himself at Castagna restaurant in Portland, Oregon, where he was nominated for a James Beard Award — so it was big news when he decided to decamp to the Big Apple last year. He’s spent the intervening months learning a new region’s crop of wild edibles (sassafras, seaweed, chicory, and birch sap all make appearances) and overseeing the build-out of the ambitious 17-seat restaurant, which has a “living” wall for growing herbs and a kitchen “laboratory” on the lower level. Among his creations are a ragout of fish cheeks served with garlic oil and seaweed butter, and cured scallops with merengue and frozen juice. Some have called this restaurant ‘the best in the world’… check it out, and see for yourself.

DRINK:

With the warmer weather kicking in this weekend, there’s only one thing to do…take it outside! We can’t recommend enough, the sultry setting of Williamsburg’s Maison Premiere. At Maison Premiere, the set-dressing is taken to another level. You don’t believe the place has been sitting on Bedford Avenue for years. Instead you feel as if you’ve slipped through a wormhole to the French Quarter in the late 1800s. It’s intimate and authentic, and the backyard is overgrown and beautiful – with some of the best cocktails & Absinthe selection in all of NYC, not to mention 2 for 1 Oysters for Happy Hour (and not just any old oysters), it’s worth the trip across the bridge.  

SHOP: 

When online magazine, Sight Unseen was approached by Jade Lai, owner of the impeccably curated Creatures of Comfort store in New York and Los Angeles, to create a Sight Unseen pop-up in the gallery space of her New York store, they were thrilled. COC have previously played host to temporary outposts from the likes of Confettisystem, Textfield, and the Japanese housewares shop Playmountain…And so, after months of planning, the Sight Unseen Shape Shop popped up this Tuesday 10th April. Check it out (Open until the 6th May), amidst the plethora of treats within the store including: Isabel Marant, Karen Walker Eyewear, Suno, Rachel Comey, Wood Wood, Patrick Ervell etc.  

PLAY: 

With another exclusive weekend pop up party from the makers of Red Egg, INGA is open for this weekend only. With an outstanding DJ line-up, this will be the place to be. Friday night: DJ’S - MAY KWOK, FLORENCIA, MATT KAYS. Saturday Night DJ’S - CHELSEA LEYLAND, CHRISSIE MILLER, MAY KWOK. Being held at the infamous 141 CHRYSTIE ST, get there early to avoid disappointment.

EXPLORE:

The place on everybody’s lips this weekend is Coachella, in Palm Springs. If you’re heading there, you’re in for a real treat. A line up that reads like a veritable who’s who in rock royalty; Radiohead, Snoop Dogg, M83, The Black Keys, Bon Iver, Pulp, The Rapture, Mazzy Star, Girls, Florence & The Machine…the list goes on. If you missed out on going this year, download our special Coachella Playlist here.