Moxy LES: Capturing The Cool-Factor In New York’s Most Interesting Quarter

The head of Airbnb, the world's largest vacation rental platform, issued a warning to travelers considering a trip to New York City over the next year.

In the spring of 2023, the New York City portfolio of Moxy Hotels expanded into another borough with the opening of Moxy Williamsburg, where it is courting more than guests. The Moxy brand property is the partner of the WNBA basketball team, New York Liberty, through an agreement that began this past June.

In earlier eras, notables such as Theodore Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Thoreau, Emerson, Sinclair Lewis held court on the grounds of Troutbeck, a private estate since the 1700s in the eastern stretch of the Hudson Valley. These days, since reopening as a resort in 2017, the property is still a cultural gathering place on its 250 acre, Lower Berkshires spread but now the guests are mostly serenity seeking New Yorkers up from the city a two hour drive or train ride away. (Out of staters also fly into Stewart International Airport an hour away). And there are new additions and others in the works to attract them all.

The Danish chef Mads Refslund first began working on Ilis, his new restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 2016. After years of high-profile jobs at places like Manhattan’s Acme and Shou Sugi Ban House in the Hamptons, Refslund, a co-founder of Noma, wanted a permanent space where he could create an immersive culinary experience. The open kitchen, and its live fire grill, is at the center of the 4,800-square foot room on Green Street. The space has 17-foot ceilings with wooden beams and exposed brick walls; custom rosewood tables and leather banquettes frame the perimeter (though a few counter seats provide the best vantage of a meal coming together). “This is about transparency,” Refslund says. The name Ilis is a portmanteau of sorts, with meaning “fire” in Danish and meaning “ice.” It’s a nod to the dichotomous spirit of the restaurant — serious cooking with laid-back dinner party vibes. The menu allows guests to choose from a selection of primary ingredients, say New England scallops or Pennsylvania wild duck, and, in some cases, style of preparation (raw or grilled, for example). The seasonal cuisine is informed by Refslund’s Scandinavian upbringing, as well as his travels to Japan and Mexico City. But, the chef says, “hopefully, it will just become a New York restaurant,” a reflection of the city he now calls home.

Born in California, Alex Brightman is a two-time Tony nominee and writer living in New York City. He loves watching baseball and basketball when he's not on stage. Right now you can see him as Richard Dreyfuss in “The Shark is Broken” on Broadway.

“Fire Island is a very special place, especially for queer people,” Jimi Urquiaga, a.k.a. Missleidy Rodriguez, told me. While that might seem like a statement of the obvious, Urquiaga has experienced the island from an atypical vantage point: for the past two summers, they've been packing up their life in New York City as a costume designer, producer, creative director and drag queen to come work at the Pines’ plant shop, CAMP. Urquiaga called me on their break, sitting behind a desk at the plant shop, with a view overlooking the bay. “So that’s the fantasy,” they said with a laugh after describing their surroundings.

In my latest column where I profile creatives and highlight their travel style, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yulia Ziskel, who is a violinist for the New York Philharmonic and has been a member of the first violin section since 2001.

Manhattan’s concrete jungle may get New York’s marquee treatment, but the state’s natural beauty lies outside of the five boroughs.

I’m trying to master the downward dog when a flamingo trots past. The bird stands on the edge of my mat as I eye it from my upside down position. Puffing up its fuchsia feathers, it bends over effortlessly, its beak touching the ground, as if to prove its superior flexibility. Welcome to yoga, Bahamas-style.

Pâté en croûte, the centuries-old French dish composed of meat terrine baked in savory pastry, was first developed out of economy as a way to preserve and use up bits of offal. But today, with skilled kitchen staffs in short supply, the labor-intensive delicacy — which requires multiple days of confiting, jellying, laminating and simmering — feels like a luxury item. “I like the technical aspect of it,” says the chef Nicolas Delaroque, 42, who serves a classic rabbit-and-tarragon version modernized with a little less fat and a bit more spice at his restaurant, Maison Nico, in San Francisco. Markus Glocker, 42, of New York’s Koloman, likewise set out to create a lighter take on the original. “You’re not going to feel like you just ate a stone,” he says of his salmon en croûte, in which slices of tramezzini, a fluffy Italian bread, are wrapped around a rare salmon filet slicked with scallop-and-parsley mousse and topped with gherkins and a beet-infused butter. At Melbourne, Australia’s Aru, the pâté en croûte is reminiscent of a fancy bánh mì. Chả lua, a ground Vietnamese pork loaf, is combined with chicken liver pâté for the filling, and the jelly layer between the meat and the pastry is seasoned with rice vinegar, soy sauce and Maggi, an MSG-spiked seasoning. “It’s quite a humbling experience,” says the charcutier George Jephson, 39, of assembling his iteration, which is stuffed with pork belly, confit pork tongue, crisped chicken skin, pistachios and port jelly, and can be found at his East London wine bar, Cadet, and at nearby restaurants, including Chiltern Firehouse. Still, making use of the whole pig, he says, is worth the effort. “I worked 10 years as a butcher, and we didn’t sell a single piece of pork liver,” he says. “Now I sell 60 kilos a week.” —

Looking for a unique way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, 2023)? Look no further than Amtrak. Get ready to journey across the US by train to explore Hispanic culture by visiting historic landmarks, museums, restaurants, and art galleries.

New York City is home to 73 Michelin Star restaurants, with a new batch of awards due this fall. Before the official ceremony on November 7, the world renowned guide has announced a batch of 15 new restaurants that can be up for stars or Bib Gourmand recognition this coming year.