Ninth Avenue and 15th Street

May your days be merry and bright! (See you back here in the new year.)

West Broadway and Duane Street

Upstairs at Bouley is one of my favorite restaurants. No reservations but the wait is worth it. Small portions of perfect food. You can have Italian or sushi. And prices are reasonable (at least compared to the big Bouley). The space is cramped but comfortable. And it can be loud, but that’s all right, because everyone inside is happy to be here tonight.

West Broadway and White Street

This odd but appealing outpost of J. Crew is a men’s-only shop set up in an old Tribeca tavern. (There are bottles of whiskey and such along a bar behind the cash register.) And there are also some other things that you won’t find in the regular stores (such as a nice collection of used books and first editions for sale: William Carlos Williams’s I Wanted to Write a Poem and Fitzgerald’s Afternoon of an Author were among the offerings available earlier this week). As for clothes, the selection is also somewhat different from what’s available elsewhere, and it’s more “tightly edited,” I was told.

Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street

A bit of subway station in need of renovation. But I rather like the yellow and turquoise splashes on the gray. (And Pantone did declare turquoise to be color of the year for 2010: “Turquoise represents an escape to many—taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.” Something to think about while waiting for the E train.)

Great Jones Street and Lafayette Street

Holiday décor at Five Points restaurant (which I just visited for the first time, mostly because it was located so close to Joe’s Pub). I liked it well enough and thought its Zagat’s score of 22 was pretty accurate. (Skip the seafood and head straight for the pork shoulder with black-eyed peas. Also the salted caramel ice cream.)

56th Street and Fifth Avenue

A long time ago, Felissimo was a compact department store filled with treats. Now it is called Felissimo Design House and hosts temporary exhibits on various themes (with items for sale). Right now, the Japan Brand holiday shop is in there, featuring such items as textiles and silk rings from Kyoto. It's worth a visit, regardless of the exhibit, just to admire the store’s gorgeous landmarked townhouse. (It’s next door to the Consulate General of Argentina, if you’re wondering about that blue flag.)

Greenwich Street and Jay Street

The Tribeca institution Bazzini will be closing down at the end of January, so get your nuts while you can. (Sarabeth’s will be taking over the space.) Bazzini always has the best nuts, plus difficult-to-find ones like pistachios out of the shell and roasted hazelnuts that have been shelled AND skinned (I hate removing hazelnut skins). The store is almost cleaned out, so get there quickly if you want something (although you can always order online).

Greene Street and Broome Street

Mannequins in Soho windows. Somehow this scene makes me want to watch After Hours again.

City Hall Park

Snowy night in City Hall Park. (Aimee Mann’s One More Drifter in the Snow would have made a nice background soundtrack.)

Sixth Avenue and 36th Street

Toho Shoji, in the garment district, is where I go for beads and stringing materials. I love the tiny Japanese seed beads in any color you can think of, in tiny glass vials. The tables of findings and fittings. The wall of rhinestone chains, which rather overwhelms me.

Prince Street and Crosby Street

The thing I like I best about Savoy (after the food, which is always good, which was, in fact, fabulous—lobster salad, guinea hen stuffed with dates—this past weekend) is the fireplace, especially on a snowy evening.

Ninth Avenue and 15th Street

“The city smelled like iron and cement, he said, ‘un parfum de fer et de ciment.’ ” (This is Albert Camus, talking about New York City, as quoted in Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes.) Actually, the smell in Chelsea Market was of pine and oranges (the last time I went).

Union Square

These regular artists that line Union Square have been pushed over a bit by the red and green huts of the holiday market, where stalls are selling (in addition to more art) bratwurst and apple cider and cupcakes and hats and lamps and soaps and candles. I especially liked the glass jewelry from Momo Glassworks and the etchings of Stephen Duffy (who doesn’t seem to have a website). Buying art and jewelry outside: one of my favorite New York pastimes.

Fifth Avenue and 54th Street

Takashimaya is a jewelbox of a department store, full of the kind of perfect items that make me want to live in Japan: asymmetrically cut, dark-colored coats; gold-flecked sake cups; makeup bags created from kimono scraps. What more do you want? Everything is expensive and desirable, although they do make an effort to showcase affordable, funky items out front for Christmas. (And you can get the message bean plant in the garden area, top floor.)

Murray Street and Church Street

An early Christmas tree in Tribeca. The big one at Rockefeller Center gets lit up tonight. (And here’s a list of some other Christmas trees soon to be scattered around the city.)

West Broadway and White Street

in the old Montrachet space (in a location that a cab driver once told me was inaccessible by cab—not true, by the way) is the modern French restaurant called Corton. The space is glamorously minimal inside and deceptively low-key from the street. And here I had some of the best food I’ve eaten in years. (A slideshow of the various dishes accompanies this New York Magazine review.) Phrase I kept repeating all night: oh my god. (My inhibitions might have been lowered by a cocktail of champagne, Campari, and elderflower liqueur.)