Brownstone block
Park Slope brownstones, art under $10K, Frank's House, Chrissy’s Pizza, best design bookstores, Geese, Produce Parties, MORE
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale houses in Park Slope that came to market in the last 30 days.
→ 823 Union St (Park Slope) • 6BR/3.1BA, NA SF 2-family home • Ask: $2.995M • 3-story and cellar configured as garden-level 2 BR and upper duplex • Days on market: 3 • Monthly tax: $710 • Agent: Jeffery L. Welch, Brown Harris Stevens.
→ 54 Sterling Pl (Park Slope) • 5BR/2.1BA, 4500 SF 2-family home • Ask: $4.495M • landscaped backyard, configured as garden-level 1BR and owner’s upper triplex • Days on market: 18 • Monthly tax: $1043 • Agent: Jackie Torren & Charlie Pigott, Corcoran.
→ 226 6th Ave (Park Slope) • 4BR/4BA, NA SF house • Ask: $5.6M • full reno, including finished basement and roof deck • Days on market: 21 • Monthly tax: $1250 • Agents: Ellen Gottlieb & Neely Johnson, Corcoran.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: Plan for redevelopment of western section of Hudson Yards moves forward • On Washington St., world’s tallest Holiday Inn is now world’s tallest dorm • Renderings revealed for The Myles in Chelsea • Dumbo’s multiyear project to re-cobblestone its streets is complete • What New York City’s waterfront could have looked like • How nice should a sidewalk shed be?
WORK • Friday Routine
North or east
GINA BRUNO • chef/host/culinary creative • Frank’s House/Campers
Neighborhood you work & live in: Clinton Hill
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
Happy Friday! Fridays are my “tie up the loose ends and do all the things” kind of days. Think: emails, spreadsheets, editing, sometimes a shoot or interview if the calendar says so. Today kicked off with a podcast interview — where I was the interviewee, for once — coffee in one hand, mic in the other.
Owning Frank’s House, my event space in Clinton Hill, means I wear every hat you can imagine. Some days, I’m the event curator; some days, I’m the inbox wrangler; and plenty of other days, I’m behind the stove cooking for guests. On top of that, I’m a private chef, doing everything from brand dinners to intimate tables for two. Honestly, it never feels like work! It’s the part of my job that fills me up the most.
And then there’s Campers, my own food-forward podcast where I sit down with folks across the food world to hear their stories: what they’re cooking, what they’re eating, what they’re building, and of course, what drives them crazy about the industry. In and around and between all of this, I am my favorite (and most difficult) job, Mom, to my one-and-a-half-year-old, Mars.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
Tonight, hosting an intimate dinner at my apartment, just eight of us around the table. Fresh off my trip to Spain, the menu leans seafood-heavy, with a little nduja heat and plenty of charred vegetables. And yes, the white wine will be ice cold and endless.
A few recs while we’re here: This weekend I’m finally heading to Chrissy’s Pizza and couldn’t be more excited. My pizza obsession runs deep, and for me, Una still holds the crown as the best in New York. Recently I ate at JR & Son, and every bite felt like my Italian-American Long Island childhood, but with a swagger my hometown definitely didn’t have. And the restaurant I’m counting the days to try? I Cavallini!
Any weekend getaways?
Pull me north or east for a weekend, and I’m content. Give me a mountain view upstate or a quiet Hamptons corner in the off-season. My sweet spot is a 2.5-3-hour drive — anything longer, and I’d rather hop on a plane.
Upstate, I orbit Rhinebeck, Hudson, and Kingston. I haven’t been yet, but I’m dying to staycation at The Six Bells. I’ve only heard the most amazing things; definitely on my fall bucket list. Some of my favorite breakfasts exist in Hudson: Circles Bagels and Mel the Bakery. For lunch, Quinnie’s Sandwiches always hit the spot. For dinner, Wm. Farmer & Sons has the best cabin-y vibes.
If we’re going out east, it’s Sag Harbor, Amagansett, or The Springs that have my heart. Truthfully, I don’t really go out to eat all that much when I’m out there. I’d rather spend the money on amazing farm-fresh produce and make a fantastic dinner at home. However, if I’m really getting an itch to socialize, a constant for me is Léon 1909 on Shelter Island, a very special spot with amazing… everything (and The Tuck Shop is right across the street, which is excellent ice cream to end the night with).
What was your last great vacation?
I have to start with my most recent trip because I only got back two days ago. Two weeks in Europe with a toddler, which felt like Olympic-level logistics. We kicked things off with a wedding in Mallorca, I stole away for a quick escape to Paris, my forever favorite city, and wrapped it up in Saint-Tropez, where the days were modest with just the right hint of bougie. My full list of recommendations can be found on my Substack, but I will shout out Les Enfants du Marché in Paris. The menu changes every day, the head chef is… spirited… but his love language is food. It’s perhaps the best food I’ve ever had in my entire life.
Where are you donating your time or money?
Donkey Rescue! I have a strange obsession with these little guys. Best animal ever. I give as much as I can to help.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Notes from last weekend’s Pie Fest at Stissing House: I made a pie for Martha Stewart… I judged with Martha Stewart… I am Martha Stewart • Checking in at Montreal’s new art and music hotel SonoLux • Remade Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Miami taking reservations from 12/08 • Delta adding LGA-NAS (Nassau, Bahamas) Saturday service.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Climb to Safety
Geese • Brooklyn Paramount (Downtown) • Fri @ 7p • balcony, $411 per
Katseye • Hammerstein Ballroom (Midtown South) • Fri @ 8p • balcony, $804 per
Widespread Panic • Capitol Theatre (Port Chester) • Fri @ 8p • balcony ctr, $203 per
BONUS: Cake Club x Produce Parties • 20 Grand Ave (Brooklyn Navy Yard) • Sun @ 3p, $105 per.
CULTURE & LEISURE • FOUND Galleries
Art under $10K in Tribeca
The only safe way to invest in art? Buy what you love. To that end, If I had ten grand burning a hole in my pocket, here’s what I’d buy this week, from three exhibitions I saw in Tribeca.
ANDERS DAVIDSEN: The low winter light of Denmark is on full display at Davidsen’s first solo exhibition in NYC. From a distance, the works feel like softly lit landscapes, exuding an atmospheric calm. Upon approach, refined brushstrokes reveal more complex forms. The paintings are prepared traditionally with rabbit-skin glue on canvas, creating a craquelure effect that makes each work feel older than it is. They’re elegant hybrids of the contemporary and the classical, with an ambience at once eerie and calming. The smaller works, which sacrifice none of the effect of the larger ones, cost $3000-$7500.
→ GRIMM (Tribeca) • 54 White St • Tue-Sat 11a-6p • thru 01/17/26.
CLINTEL STEED: Rarely are show names as apt as Different Time Zones, Different Dimensions. Steed uses style and content to jump between ages and genres of art. The subject of each colorful work is at once historically familiar and uncanny, as VR headsets and the Mask of Agamemnon get equal treatment. Transitioning stylistically from cubist to pointillist to expressionist, Steed seems to be painting from physical models and evanescing dreams simultaneously. The exhibition has sold well already, but two 40 x 30 in. paintings remain and are $10,000 each.
→ Shrine (Tribeca, above) • 368 Broadway • Tue-Sat 10a-6p • thru 12/06.
CAROLYN FORRESTER: In this small but mighty exhibition in Chapter’s side gallery, the works feel disconnected — some are brightly colored geometric abstractions, others are text-based or eschew color in favor of snaking black and white lines. Emulating the Dadaists, Forrester throws a hodge-podge of references at the wall to see what sticks. The result is a series of paintings that coalesce into a wry look at art and consumption where you’re not sure if you’re in on the joke or the butt of it. Either way, each painting has its appeal with layered and coded information to mine. Even taken at face value, they’re well-conceived and well-executed, with larger sizes priced at $8000. –Charlie Davidson
→ Chapter NY (Tribeca) • 60 Walker St • Tue-Sat 10a-6p • thru 12/13.
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Bonhams will reopen Beaux-Arts Steinway Hall to the public • Auction week: Christie’s opens with massive haul… Lush Klimt painting sells for $236.4M at Sotheby’s, a modern art record… Bacon diptych fetches $16M at Phillips • Related: How to buy a work of art at auction • Why are Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez sponsoring the Met Gala?
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Bookstores, architecture & design
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.
do you read me?! (East Village), U.S. outpost of buzzy Berlin independent cultural shop
Printed Matter (Chelsea), contemporary art and design in unique formats
Casa Magazines (West Village, above), unending selection of niche-to-sought-after magazines
Mast Books (East Village), rare editions on floating bookshelves in gallery atmosphere
Dashwood Books (Noho), photography-driven titles and good conversation w/ shop manager Miwa Susuda
Storefront for Art and Architecture (Nolita), innovative ideals and critical discourse
Aeon Bookstore (Dimes Square), approachably curated selection of new and used titles
Spoonbill Books (Williamsburg), extremely dedicated to art, design, and theory
Head Hi (Brooklyn Navy Yard), equal parts espresso bar, bookshop, cultural programming
LOST & FOUND • Behind the Paywall
→ A handful of favorite NYC restaurants from new subscribers: Dimes (Dimes Square) • Balthazar (Soho) • Locanda Verde (Tribeca & Hudson Yards) • Sea Salt NYC (Upper East Side) • Popina (Columbia Street Waterfront).