FOUND Water Week
The River Cafe, Concrete Shoals, The Eighty Six, best NYC bars on the water, Ciele, Junedays, Aarke, MORE
RESTAURANTS • Water Week
Water world
Crossing the red-carpeted gangplank into the floating dining room at The River Cafe, it’s impossible not to be instantly reminded how completely, overwhelmingly, and thrillingly water is the show here. Nearly a decade ago, celebrating a January birthday, I thrilled to view the icebergs of all sizes sailing past the restaurant toward New York Harbor. This month, back inside The River Cafe on a bright June Saturday night, the water’s show was just as delightful: early evening sunlight, dancing across churning currents as a sailboat here, a motorboat there, and lots of ferries cruised past.
For a city so closely connected to water, New York City lacks for true waterfront dining. The River Cafe has fit that bill since 1977, when the restaurant opened on what was then an industrial swath of Brooklyn waterfront. Nearly five decades later, the scene outside has shifted dramatically. On the night we rolled up, World Cup fans overflowing from a big FIFA activation nearby mobbed the entrance to the restaurant’s stately cobblestoned driveway (we had received a courtesy call that afternoon to advise that, should we be driving to dinner, our GPS couldn’t be trusted given local road closures).
The very idea of driving one’s own car to dinner in New York City is as delightfully anachronistic as many of The River Cafe’s trappings. Jackets are required for men, and a piano player tickles the ivories in the lounge area adjacent to the dining room. The service is also evidently hierarchical, though not stiff (we particularly enjoyed our interactions with the jovial sommelier).
The three-course, prix-fixe menu ($205 per) also feels held over from another era, but the food pleasantly surprised us. A three-piece amuse set with bites of smoked trout, crispy falafel, and earthy mushroom consomme were all winners. My soft-shell crab appetizer arrived in dramatic fashion, the fried crustacean practically leaping off the plate, one of the best I’ve enjoyed during this year’s season (I am an enthusiast). And while they didn’t break any new culinary ground, our mains — roasted Colorado rack of lamb and char-grilled Niman Ranch strip steak — were nothing if not extremely solid. We finished with the chocolate Brooklyn Bridge, still one of the city’s best gimmick desserts.
By that point in the evening, the sun had dropped below Wall Street’s skyscrapers, and shadows played on the water of the East River as we continued to stare, rapt, out the window. What is it about the dance of water that causes our eyes to alight on it, again and again? That elusive magic is what continues to make The River Cafe an absolutely worthy NYC special occasion destination. –Lockhart Steele
→ The River Cafe (Dumbo) • 1 Water St • Wed-Sun 5-930p • Reserve.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
CLEVER TWIST: In perfect timing for Water Week, The Eighty Six, the steakhouse in the old Chumley’s space in the West Village, takes water service a step beyond the usual “still or sparkling” binary. Instead, guests are invited to choose their garnish. Presented tableside is a tray of spa-like accompaniments for your water, including mandarin orange, cucumber, fresh lemon, and lime — an elevated touch that transforms a simple glass of water into part of the dining experience. –Lee Pitofsky
RESTAURANTS & BARS • First Person
Liquid refreshment
New York City has water, water everywhere, but only a smattering of great places to drink amid its waves. The best of those are actually on the water, not just looking out over it. Concrete Shoals, which opened near Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 5 last fall, is about as far out as you can get without a kayak.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Beauty
Makeup game
Ciele is the first SPF makeup line that actually performs like makeup — no separate sunscreen step, no chalkiness, no white cast, no grease. LA-based makeup artist Nikki DeRoest and beauty industry veteran Cerre Francis launched Ciele in 2023 around the premise of making cosmetics that take sun protection as seriously as skincare. Every product in the line is formulated with broad-spectrum SPF and clean ingredients.
The standout is the Tint & Protect SPF 50+, a skin tint that evens out your complexion without looking like you’re wearing makeup. As someone with sensitive, acne-prone skin who already layers SPF under my makeup, finding a product that seamlessly folds both steps into one without any tradeoff was the kind of thing I immediately needed to tell everyone about. It’s the only complexion product I plan to wear all summer. The blush is worth noting, too, for its SPF in a product that almost never has it. –Loren O’Neill
→ SHOP: Tint & PROTECT SPF 50+ (Ciele Cosmetics) • $44 per.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Objects
Elevated water accessories, 3 ways
ON THE WATER: Boat days are fun, in theory. And for those who are simply guests on a seaworthy vessel, perhaps in practice, too. But, for the host, they can be chaotic and stressful. Yes, there are the practical elements: Do we have enough gas? Are we stocked with life vests? But then there are the essentials: Do we have enough snacks and drinks packed in appropriate containers? Junedays (above) makes coolers for life on the water, helping take some of the work out of pre-voyage planning.
Unlike traditional, popular coolers, which are hard, bulky and heavy, Junedays’ water-repellent and lightweight coolers are designed with lugging in mind: up and down a dock, back and forth from the beach, to and from a park picnic. They’re also made with food-grade material and feature a modular storage system, so lots of different snacks and sodas fit in separate compartments, all in one cold bag. I’m a particular fan of the Winnie 2 Bottle Wine Cooler, which I pack with a bottle of bubbles and plenty of cups. It’s water days made easy.
→ SHOP: Winnie 2 Bottle Wine Cooler (Junedays) • from $34.
MAKE IT SPARKLE: Many people stock their wedding registry with high-thread count sheets and Ginori 1735 china sets, but when I got married, all I wanted was the Aarke Carbonator 3. Having lived many years with a hand-me-down SodaStream, I was ready for an upgrade from this Swedish home brand that defines elevated essentials, transforming mundane moments around the house (like carbonating water) via eye-catching sleek accessories.
I’m not sure I can say with full confidence the Carbonator’s (very fizzy) bubbles are any fizzier than my previous machine, but the bubbles was never the issue — it was the ugly, plastic office-looking device that had to sit on my counter. Aarke’s models are composed of stainless steel and in addition to plastic bottles, they also sell stainless steel and (for other models) glass water vessels. As soon as my Aarke arrived, I happily put my Sodastream on the Brooklyn stoop — still totally usable for someone who was blissfully unaware of this superior option they could display with pride on their kitchen counter.
→ SHOP: Carbonator 3 Kit Stainless Steel (Aarke) • $275.
COME FLOAT AWAY: As the saying on the needlepoint pillow says: “Any day on the water is a good day.” But it’s an even better day with the right pool float. In the category of elevated pool floats, the Frontgate Lazy Day Pool Seat reigns supreme. Shaped like a classic chair, legs dangle freely in the water, while bottoms are fully submerged, torso and arms completely free to hold drinks or books. The floats are insanely durable, capable of surviving summers going from pool to ocean and back again. They’re the buoyant upgrade to those plasticky Amazon-specials currently deflating in your pool. –Sylvie Florman
→ SHOP: Lazy Day Pool Seat (Frontgate) • from $77.
BARS • The Nines
Bars, on the water
The Nines are FOUND’s curated lists of the best in NYC and surrounds. Paid subscribers access the complete Nines archive.
Fireboat (Brooklyn Heights), new floating bar from team behind Grand Banks, featuring fresh salads, seafood, tropical drinks, walk-ins only