June, marked

Some unexpected news, my best restaurants month to date, a Rockaway staycation, and the start of a true New York summer

Hi! If you’re new here, this is my monthly recap on Marked: what I actually did, ate, bought, and read. June brought some big, unexpected news, a wedding a few blocks away, a whole lot of time with people I love, and what might be my best month of new restaurants and spots to date – I have so many to send you to. Here’s what I marked.

This month

First, the news I hinted at last month: I’m now unemployed (self-employed?). I was the VP of Marketing at a consumer tech startup, and I loved all of it – the work, the team, my boss. It brought me to San Francisco for a few years, then let me move back to Brooklyn and go remote, and gave me some of my favorite people. Then something unexpected shut the whole company down. I can’t legally get into it, but it didn’t directly involve me, we’re all still close, and we’ll call it an outside evil force. My last week was technically the first week of June. You’d think that freed up my time – I genuinely don’t know where it all went. For now, I feel lucky to have this platform to pour into.

I started the month celebrating two of my closest friends getting married in Brooklyn. We did a morning hot sculpt class at Fyra in Williamsburg and brunch at Cafe Mogador, then they held the ceremony in the backyard of their brownstone – their downstairs neighbors cleared out for the day so their apartment could serve as the entryway (such a New York moment). Getting ready upstairs, squealing, then heading down to watch her get married was so lovely. Dinner and the reception were at Rhodora, where they had their first date, and the after party was at Bar Heretic – everything a two-minute walk apart.

It was a very good month of eating. Lonnie’s just opened in my neighborhood from the Inga’s Bar team, and the burger and martini are every bit as good – a new go-to. Friends scored a group reservation at Wild Cherry (maybe the best unprompted text to receive), and the 5pm slot happened to fall on Game 5. We worked our way through many incredible courses – the black forest soft serve being the standout, immediately added to my cold treats guide – treated it as a pregame, watched the first half on their roof, then spilled into the West Village to catch the win on the projector screens. A 10/10 night. I also did a chef’s tasting at Seventy Seven Alley in the Walker Hotel – just eight of us at the bar with the chef – then walked around the corner to the speakeasy Saint Tuesday for Thursday live jazz and burlesque. I made it to Cafe Bar J.F., Mam and its wine bar Lai Rai, and the Red Hook Barrel Yard this month too.

I did a little staycation at the Rockaway Hotel while writing my Rockaway guide. Some favorites included Tacoway Beach (fish tacos, pineapple mint juice, elote, mango cucumber salad) and Brothers for an english muffin breakfast sandwich – many more in the guide.

The month had a lot of (needed) self care, too. A massage at Spencer’s in SoHo is a monthly ritual now, and they finally rewarded my loyalty with a code to share: MORGAN50 for $50 off. I also tried Lore Bathing Club – gorgeous interiors, somehow not crowded, highly recommend. And, maybe thanks to the unexpected unemployment, my grays got out of hand, so I went to Benjamin Salon in Nolita, which has celebrity clientele like Gigi Hadid and Sarah Jessica Parker. Allison covered my grays and took me to a rich chocolate, and Matty gave me the best blowout of my life.

My fresh blowout and I returned to one of my favorite date-night spots, Cafe Kestrel – I’d only been in winter, so the summer menu and backyard were a must. A 10/10 dinner, and we biked home after (spoiler: it’s in my Red Hook guide, out Thursday). I’ve also been slowly working through my 50+ NYC summer bucket list. This month we crossed off an artisanal hot dog from an LES bakery, a rooftop pool day, a weekend in the Catskills, a Prospect Park loop run followed by coffee at the Boathouse, and a chef’s food-cart popup in SoHo.

That Catskills weekend was a big group trip to visit Lindsay and JT and support the opening of her vintage store Formerly (more below). We stopped at our favorite Korean cafe Mornings – the breakfast burrito and jalapeño bagel sandwich are the group favorites. Back in the city, I just felt lucky to have a lot of time around people I love: morning walks (with Laura), new lunch spots (Santo Taco steak taco with Mars), comfort dinners (the collard greens wrap from Locanut with Brooke), endless yapping. My people are what keep me grounded when everything else is up in the air. I may or may not be tearing up typing this from the backyard of Saturn Road.

This month on Marked

Summer in NYC, marked· The North Fork, marked · My Brooklyn apartment, marked · Rockaway Beach, marked · Cold treats of NYC, marked

In my cart (and on my body)

I’m hyper-fixating on specific color shades this summer. Red: this By Far bag (coming out for many nights this summer and into fall), these Sezane mules, a light funnel neck jacket, these poplin shorts, and even an aesthetic electric toothbrush in the perfect shade (a real life upgrade for anyone who hates how electric toothbrushes look). Pale blue is the other fixation – I got this Alo workout set and keep stalking everything else on their site in the color. And butter yellow: these see-through mesh heels. So cheap, incredible shape, haven’t yet worn but waiting for the right night.

Things I wanted to buy but refrained from, because – unemployed: a tee from cool new brand Made Some Sportswear, this perfect woven summer shoulder bag from Bembien, this lightweight funnel neck jacket, a striped matching set from Staud that would do all the styling work for me, a red Rowing Blazers sweater, the Maguire heels I keep going back to look at, and a new workout bag from Adanola.

In my kitchen

Stone & Skillet blessed me with english muffin gifting and I made it my whole personality – plain with French butter, Maldon, and jammy eggs; cinnamon raisin with peanut butter, banana, and honey; strawberry with raspberry jam. I will be repurchasing. Now that I can close my laptop whenever I want, I’ve been cooking more: Wishbone Kitchen’s big fat greek salad (every ingredient green, so fresh) is a new favorite. And I deeply love mangos, especially in the summer. They’re going in my greek yogurt, my salsa, with tajín, everywhere.

On my nightstand

I did not do enough reading this month – but my one true rec is The Wedding People, which I plowed through in two days at the Rockaway Hotel pool.

The projector has been getting more love than my Kindle: we finally watched Project Hail Mary and I loved it far more than expected, and I’ve been binging the teen romance shows Off Campus and Every Year After. Summer makes leaning into that easy, sun-soaked watching feel allowed.

In my apartment

We re-signed our Brooklyn lease for another year and made a few upgrades to keep the space cozy. The big one: swapping our way-too-old mattress for the Helix Midnight Luxe in queen. I took their sleep quiz and landed on this one – medium feel, made for side sleepers. If you’re in the market for a new mattress or moving soon, I really can’t recommend it enough.

People inspiring me

I’m always inspired by people on untraditional career paths, but I rarely get to watch it up close. My friend Lindsay has always had the eye – every object in her homes thoughtfully sourced from thrift stores, yard sales, and Facebook Marketplace. This month she opened her vintage store Formerly in Fleischmanns. If you’re ever in the area, go.

I also got seated next to Viv at the Red Hook Barrel Yard opening dinner – she runs Park Slope Living and Cobble Hill Collective – and I have so much love for the neighborhood publications popping up here. It was lovely to talk shop.

Coming up

This summer there will be more local travel, and more local guides: I’m headed back to the North Fork, the Catskills, and the Hamptons. No plans to go much farther than driving distance – I’m excited for a true New York summer. I also still have a few Euro summer guides banked up my sleeve. As always, let me know anything you’d like to see from me.

That’s June. See you in July.

– Morgan