I used to think a solo day in this city meant my plans had fallen through. Somewhere in the last year that flipped. Now I block off a Saturday on purpose, no one to check in with, no group chat to coordinate around. It’s become my own form of self care, and one of my favorite ways to spend a day here.
Below is the version of a solo day I’d build for myself: where to get coffee and shop in the same place, a museum to wander at your own pace, a matinee, an entire afternoon at a bathhouse, and where to eat and drink somewhere that’s better solo than it would be with company. Take all of it, or take one section and build your own day around it.
A note before we get into it: this post is in paid partnership with Dove, which is why it’s unlocked for everyone today instead of sitting behind a paywall. My solo day mornings start in the shower now, with the new Dove Serum+ Radiance Oil Body Wash. I step out feeling hydrated and glowy, not that tight, stripped feeling some body washes leave. Some mornings it’s the closest thing I get to a spa day without leaving my bathroom, and it’s become part of my own solo day ritual. It's accessible luxury, and the first good decision I make before the day's even started.
Coffee with shopping
Cafes that double as shops.
Homecoming (Greenpoint & Williamsburg): Coffee and pastries up front, then flowers and small gifts from local makers in the back half of the shop. Good excuse to buy someone flowers on your way out, even if that someone is you.
Café Bureau (Williamsburg): Coffee shop and clothing store in one, with a pool table in the back and a hidden patio. I just tried it for the first time and added their frozen cold brew to my cold treats guide.
Salter House (Brooklyn Heights): A home goods and clothing shop with marble bistro tables where they’ll bring you coffee and something sweet while you browse. I've found good pieces in the clothing section tucked in the back.
Apartment Ra’el (Bed-Stuy): Feels more like someone's loft than a coffee shop, except everything in it is for sale.
Air Mail (West Village): A shop with books, gifts, and a small café in the back.
Museum wander
Going at your own pace.
The Frick Collection (Upper East Side): The atrium alone might make this one of the prettiest museums I’ve been in. It’s small enough to see in an hour, and phones are only allowed in the atrium, so once you’re in the galleries, everyone around you is also looking at the art.
Noguchi Museum (Long Island City): Isamu Noguchi built this around his own sculpture and design work, with a garden you should sit in even if you’ve already seen the galleries. The Akari light sculptures, the paper lanterns you’ve probably seen reproduced in a hundred apartments, are the most famous pieces here.
Neue Galerie (Upper East Side): German and Austrian art from around 1900 is the focus here, with one of the best Klimt collections outside Europe. Café Sabarsky downstairs doubles as a good solo lunch, so you can make a whole afternoon of it.
The Morgan Library & Museum (Murray Hill): I share a name with this place. It’s why my husband took me here for my birthday one year. I’ve been obsessed with the original library room since.
Chisholm Larsson Gallery (Chelsea): Tens of thousands of original posters going back to the 1800s. Feels more like a museum than a store.
Matinee
The one I keep recommending, plus a few I plan to see.
Titaníque (St. James Theatre) is one of my favorite shows I’ve seen in a long time. My former boss and his wife (hi John and Kelina!), who have great taste, were the ones who first told me to go and they were right. It’s a very unserious retelling of Titanic as told by Céline Dion. Runs through September 20th.
I haven’t seen these yet, but they come highly recommended by my Broadway friends, so they’re on my list:
Six (Lena Horne Theatre): Henry VIII’s six wives get the mic. High energy and under two hours.
Operation Mincemeat (Golden Theatre): A WWII deception operation, where British intelligence planted a corpse with fake documents to fool the Nazis, told as a very funny musical.
Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco Theatre): Last year’s Best Musical winner, more emotional than the other two.
The bathhouse ritual
The slowest hour of a solo day, and no one's rushing you out of the sauna.
Lore Bathing Club (NoHo): Book a specific time slot, and check their aufguss schedule before you go. It’s a guided sauna ritual, and you should build your visit around one.
AIRE Ancient Baths (Tribeca): This bathhouse is candlelit, set inside a restored textile factory. An indulgent date with yourself.
Bathhouse (Williamsburg): I prefer this location to the one in Flatiron. It’s got the largest rooftop pool in the city, so go on a warm day if you can. There’s also a new outpost on Atlantic Avenue if you’re based on that side of Brooklyn.
Great Jones Spa (NoHo): This one’s been around forever and is still one of my more low-key favorites. I had one of the best massages of my life here.
Solo dinner
One seat at the bar is easier to get than two anyway.
Ha’s Snack Bar (Lower East Side): Known as much for its natural wine list as its food. Walk-in only, and if you’re solo you’ll have the best shot at a bar seat right when they open.
Kisa (Lower East Side): You’d order the same thing here alone or with company, a protein and a full spread of banchan, except solo you get the whole table to spread it out on. Get the spicy pork.
Lord’s (Greenwich Village): They only make twelve burgers a night. Go alone and you won’t have to share yours.
Minetta Tavern (Greenwich Village): Bar seats are first-come, first-served, and it’s rumored they’ll send solo diners a free glass of champagne.
Ichiran (Bushwick): Each seat is its own private booth, walled off on either side, where you write your order on a slip of paper and pass it through a slot. About as low pressure as solo dining gets.
Shan (Boerum Hill): My neighborhood favorite for wonton soup. I first saw Alison Roman call it her favorite place to eat alone, and I’ve come around to feeling the same way.
Wine bar
Bring a book.
Stars (East Village): Twelve seats around the bar, from the team behind Claud and Penny. Don’t skip the deviled eggs, topped with little puffed stars.
Entre Nous (Fort Greene): Lowkey, good for a glass of something with raw bar bites.
Plus de Vin (Brooklyn): A wall of bottles and a covered back patio.
L’Apéro (Brooklyn Heights): Not many people know about this one. The L’Appartement 4F bakery turns into a wine bar on select nights.
Ten Bells (Lower East Side): Dimly lit with an all natural wine list.
Book Club Bar (East Village): A bookstore that also operates as a wine bar and coffee shop.
Thanks again to Dove for sponsoring and unlocking this one for everyone. The Serum+ Oil Body Wash is on Amazon here.
Thanks for all the recs! I love solo dates ❤️
Amazing list, saved 💾