The flower issue
Botanical Brothers, best subscription bouquets, Spoke and Weal, Lola's, Reverence, City Winery, summer Friday poll results, MORE
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Service
Brothers in flowers
British brothers Fabian and Hugo Wood, proprietors of Botanical Brothers, keep their offering simple: a $45 weekly seasonal flower subscription with included delivery in Manhattan, Long Island City, and parts of Brooklyn.
Each week’s bouquet features ethically sourced blooms; in season, the flowers are from upstate New York and New Jersey. Flowers land unarranged because the brothers "like the idea that the customer gets to freestyle and put their own spin on it,” says Fabian. For those less creatively inclined, each box arrives with a suggested arrangement guide.
Customers pay as they go, with the ability to pause an order up until the morning of delivery. And while there’s not much customization, if someone has a particular aversion to a flower (they email customers the upcoming bouquet a week in advance), they'll double up on another. Better yet, for those who’d like more, Botanical will double or triple the whole bouquet. –Kat Odell
→ Shop: Botanical Brothers • $45 for weekly bouquets.
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Subscription flowers
Fox Fodder Farm (Williamsburg, above), from $125, unfussy, chic
Casey’s (Greenwich Village), from $100, longtime family operation
La Catrina (Dumbo), from $70, eclectic
Emily Thompson (Chelsea), from $800, epic
Botanical Brothers (virtual), from $45, locally sourced
Brrch (Lower East Side), on request, dreamy
Designs by Ahn (Nomad), from $75, elegant
Elan Flowers (Soho), $100, seasonal highlights
Starbright (Chelsea), from $50, Flower District mainstay
Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.
GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: Markets report: Local Roots closing in Carroll Gardens (2nd item)... Rigor Hill’s seasonal farmstand reopens in Tribeca May 14 • HII NYC, Williamsburg’ first licensed weed dispensary, opens on Bedford Ave • How LVMH’s real estate ambitions are changing New York, Miami, Paris, Montreal… • A bounty of floral dresses • ‘The cloth had a story’: Why homespun is the new luxury must-wear • Shop like a collector, not a buyer.
WORK • Subscriber Report
Slow Friday
Results from last week’s FOUND poll: How will your company observe summer Fridays ‘24?
All Fridays off: 10%
Some Fridays off: 11%
Early dismissal Fridays: 31%
No summer Fridays: 44%
Other: 4%
For those in the winning group (who’d rather be in one of the losing groups), Georgetown professor and “slow productivity” proponent Cal Newport suggests an alternative:
Pick a time — say, the month of July — to slow down. Don’t volunteer for extra work. Don’t offer Mondays as a possibility for meetings. Take on an easier project for cover.
Aside from unofficial summer Fridays, Newport thinks the key to higher productivity is doing less — particularly when it comes to email, meetings, administrative check-ins — in the service of focused quality. Fewer busy vibes, more good work.
Note to FOUND: Add option to next year’s poll — Quiet summer Fridaying. –Josh Albertson
WORK LINKS: Owner of Empire State Building predicts 'once-in-a-generation opportunity' for deals • One-third of stock trades now executed in final 10 minutes of session • Who still wears a suit to work in NYC? • On running (or skiing) to work.
WORK • Tuesday Routine
In living color
COLLEEN FLAHERTY • master hair colorist/color educator • Spoke and Weal
Neighborhood you work in: Soho
It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
My Tuesday mornings are a little leisurely, as I don’t start work at the salon until noon. I’ll wake up and walk my dog, Timmy, then have a celery juice, then coffee. Sometimes I make my coffee, or I’ll pop over to Bright Side on Kent Ave. and grab an almond milk latte. Then I’ll come back home and lie with my pup. If there are any DMs or emails from the weekend that I haven’t responded to, I’ll take care of those.
It’s usually pretty chill when I walk into the salon around 11:45 a.m., with one or two people working on guests. We catch each other up on our weekends and what’s been going on. By the time 12:15 p.m. hits, it’s busy.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’ve got nine color appointments to knock out today, which means that someone new is in my chair every 45 minutes. I’ve got several blondes today, as well as some gray-blending and gray-covering. One client is going red, and another is someone that I used to color who moved away from New York four years ago and just returned. It’s busy, yes, but I love days like this.
What’s for lunch?
My lunches are never scheduled; I eat when I have time. I love Le Botaniste on Grand St. because it’s quick and the food is amazing. I get a cup of chili and a botanical salad.
Any plans tonight?
Make some dinner and watch a show. I like to cook, so tonight is sesame-ginger-garlic bok choy with rice and salmon. I had a pretty social weekend because I had friends in town. We went to Lucali for pizza on Friday, which was unbelievable. It was my first time going, and I understand the hype. On Saturday, we checked out The Nines, which was gorgeous, with delicious drinks and food. And on Sunday, we went to Misi for lunch, which is one of my favorite restaurants. My food game this past weekend was insane, so it sounds refreshing and relaxing to just hang out at home and make my own meal.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
My couch! I LOVE my couch. I was looking for something that I could nap on, and this one delivered! It’s the Neva Sofa from Sixpenny. I’m very much a homebody, so anything that makes my home both beautiful and cozy brings me so much joy.
What store or service do you always recommend?
A Signature Facial from Elizabeth at Stӓlle Studios. She’s incredible and has done wonders for my skin. I also recommend Tak at Mott NYC for nails! He’s been doing my nails for the past two and a half years, and I always have the best time with him. Plus, he’s fast, which makes me happy.
ASK FOUND
Hit reply or or email found@foundny.com with questions and/or answers.
Three FOUND subscriber PROMPTS that require your immediate attention:
What’s your favorite Mexican restaurant in NYC?
Now that spring is here, where are you drinking outside?
Tell us a Hamptons or North Fork secret!
RESTAURANTS • Intel
CASUAL REVERENCE: The tasting menu restaurant Reverence (Harlem), which chef/owner Russell Jackson debuted in 2019 at a quite reasonable $98 per price point, is rebranding itself as ‘casual tasting restaurant’ Reverence FineFoods, offering a three-course vegetarian-forward tasting for an even more reasonable $69.95 per. Reserve.
FULL BARREL: City Winery is going big at Pier 57 (Chelsea) — already home to its flagship restaurant/winery/music venue — with three new establishments planned for the Hudson River complex. On tap: a 6500-SF Mediterranean restaurant and 3000-SF tequila bar at the tip of the pier, and a 5100-SF rooftop sushi spot. All three are expected to open in 2025.
NYC RESTAURANT LINKS: How JGV’s Midtown stunner Four Twenty Five was designed • All-day Cafe Mado opening in former Oxalis space in Prospect Heights • Bar Tab: Frog in Bed Stuy • Gary Shteyngart’s martini tour of NYC • Finding the line between genius and gimmick in NYC’s maximalist drinks era • How crackers went from survival food to gourmet restaurant treat.
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Flowering in Nomad
It’s always a little surprising to emerge from the subway at 28th and Broadway in the middle of a full-blown Restaurant Neighborhood. Just a short walk from the station, across what was a dining desert as recently as the late aughts, there’s Andrew Carmellini’s Café Carmellini, Markus Glocker’s Koloman, and José Andrés’s Zaytinya — all glistening, ambitious hotel restaurants. (See also: The Ned, with a passable club restaurant where fine dining pioneer The Nomad once stood.)
Across from Carmellini and nestled between a sushi chain and an old-school trattoria, lies Lola’s, this spring’s worthy entrant on the scene.