Charter a yacht in Croatia
WHITNEY MARSTON PIERCE, Marston Studio
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
WHITNEY MARSTON PIERCE • principal • Marston Studio
Neighborhood you live in: Tribeca
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
The first part of Friday is always contractor check-ins/site visits. As the owner of an interior design studio, I always have projects going on all over the city (and state). I’m currently obsessed (by choice and otherwise) with a bar and restaurant I just finished called Oasis in Richmond Hill, which we rebuilt from the studs. Visits are a matter of making sure construction and finishes are exactly to spec and my standards, so pop-ins are an absolute necessity. As much as I love yelling at contractors over the phone, it’s even more fun in person.
I kid. It’s super important to be there to see, touch, and measure everything myself, and to cheer on the team. With this particular project, we gave it an updated classic feel that will be the first of its kind in the neighborhood.
Where are you dining this weekend?
After site visits, I usually head back to the office in Tribeca, which often means lunch in the neighborhood. If it’s a quickie, I’m hitting Los Tacos Hermanos. After living here for the better part of 15 years, the Angeleno in me is just consistently and pleasantly surprised that the city finally figured out tacos. If I have a bit more time, you can find me at my local pub, Walker’s, having their chopped sirloin steak. Is it a fancy, deconstructed burger with a beyond-delicious peppercorn demi-glace? Yes, and I love it. However, if I have time and still want tacos, you can find me at Belle Reve, which has surprisingly legit tacos and a birria consomé that I would happily bathe in, or at least have a bathtub of. Or a meal at The Odeon. Who doesn’t adore the true classics? And no matter where I’m dining, if they’re available, I’ll have a martini, because we’re adults, and I refuse to let the Martini Lunch be a thing of the past.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I’m quite fortunate to live in the new art gallery center of the city, or so it seems. There are nearly a hundred (and I’m not exaggerating) within a couple blocks of the office, so thankfully, I couldn’t avoid them if I wanted to. I like to slink into a few that catch my eye, to get inspired, look for clients' walls or my own. My other favorite thing to look at is the city and its inhabitants, so if the weather is even halfway decent, you’ll likely find me walking to or from a site visit listening to a podcast or the radio — probably Throughline, Freakonomics, or WNYC.
Any weekend getaways?
I spend about half of my time at my country house, so often, a Friday evening is grabbing my weekender and heading to the western Catskills, to a tiny town called Andes. It's a couple days (or longer) chock full of coziness and tending the fireplace, weather permitting. I’m currently writing a book, (called How to Pretend to be Fancy), so you’ll often find me in my office furiously typing away or watching deer nibbling at my yard. Or, after a day of pleasant activities, at the local watering hole, The Andes Hotel, sipping, you guessed it, a martini. Plus I’m lucky enough to have clients in the country as well, so the beginning of the next week is popping in to see progress, present custom wallpaper designs, and throw samples around.
What was your last great vacation?
Eight simple words: charter a yacht with your friends in Croatia. Yes, you heard me right. It’s a whole dream. Thirteen of us island-hopped around the Adriatic for a week. Between hanging on deck, swimming in secret coves, exploring tunnels from WWII, eating on board and on land, and step touching with my favorite people, there’s nothing better. A very close runner-up was a recent weekend in Sonoma. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by incredible folks and a weekend with a handful of them in wine country is another dream. Start with an early lunch at Scribe Winery, load up on their latest vinicultural creations, and sip and cook and dance and hang all night.