Nº 11: Cara Schacter
The Lower East Side writer hits us with dating advice, a snack idea for texture-heads and her guide to 24 hours in NYC.
We’re back with writer Cara Schacter. Read on to find out what she’s into, and if you’re new here, hit subscribe for secret recommendations every Monday and Wednesday.
Cara Schacter is a writer living in the Lower East Side.
☞ MATTHEW HUSSEY: is a dating expert/ life coach. I love him. I often think about “Take a sip”, the second tenet in his “5 Irresistible Ways to Flirt With Men (! use #4 carefully!)” video. Matthew says: “When you take a sip of your drink, it engages your lips so it draws attention to them. But, at the same time, if you look away, it has the added benefit of giving him a moment to take you in without you staring right back.” But there’s a catch. Rule #4: “When he looks at you in a certain sexy way, (maybe he smiles with it) I want you to say to him, “You can’t look at me like that.”” Let him look at you but tell him not to look at you. (! use #4 carefully!)
☞ CRAZIE MARIO: This is an eBay vendor who sells a crazieeee amount of sterling silver. Most of the bidding starts at $0.99. Some of the pieces are fugly, some are cute! I like the little charms. I recently bought a toe ring. The seller bio: “We no nothing about stones or things like that, so you mite get a pretty good deal. A GREAT DEAL on a UniquePiece of Jewellery !” (www.ebay.com/str/craziemarios)
☞ HAPPYBABY SUPERFOOD PUFFS ORGANIC GRAIN SNACK IN APPLE AND BROCCOLI: This one is for the texture-heads. These puffs are crunchy and melty at the same time and sort of feel like they never happened. Taste-wise, they’re “interesting”. The bitterness of the kale powder is relieved by the apple concentrate while the rice flour base offers a roasted, grainy undertone. You’re kind of like ‘…ok’. A reviewer on Target.com says “they made my baby’s breath smell!” but I wonder if that person did a proper experiment to eliminate other potential contributing factors. I’m excited to try the purple carrot and blueberry flavour. instacart.com
☞ 24 HRS IN NYC:
Rice to Riches: This place is deranged. The door says: “NO SKINNY BITCHES !!!” In the corner there is an urn that says “ASHES OF DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS”. The vats of rice pudding remind me of cat vomit. Spoon-wise they are doing interesting things. The spoons don’t have a typical bowl mouthpiece – it’s all handle. Reminds me of this spoon called the Goûte designed to recreate the experience of licking your finger. ricetoriches.com
Room 100 of The Stephen A. Schwartzman Building: houses the Picture Collection. Very pre-internet-y… just thousands of reference images organised into folders with headers like: Accidents, Bombing at sea, 1990s Conferences, 1600s Shoes, Mud, Sleep, Utopias & lost worlds, Vending machines. Apparently Andy Warhol used to steal pics from them. nypl.org
Door on Stanton: There is a door on the south side of Stanton Street between Chrystie and the Bowery with a large one-way mirror window. As someone who compulsively checks their reflection, the first time I saw it, I thought: duly noted. It’s rare to come across a reflective surface of that calibre when you’re about town.
Anyway Café: Ideal womb-like ambience with live Slavic music and dill infused vodka. East Village classique. Not to be confused with Anyway Café. google.com/maps
Sunny Chinese Body Work: It hurts so so so much you will think “this CAN’T be right” but then you leave and everything feels better than it did before. Half an hour massage is $28 or an hour for $45. google.com/maps
2nd Ave Marble Cemetery: It will be closed when you go. It’s literally open like twelve days a year. But anyway, there are two thousand burials under this little garden. They have a registry that records causes of death in order of frequency – number 128 is “milk crust” right after “mental derangement”, 143 is “womb complaint”. google.com/maps
First Shearith Israel Graveyard: Also not much to see here (you need to make an appointment to actually enter). You can peek at tombstone remains through the gates but it’s not so much about what you can see – it’s what you can feel. They say this is the last remaining 17th century structure in Manhattan, built in 1656 for New York’s first Jewish congregation. Big bygone era vibes! google.com/maps
♪ LISTENING TO: lol omg ok I’m currently listening to Emma Chamberlain’s boyfriend’s new song but I refuse to name it because then I’d be too close to an actual fan. Better answer: My friends’ song Happy April - Triples. It’s perfect when I’m walking around in a spring fugue state.
☠︎ HATES: mental math, “boyshort”-style underwear, cuticle maintenance.
Ty Cara! Follow Cara here. Read more of Cara’s writing here.
God Save The Scene publishes a newsletter full of secrets twice a week. Edited in London by Elizabeth Dimitroff and Livvy Bryant. Read previous editions here!
Follow us on Instagram for posts, updates and call-outs for our new magazine.
Email us: hello@godsavethescene.co.uk
Subscribe for fresh recs on Wednesday, when our next guest will be revealing their secrets. ☞