I Went To NYC’s New “Bathing Club” And Now I Understand Why People Rave About Cold Plunges

 HOT. COLD. HUMAN. That’s literally the tagline and I get it now.

First of all: it's called a "bathing club" and not a spa, and once you are inside, you get why. This isn't a candle-and-cucumber-water situation. This is a large Finnish sauna, an intimate infrared sauna, and a generous cold pool. The whole vibe is "your new weekly ritual," not "occasional treat yourself day."

The Concept: Basically A Book Club, But You're All Sweating

The founders straight up compare it to a book club, a run club, or your Friday night cocktail hour, except instead of wine you get near-hypothermic then very warm again on purpose. Herringbone floors, tiled walls, cedar wood benches, charred wood walls, a natural stone basin (designed by Studioilse) plus sculptural pendant lighting over the cold plunge that honestly looks more "boutique hotel" than "gym locker room," which is exactly the energy NoHo demanded.

Lore is not just vibes-based about this either. It leans hard into the research that sauna and cold water immersion two or more times a week is linked to a longer, healthier life. The sauna supports heart health, brain health, blood pressure regulation, mood boost, and lower cortisol, while the cold water helps with metabolism boost, mindfulness benefits, reduced inflammation, and emotional and stress regulation.

Each session lets you enjoy the sauna and cold plunge for 75 minutes, and Lore Bathing Club offers monthly memberships as well as single drop-in. Is this just a sauna and a cold pool? Sure, technically. But it is also clearly designed to become the new "did you go to Pilates today" flex among a very specific type of New Yorker. If contrast therapy is going to become a personality trait anyway, at least Lore made the room pretty enough to justify it.

I Played “1000 Boxes” With Strangers On A 40-Foot LED Wall And I Have Never Screamed That Much In My Life

I went in expecting a chill night out and left in a full fugue state of competitive rage.

Picture this: you walk into a building on Bowery expecting maybe a bar, maybe a weird art installation, and instead you get handed a buzzer with one single button and told you are now part of Team Rat. Or Team Bird. Or, deeply unfortunately for whoever gets assigned this, Team Table.

Welcome to Game of 1000 Boxes, NYC's new live game show experience, and I am not exaggerating when I say it might be the most fun I've had in a long time.

The Vibe: Gameshow Meets Fever Dream

You and three teammates (from a roster of 8 legendary mascot teams) face off in front of a huge screen: we're talking a 40-foot LED wall, studio lighting, live cameras catching every ounce of your competitive face. It's giving Wipeout energy but indoors, and nobody's getting hurt, just emotionally exposed in front of your teammates.

The Games: Somehow Both Genius And Extremely Silly

There are 10 mini-games packed into the hour-long show, and they range from social strategy to pure reflex chaos to trivia so silly you will laugh at yourself for not knowing the answer. One buzzer. One button. Infinite ways to humiliate yourself in front of a live audience.

The Verdict

If you have already done axe throwing, escape rooms, and one too many trivia nights, 1000 Boxes is the upgrade your group chat has been begging for. It's chaotic, it's a little unhinged, and you will absolutely make new enemies out of Team Eggs.

📍 302 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

I Went To A Georgian Restaurant In The West Village And Now I Understand Why Everyone Won't Shut Up About Khinkali

Somewhere between the pomegranate-drenched eggplant rolls and the cheese boat with an egg yolk sunbathing on top, I became a person who says “khachapuri” in normal conversation.

Laliko sits at 80 Carmine Street, tucked into that stretch of the West Village that always feels like it's hiding one more good restaurant than you expected. The whole concept is built around bringing actual Eastern European Georgia to New York — not the vague "Eastern European" catch-all, but specifically centuries-old Georgian recipes, from hearty stews to lighter dishes, served in a room that regulars keep describing as cozy, warm, and a little bit like stepping into someone's home rather than a restaurant.

A lot of the staff are Georgian themselves, which shows up in how confidently the menu leans into tradition instead of diluting it for a broader audience. It's also not flying under the radar anymore — the restaurant has picked up Michelin recognition and built a genuinely devoted following, with a wine list that's almost entirely Georgian pours, a solid cocktail program, and both dinner and brunch service. People don't just eat here once; the reviews are full of regulars who've been back five, six, seven times for the same two dishes. That's the energy you're walking into.

EGGPLANT ROLLS — $18

We are opening with roasted eggplant rolled around a walnut-garlic purée and finished with pomegranate seeds, and honestly this dish should come with a warning label that says "you will order this every single time you come back." It's smoky, it's a little sweet, and it somehow makes eggplant the main character.

KHINKALI — $18

These are the hand-folded dumplings that Georgian food built its whole reputation on, and now I get it. Each one is basically a broth delivery system disguised as a dumpling — juicy, rich, a little dangerous to bite into if you are not paying attention.

ACHARULI — $27

This is the boat-shaped khachapuri, and it is not shy about it. Cheese, egg yolk, a slick of butter, all sitting in a bread canoe that you're supposed to tear apart and swirl into a golden, gooey mess before you eat it. It is unserious in the best way. It is a whole vibe.

CHICKEN WITH ELARJI — $36

Crispy chicken over elarji, which is this stretchy, cheesy cornmeal situation that behaves more like fondue than a grain — plus a walnut sauce that ties the whole plate together. Comfort food, but make it Tbilisi.

LAMB CHOPS — $48

Grilled lamb chops sitting on a bed of creamy roasted eggplant, tomato, and pepper purée, with grilled asparagus on the side. This dish absolutely delivers — tender, char-kissed, and the purée underneath is doing quiet, important work.

NAPOLEON — $14

Layered pastry, delicate cream, crisp flaky layers doing their best mille-feuille impression. Sweet, simple, correct way to end things.

Laliko isn't trying to convince you Georgian food is having a moment — it's just quietly, confidently serving the kind of food that makes you rearrange your whole week around a reservation. Get the eggplant rolls, get the khinkali, split the khachapuri boat with someone you like, and prepare to become insufferable about a cuisine you'd never tried before.

 

I Somehow Won A Reservation To One Of NYC’s Hardest-To-Book Restaurants—Here’s Whether It Actually Lived Up To The Hype

 From melt-in-your-mouth steaks to the dessert everyone should save room for, here’s what it’s really like dining at The Eight Six.

If you've tried booking The Eight Six, you already know the struggle. Reservations disappear almost instantly, but I somehow lucked out and won a table through DoorDash.

Walking in, the restaurant immediately feels like you've stumbled upon one of New York's best-kept secrets—dimly lit, intimate, and effortlessly cool. The restaurant sits inside the old Chumley's space — the Prohibition-era speakeasy where Hemingway and Fitzgerald used to drink, and where the actual culinary term "86" was born. So the restaurant is named after the phrase that was named after the building it's in. It's giving very "the snake eating its own tail" energy, except the snake is a12oz bone-in wagyu strip. I would know, because I ordered it.

The pickles arrived before I even asked for anything

Complimentary pickles, no context, no menu yet. Just: sit down, here are pickles. Bold opener. 10/10 palate cleanser before I made several very important decisions.

I skipped apps and went straight for the meat.

Bone-In Wagyu New York Strip — 12oz, Center Cut, Rosewood Ranch, Ennis, Texas — $90

This steak comes with a hometown. Not "wagyu." Not "strip steak." A specific ranch, a specific Texas town, basically a birth certificate. And it earns the introduction — deeply beefy, the bone doing exactly the flavor-insurance thing bones are supposed to do, char on the outside like it went through something and came out better for it.

Filet Mignon — 8oz, Center Cut, Jeff Huss and Family, Mitchell, South Dakota — $69

The filet is the quiet one at the table. Buttery, almost shy about how tender it is. If the strip is the friend who tells a great story at dinner, the filet is the friend who just quietly pays for everyone and doesn't mention it.

The sides were doing the most, in the best way

Creamed Corn Pot Pie — $19

A whole pie situation for a side dish. Croissant-layered pastry over sweet corn and 2-year-aged parmesan, so it's essentially a savory pastry impersonating a vegetable.

Roasted Tivoli Farm Mushrooms — $17

Sherry-au jus glaze, cured egg yolk on top like a little golden crown. Deeply savory, slightly indulgent.

Mashed Potatoes — $17

European butter, stated plainly on the menu like a threat. They were not lying. These potatoes have never met a diet in their life and I respect that.

Then things got a little theatrical

A lemon palate cleanser, served in a bowl of scooped lemon. I don't fully know what was happening but I felt cleansed, spiritually and palate-ly.

And then dessert, which I was not emotionally prepared for

Banana Trifle — Banana Custard, Vanilla Chantilly Cream, Dulcey Crunch, Nilla Crumble, Brown Butter Salted Caramel — $21

This is banana pudding that went to finishing school. Every spoonful hits a different texture — custard, crunch, cream, crumble — like the dessert equivalent of a boy band where everyone gets a solo.

Is this an expensive dinner? Yes. Did every single dish justify its own little origin story? Also yes. The Eighty Six knows exactly what it is — a steakhouse with history literally baked into the walls. Between the ranch-specific steaks, the pastry-lidded corn, and a dessert that required four different textures to properly show off, I'd go back. I'd probably order the same things.