Sandra‘s Closet

GABRIELE FRANTZEN

The charming German fashion jeweler shares her time between Munich and New York City, a place that inspires her a lot for amazing creations that were seen at this year’s Oscars. Below you will find her tips for the Big Apple’s best places to visit.

Your favourite city? NEW YORK CITY

Your favourite restaurant? LA ESQUINA, 114 Kenmare Street New York, NY 10012, USA, +1 (646) 613-7100
Market fresh authentic Mexican food in 3 distinct spaces at one location.

Your favourite sightseeing spot? The EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, 350 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10118, USA, +1 (212) 736-3100
At 8am when the city wakes up.

Your favourite district? ELIZABETH STREET / NoLIta
New York City’s North of Little Italy, or NoLIta, is a must visit. Elizabeth Street is packed with upscale & trendy shops.

Your favourite place for breakfast? CAFÉ GITANES, 242 Mott Street, New York, NY, USA, +1 (212) 334-9552

Your favourite walk? Starting in SOHO at WEST BROADWAY over to BLEECKER STREET to PASTIS in the MEATPACKING DISTRICT.
Pastis, 9 Ninth Avenue,  New York, NY 10014, USA, +1 (212) 929-4844
I love the street musicians, the small cafés and all the extraordinary fashion stores.

Your favourite hotel? MERCER KITCHEN, 99 Prince Street,  New York, NY 10012, USA, +1 (212) 966-5454

Your favourite beach? SHELTER ISLAND

Your favourite season in NYC? WINTER
I love the blizzards, when the snow is blowing through the urban canyons. I love to walk through Central Park when all flags are hanging crosswise. The lights are phenomenal then and the windows have beautiful ice crystals.

Your favourite cultural spot? FIT MUSEUM, Seventh Avenue at 27 Street,  New York City, +1 (212) 217-4558
I love fashion and photography exhibitions.

Your favourite store? SAKS FIFTH AVENUE

They sell a large selection of my jewelry pieces.

Your favourite beauty spa? The SPA AT THE MANDARIN ORIENTAL, 80 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10023, USA, +1 (212) 805-8880
Book an apointment with the „beauty fairy“ Fini. She is amazing.

Your favourite treatment? 80 minutes MANDARIN ORIENTAL SPECIAL FACIAL TREATMENT
They use the Somme Insitute products which I adore . The American NYC-based label is dedicated to the science of skin perfection and uses Molecular Dispersion Technology which is the most significant advancement in skin care, a non-prescription synthesis of five highly-engineered vitamin compounds, designed to treat specific areas within the skin.

Your travel in style tip? I love to wear STRETCH JEANS by Closed, ANKLE BOOTS that are easy to take off or New Balance shoes (Store: 150 5th Avenue New York, NY 10010, USA +1 (212) 727-2520), such as my custom-made sneakers that say I LOVE NY.
I never fly without a CASHMERE SCARF to keep me warm, LA MER EYE CONCENTRATE, an eye cover and ear plugs. Moreover, I always pack two of my NECKLACES to change my look.

Your favourite book to read on a flight? ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoi

Thank you, Gabriele, for sharing your insider scoop on New York City with us!

LoL, Sandra

Just around the corner of the Dream Downtown hotel in the trendy Meatpacking District is the beautiful Bond N. 9 store on Washington Street. In case that you are not familiar with the brand, Bond N. 9 is a major, full-blown fragrance collection that was launched as an homage to New York City. The name is also the address of its headquarters boutique at 9 Bond Street in NoHo.

The Bond No. 9 collection of women’s, men’s, and unisex eaux de parfum has a dual mission: To restore artistry to perfumery, and to mark every New York neighborhood with a scent of its own. Each fragrance represents a specific downtown, midtown, or uptown locale or a city-wide sensibility. With new introductions in the coming seasons, Bond N. 9 infuses the island of Manhattan with scents.

Also available are scented body creams and candles.

One of my favourite Bond N.9 fragrances is Chinatown with notes of peach blossoms, gardenia, tuberose, patchouli, and cardamom.

A new addition to the Bond N°9 New York Midtown family is New York Amber with notes of bergamot, saffron, nutmeg, white peppercorn, magestic rose, jasmine, osmanthus, oud, amber, sandalwood, musk, myrrh and benzoin tears. 
This eau de parfum has a different, interesting twist to the classic note of amber. I absolutely love it. To be launched in Switzerland this December.

Another new eau de parfum is I LOVE NEW YORK which exists for her, for him and in an unisex version. I LOVE NEW YORK for Her is an easy-to-wear; easy to love pastry gourmand fragrance with notes of mandarin zest, spicy nutmeg, blueberry accord, roses, pink peonies, patchouli, musk, vanilla, sandalwood and leather accord. So yummy!

Outside of the store, you can see the I LOVE NEW YORK car! Pretty cool, isn’t it?

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht