Jean Aw, founder of NOTCOT – a digital community of creatives, design lovers and trendsetters – is a veritable world traveller. Currently based in her hometown of Los Angeles, California she is very mobile, hopping around the country and across the globe, entrenching herself in international culture and their respective design hotspots.
She often finds the most incredible things in the most unlikely of places and loves bringing them to her readers. Jean has put together an exclusive New York download just for us!
Whether you’re a New York native or a frequent flyer, where is your New York hotspot? Join the conversation on Twitter @Mulberry_Editor or on our Facebook page.

Gramercy Park Hotel
New York has become home away from home the last few years. And while many have tried to convince me to do the bicoastal LA-NY thing officially, my NY home still involves hotel living! But as far as favorite’s go… Gramercy Park Hotel’s incredible service, cosy rooms, rooftop (perfect for brunch meetings and catch ups!) and location are hard to beat. I love curling up in the rooftop seating under the ceiling of lightbulbs or gorgeous green vines with good friends and delicious drinks.
On random rituals, I usually catch the direct flight cross country that gets me in to JFK around 8, hop in a cab to Gramercy Park Hotel, check in, drop my bags, and take a quick walk over to Shake Shack for a Coffee Frozen Custard and Shack Burger either in the park or back at the hotel… checking email and my sites while i walk.
Every city has its special shopping spots so unique to itself, that you’ll find products hard to discover anywhere else (though the internet does make this harder and harder every day!) my shops not to miss to browse design collections and unexpected surprises are:

ABC Home and ABC Kitchen
ABC Home: I can wander floor by floor for ages, there are so many beautifully curated home objects to lust after! And when the hunger sets in, there’s Jean-Georges’ ABC Kitchen where amongst the delicious food, you must try the Dragon Slayer elixir shot (wheat grass, jalapeño, cilantro, lime!)
Matter: Always a beautifully curated collection of design items and furnishings.
The Future Perfect: The Future Perfect was born from the desire to showcase the newest and best in decorative arts and design. At once it is a store, shop, gallery and mecca, mixing talent from New York and the world.
Kiosk: “Things from places” – they collect and transform the ordinary into the extraordinary as they create collections of products from various locations, in the past collections have come from Japan, Sweden, Mexico, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland and more!

The Evolution Store
The Evolution Store: From skeletons and taxidermy to jewelry and unexpected gift items, it is like falling into a stunning Natural History Museum of sorts where everything can come home with you. I feel like you learn something new every time you walk through.

Fish's Eddy
Fish’s Eddy: It blows my mind every time i walk into the store and see the dishware stacked from floor to ceiling throughout the store. There’s always something fun to be discovered here.
MoMA Store: Not just another museum store… the MoMA Store’s destination collections remind me of Kiosk with their location themed product collections – currently featuring Mexico!

Clinton Street Baking Company
Oh, and one more thing i never miss – Brunch at Clinton Street Baking Company – you can’t go wrong with their Eggs Benedict and Southern Breakfast.
While this list could keep growing, and is making me miss NY even as i write it, think of these as just a starting point of some of my favourites for a NOTCOT day in NY!
NOTCOT is a visual filtration of ideas, aesthetics and amusements. NOTCOT.ORG houses a community of creatives, design lovers, and trendsetters – with the site serving as our studio bulletin board gone digital – each image and caption brings you to a place worth visiting.
















































