Five Unmissable Places Around Frieze New York

The High Line

Entrances at Gansevoort Street, 23rd Street, or 30th Street

This beloved public park hardly needs recommendation, but with such striking planting and architecture snaking through the West Side, it’s possible for its bold and often multimedia art program to sneak under the radar. Now, with the appointment of Cecilia Alemani – Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art (and a Frieze alumnus) – to the influential post of Curator of the next Venice Biennale (currently postponed to 2022), there is a hightened sense that this is the place to see where the latest art-world currents are flowing.

Works on view during Frieze Week include 57 Forms of Liberty (2021), a resonant new commission by acclaimed Ghanian sculptor Ibrahim Mahama, who memorably replaced flags in the Rockefeller Plaza with jute sacks made in Ghana for Frieze Sculpture New York 2019, a giant orthodontic Retainer (2020) in marble and steel by Hannah Levy, whose sculptures have been called ‘quietly kinky’ by Whitney Mallett; and The Musical Brain, an inventive group show exploring expanded ideas of the sonic including works by Vivian Caccuri, David Horvitz, Raúl de Nieves and Naama Tsabar. Other leading art spaces nearby include the Peter Marino-designed Hill Art Foundation, associated with the renowned collection of J. Tomilson and Janine Hill; and patron Glenn Fuhrman’s Flag Art Foundation, where, hot on the heels of a ballsy Nicole Eisenman and Keith Boadwee two-hander, the new group show, ‘and i will hear you in my heart of heart’, explores gestures of care.

Before the date of your visit, make sure to review park rules and COVID-related visitor precautions. Please remember to wear a mask. 

7am–7pm, Mon–Fri Open access without reservations

10am–6pm, Sat–Sun Free timed-entry reservations requested

Limited walk-up entries available

The High Line is fully wheelchair accessible.

Mercado Little Spain

10 Hudson Yards

Billing itself a ‘veritable love letter to Spain’, this imaginative, all-day dining destination was one of the most eagerly anticipated eateries to open in the Hudson Yard vicinity pre-pandemic. Conceived by Chef José Andrés – a frequent collaborator of Ferran Adrià of the legendary el Bulli – whose spots in Washington D.C., including Café Atlantico and Minibar, were influential in the ‘small plates’ revolution in American dining, the Mercado Little Spain was inspired by the multipurpose markets of Andrés’s native country, and thus designed to meet many culinary needs – grocery shopping, fast bites or longer meals. When it opened in 2019, The New York Times hailed it as offering ‘more delicious things to eat per square foot than anywhere else in New York’. While COVID-19 has temporarily paused two of the more formal restaurants, Leña and Mar, as well as some of the indoor kiosks and stalls, highlights from among their many offerings can be ordered at the outdoor tables of Spanish Diner, comfortably nestled under the High Line spur, where the menu also boasts excellent eggs, a deceptively simple dish of pan de cristal con tomate, and an enchanting goat’s cheese cake. For a tapas-adjacent snack at Barra, try the white anchovies or a cup of gazpacho, with vermouth or Sangria on tap for US $5 a glass to wash it down. You can also shop online for pantry staples with a Spanish accent, gourmet selections and tableware. Or, if you’re in the mood for more markets, head three blocks east to 28th Street between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue, where the Flower District should be in full bloom.

11am–9pm, Mon–Sun

Bottino

246 10th Avenue

Close to some of the most storied outfits in the Chelsea gallery district, this go-to of more than two decades is one place it’s still possible to feel part of an art world, if not the art world: on the night of a show opening nearby, expect collectors and critics to fill the tables, wine to (over)fill glasses and gossip to fill the air. Its understated décor – vintage Eames furniture against white walls, awash with natural light by day and lit low by night – remains true to its opening in 1997. The charming glass-roofed, tile-floored garden will surely come into its own this springtime.

The food, too, offers a new lease of life: the menu has been reinvigorated by Jamie Kenyon, a British expat who joined as a partner in 2019, and whose cooking at Bottino was praised by Forbes’s John Mariani for its ‘first-rate ingredients, thoughtful combinations and rigorous attention to cooking times’. Menu standouts include mastered classics like pancetta, leek and mozzarella arancini, cacio e pepe (with bavette pasta), or pan fried whole fish, which changes daily. The entire enterprise is touched with the kind of commitment to good taste that doesn’t ever look like it’s trying too hard – call it sprezzatura, perhaps. Literally next door to Bottino, you’ll find Orchard Townhouse. From the team behind the beloved Lower East Side haunt The Fat Radish, this easy-chic multistorey offers spots for coffee, drinks, lunch or dinner; veggies and salads are a consistent treat. Four blocks south is another art- world favourite, Cookshop: a spacious, welcoming room where the food is farm-to-table, and the cocktails are pretty fine, too.

Lunch

12pm–3pm, Fri–Sat

Dinner

5pm–8.30pm, Mon–Wed 5pm–9.30pm, Thur–Sat 3pm–8pm, Sun

Printed Matter Inc.

231 11th Avenue

Printed Matter is the epicentre of the artists’ book and independent publishing universe. In its 45-year history, the non-profit organization has occupied four locations across Manhattan, but its remit has stayed constant: appreciating and disseminating artists’ books and publishing projects. While its roots lie in the early 1960s, when conceptual artists like Sol LeWitt and critic Lucy Lippard (who co-founded Printed Matter – along with a group that included artist Pat Steir and writer Ingrid Sischy) – started to experiment with the book as an artistic medium, the appetite for artists’ books and zines is still booming today, despite (or because of) the proliferation in digital technology. Catering to the global publishing community through a broad distribution network, Printed Matter continues to adapt, launching Art Book Fairs in New York in 2005, Los Angeles in 2003 and, in 2021, online. Expect to find a ripe mixture of printed treasure spanning the entire gamut of artist publishing – from glossy high-production catalogues featuring the world’s leading artists to punky xerox ’zines from the bedroom enthusiasts. Recent staff picks include Jessica Vaughan’s study of corporate America, Depreciating Assets (2020) and Dylan Solomon Kraus’s Occult Science (2020), including an essay by Oskar Kokoschka. Browse through fine books, slogan t-shirts and everything in between. Plus, with an excellent range of fundraising editions – from Faith Ringgold bookplates to Carroll Dunham lithographs – don’t leave without a purchase that supports this NYC institution. For the committed bibliophile, head four blocks south to the ever reliable 192 Books on 10th Avenue, founded by gallerist Paula Cooper.

11am–7pm, Mon–Fri

11am–6pm, Sat–Sun

Printed Matter is fully wheelchair accessible.

Manhattan Wine Company

606A W 28th St

Given the psychological challenges of the pandemic, and the extra time spent indoors during lockdown, reports that wine consumption has grown over the past year perhaps come as no surprise. If the extended stay-at-home period has inspired you to begin laying down a more serious stash, there’s no better place to start than Manhattan Wine Company. A family affair, the business is run by founder Matt Tornabene with his brother, Billy, and his wife, Kerrie – who boasts stints at Daniel Boulud’s DBGB and California’s French Laundry as well as first-hand experience at harvests across Europe. Before founding the company in 2006, Tornabene worked in wine storage, and a gentle emphasis on the long game is evident across the business – a specially built, temperature-controlled storage vault with room for 2,000 bottles, besides the ever-changing 1,500 bottle inventory, occupies the centre of the space, and the team also offers long-term, off-site storage and cellar management services. This doesn’t mean that the store inventory only lists investment wines: a 2009 Domaine Comte de Vogüé Grand Cru – an irresistible vintage from one of the best Burgundy houses at US $500 a bottle – can be found alongside a Txakolina Rubentis: a fascinating, extremely drinkable cofermented rosé from the Basque Ameztoi family, which is sure to become a summer staple at US $25. With regular tastings and events pre-pandemic, Manhattan Wine Company is a place to discover and learn, wherever you stand on the oenophilia scale. If an in-store tasting gets you in the mood to splurge, there is retail galore nearby at The Shops at Hudson Yards, accompanied by a revolving, in-mall art program, including work by the great Lara Schnitger.

11am–7pm, Mon–Fri

12pm–7pm, Sat–Sun

This article appeared in Frieze Week, New York 2021