Get to Know Your Neighbors
Before giving your all to strangers on TikTok
This would have been a Valentine’s Day letter if I didn’t catch a virus and spend a good chunk of last week in bed. Thankfully, love is one of those things that are evergreen and always fun to write about — unless maybe you’re going through a heartbreak. And even through personally, I still can’t bring myself to finish the One Day Netflix remake, something I’ve been trying to do instead of dwelling on my past relationships is picture a relationship I could aspire to.
As of now, I have a couple of solid options. One involves a blogger who sometimes doubles as a model and splits her time between Paris and New York, and a slightly older, charming man in the arts who makes her feel seen. You know, the Camille Charriere and François Larpin type.
My other dream that’s been around longer, and only gets more vivid with time, is to be in one of those couples that runs a small but very good and popular casual bite place in LA. The type of place that starts out with someone, like Hannah Ziskin of Quarter Sheets Pizza, selling bread out of her home in Glendale or Arielle Skye of Courage Bagels selling bagels out of a basket on her bike, and grows into a spot you wish everyone and no one but you knew about at the same time.
What warms my heart about those places, besides the couples running them and pouring endless love into everything they make, is watching them get the opportunities and recognition they deserve in a way that doesn’t compromise the vibes, the quality or breed some sort of empty hype around them. The Courage Bagels are still some of the best bagels I’ve ever had despite the line, and the slab cake from Quarter Sheets makes my friends and I slightly raise our eyebrows and nod as we reach for another bite every time.
I know enough about kitchens and restaurants to not romanticize this path too much. Yet, I can’t stop thinking about something that’s probably a given to the people in hospitality business but has become a little too foreign to the rest of us. By now, neither Quarter Sheets or Courage Bagels are hidden gems. They got some great national and industry PR, and people traveling across the country to LA, make it a point to come here for a bagel or a piece of princess cake. But the people who keep the lines outside their doors steady, their dining rooms chatty, and their business alive and thriving are the ones who live, work and hang out in the small communities around them. And the owners of Quarter Sheets and Courage Bagels seem to know that really well.
The common sentiment among many business owners outside of the hospitality industry is that publicity is what makes you succeed. They place so much value on winning over people they don’t know on social media that at times, they completely neglect getting to know people in their local communities — who might not have an audience but have a genuine interest in you and what you do. It’s obviously nice to get a great PR feature or have a viral TikTok made about you, but these splashes of interest aren’t worth a lot without a stable, loyal community that sticks by you when the tide is low.
There is something so strange about cute neighborhood shops in Brooklyn carrying pretty much the same assortment of VC-backed pantry items and home pieces designed to look small and local — all while local artists and makers are spending so much time on social media shooting to go viral and big. We spend so much time trying to crack “community” instead of just planting a flag somewhere and getting to know the people who live and work around it. Maybe that’s part of the reason lots of products and places look local and small, but not many feel like it.
Other things I thought about this week:
The rerun of The Cutting Room Floor interview with Mikey Drexler:
Mikey Drexler was the CEO and Chairman of J.Crew and Gap - back when both were at their peak. He is currently the CEO of Alex Mill - a brand you might know from a sponsored post in the 5 Things You Should Buy newsletter, the L’Appartement 4F’s IG, or their catchy campaign for a denim collection covered in Link in Bio . Most smaller fashion brands I know tend to speak to a small community of coastal tastemakers but from what I’ve seen about Alex Mill — the aspiration is to make great quality clothes for everyone. I am sooo curious about how this brand is growing. Also - I thought it’s cool that Mickey starts every day at SoulCycle.
That British Vogue interview with Miuccia Prada:
“It’s strange,” she said, “because every single morning I have to decide if I am a 15-year-old girl or an old lady near to death.”
The set design for this Kith campaign:
Imagine the L train pulls up at Bedford and this is what you see!
Came here to write the same thing as juju ^ apparently. I’m so happy I found your newsletter. Your writing is everything I needed and more.
Just found your newsletter and now can’t stop reading every single post. Can’t wait to get future newsletters in my inbox!