Hasta La Ideas

From our thousands of stories published this year, meaningful articles selected by our NYC-based staff

Browsing the thousands of stories we published on COOL HUNTING this year, in search of personal favorites, would present many problems if the very process of writing didn’t lend itself to favoritism. When asked what we’d recommend reading, we on staff already knew the many answers. That’s because the selections below represent experiences we had with people, places and brands that left a longstanding impact. Though they may be packaged as articles, they’re also our memories. And from traversing New Zealand’s wine country to eating and drinking in London’s Islington, learning about holistic health and sustainable denim, we knew then that they’d be meaningful to people beyond ourselves.

Design Heals at Parsley Health’s Reimagined Medical Office

Wellness is a journey, not a destination. For some, it’s about living their best life with a chronic illness; for others, it’s simply about optimizing from a place of strength. These two types of people loosely summarize the member base at Parsley Health, a practice applying more holistic points of view to traditional healthcare. Everything from nutrition to compassion, technology, diet and design work in concert to break the molds of traditional medicine. Whether it’s sleuthing the cause of an illness or searching beyond its symptoms or leveling the doctor/patient dynamic during an office visit, Parsley’s doctors and health coaches take an active and engaged role in your wellness. Perhaps surprisingly, design is a big component of this, both in terms of their own behind-the-scenes methodologies and the spaces you visit as a member (they prefer “member” to “patient”)…

Atelier & Repairs and Candiani Denim’s Sustainable Collaboration

While denim is a favorite fabric of millions of consumers, it comes at quite the cost for our environment. Between the raw cotton material, dye, wash supplies and water, jeans (and all denim apparel) take a sizable amount of material to create, but that material can rarely be reused. Think of how long some vintage jeans have been kept…

Photographer Tom Blachford’s New “Centro Verso” Series

Tom Blachford‘s Centro Verso photo series flips the lens in a few ways. These upside-down images are of his hometown Melbourne, and have futuristic and dystopian qualities—unlike his previous, inherently warm but noir Midnight Modern collections. This new project is also Blachford’s first foray into CAD (computer-aided design) and 3D printing, programming and more. It has all culminated in a show at Melbourne’s Backwoods Gallery (on now through 8 December) where his striking photographs are on display alongside light sculptures. We spoke with the artist ahead of the show’s opening about misleading his audience, learning a new skill and more…

Our Visit With the Traditional Ikat Weaving Artisans In Amami Ōshima, Japan

It’s not surprising that Japan and its incredible craft culture is changing along with that in other parts of the world, with new techniques, often enabled by technology, creating similar products to those painstakingly created by hand. Companies that have been in business for hundreds of years, often family owned, are increasingly giving up their traditional craft or fighting to stay relevant and financially stable. On a recent visit to an island in Japan’s southern Amami archipelago we got a first hand look at the challenges and opportunities these traditional family owned business are facing in a world with fast-changing tastes…

Word of Mouth: Food + Drink in Islington, London

Much of the joy when traveling comes from indulging in local cuisine. When in London, culinary options range from renowned traditions like the comforting Sunday roast to exciting, contemporary dishes. In particular, the London borough of Islington bursts with creative takes on classic food, future-forward wine lists and cocktails outside of the ordinary. With many chefs focusing on local, seasonal produce, small producers, family-owned vineyards and more, there’s an overwhelming and pleasing new tradition that’s growing here. We’ve selected a few of our favorite places to eat and drink through one of London’s most entrancing areas…

The Science Behind Small-Batch Bread Baking

If packaged, pre-sliced bread exists on one end of the spectrum and artisanal loaves sit at the other, then The Standard‘s newly developed bread program lies further beyond the latter. Max Blachman-Gentile, the East Village outpost’s new chef de cuisine, put together an incredibly scientific, and limited, bread menu…

Cloudy Bay’s New Cellar Door, The Shed

“Getting the understanding of the landscape and the people in the place—that informs how we make the wines. It’s very much about the place,” says Jim White, Cloudy Bay‘s Technical Director. Unlike wine made in many other places around the world, limited to a specific vineyard or region, Cloudy Bay takes advantage of two of New Zealand‘s famous wine regions: Marlborough (in the northeastern tip of the South Island) and Central Otago, not far from Queenstown closer to the southern tip. In fact, it’s the world’s southernmost wine-growing region…

Brooklyn’s New Natural Wine Bar, Rhodora, is Entirely Waste-Free

197 Adelphi Street (in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood) is no stranger to sustainable businesses. Originally housing the carbon-neutral Oberon Group restaurant Mettā until July 2019, the address has a new tenant: Rhodora, a waste-free wine bar under the same ownership. But if you ask Henry Rich (owner) and Halley Chambers (deputy director), this reopening represents far more than the reuse of once-defunct space. “This is very much an evolution,” Chambers tells us. While Mettā was a pioneer regarding sustainability within the NYC restaurant scene, being carbon-neutral was merely a first step for the spot, rather than an end goal. But working backwards to “greenify” their establishment proved difficult, perhaps impossible. The dup decided they needed to start anew, shutter their doors and reopen with strict guidelines on how they could best be green…

Meet Me In The Bathroom: The Art Show at The Hole Gallery

Anyone who paid attention to (or disdained, admired or aspired to be a part of) NYC’s rock’n’roll revival circa 2001-2011 understands the importance of author Lizzy Goodman’s oral history, Meet Me In The Bathroom. Goodman let the very people involved speak for themselves—weaving their words to support origin stories and break-ups, low points and milestones. Nothing will ever explain the chemistry of the genre or the explosive interest worldwide, but Goodman’s book provides insight that traces lines between sonic stepping-stones and wildly successful tracks. It’s the first (and best) testament to the time—and now Goodman and film director Hala Matar have translated the work into an exhibition…

Ray’s Embraces the Value of the Dive Bar

To swing by spots previously developed by NYC dive bar Ray’s all-star team might make one wonder how they ended up partnering on this particular watering hole. Much attention has gone to the involvement of actor Justin Theroux, but the others involved (including Jon Neidich, Taavo Somer, and Carlos Quirarte) have developed some of the most exciting and design-forward hospitality ventures in the city. From The Happiest Hour to The Smile, Acme and Freemans, Lemons at The Wythe Hotel and even The Rusty Knot, their combined impact on nightlife and dining has been markedly substantial. And yet Ray’s (177 Chrystie Street) is a destination for a Miller High Life and some whiskey…

Hero image by Josh Rubin