Suzanne’s Favorite Things of 2016
1. Matcha Green Tea Pocky
Pocky is one of those magical snacks that keeps re-inventing itself. Just when I think the Pocky geniuses have exhausted all flavor combinations, something new lands on the shelves of my neighborhood grocery store and I’m reminded of why I fell in love with this delicious Asian goodness. Matcha Green Tea leaves all the other flavors in the dust because it consistently tastes like the first delicious sip of a matcha tea drink that only the most talented baristas could create. In years past, I experimented with other fun and slightly sinful Pocky biscuit flavors, but matcha green tea is my go-to for life (or at least until the Pocky geniuses invent their next best thing).
Honorable Mention: I discovered plaintain chips in 2016 and they revolutionized my snack game.
2. 2 Dope Queen Podcast
My two best friends host this podcast. No, not really, but I swear when I tune into “2 Dope Queens”, I feel like I’m listening to my girlfriends going back and forth. In reality, Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams, two people I’ve never actually met, host this podcast and it’s amazing, hilarious, embarrassing and slightly NSFPE (not safe for parental ears). Each episode, recorded at a live comedy show in Brooklyn, begins with a conversation between the two as they recount dating disasters, living in New York City, memorable Uber rides and pretty much anything else. Together, they introduce stand-up comedians who perform sets, but Phoebe and Jessica’s irreverent and raw banter is what makes 2 Dope Queen stand out in a crowded field of great podcasts.
Honorable Mention: “Death, Sex and Money” from WYNC continues to be one of the freshest podcasts out there today. In 2016, I finally got on the “Pop Culture Happy Hour” train and it’s fantastic.
3. Hay Market at the MoMA Design Store
When I moved to New York City in 2007 I didn’t know anything about design, but I knew I liked beautiful things, different things, shiny things. On weekends I’d browse downtown shop windows, but the objects that caught my eye stayed on my mind for days after I left Bleecker, Mercer, Greene and Prince Streets. There was something about that blanket, that chair, that lamp or whatever it was that I was obsessing over at the time that made me realize that things are not just things; they’re pieces no matter how large or small that express personal style. The Hay Market at the MoMA store is the outpost for the Danish company of the same name that takes me back to those days when I didn’t know anything about design and I was just starting to discover what I love.
Pictured: Hay Geometric Trays and Plus Nine Throw Blanket
Honorable Mention: The Muji Store never disappoints for design-lovers and for anyone with a soft spot for all things minimalist.
4. Amazon Fire Stick
My television life used to be a sad, steady diet of "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune”. Those were the dark days of my cable-less existence when the only Mark Wahlberg I knew was the one who introduced appraisal items on PBS’s “Antiques Road Show”, another nightly favorite. It was a bleak entertainment scene in my life until the Amazon Fire Stick took away my television blues and replaced them with happiness in the form of options overload! The Daily Show, Stranger Things, old 90210 episodes, movies, every season of Transparent, even some of my forgotten geeky favorites and so many more choices were suddenly all available for my enjoyment. Amazon Fire Stick completely changed how I watch tv, even if I do still linger on antique appraisals and Alex Trebeck.
Honorable Mention: My favorite clips of 2016 came from The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper, who attended Trump rallies and quizzed DJT supporters on social issues and American ideals. If you haven’t checked these out, do it before January 20th, while the tragedy of our election is still fresh.
5. Slack
Nerd alert! I had a big huge crush on technology this year and it all began with Slack, a digital platform that gives companies the ability to communicate and collaborate all in one place. Just imagine a world where you can simultaneously message individual people, large groups, share documents, photos and videos without opening 10,000 different chat windows. It’s a world with fewer emails and a world where you can share gifs of puppies with an entire audience and then emoji the hell out of your response. That's the beautiful world that Slack invites you to enjoy and it’s changing the way we work.
6. Feit Shoes
Cinderella had her glass slippers. I have my handmade shoes made from a single piece of leather. Before I actually owned a pair, I was a Feit fan from afar, always stopping my Instagram feed when a beautiful pair of their uncomplicated shoes would appear. Initially, the price tag kept me away, but the magic of a sample sale featuring shearling-lined leather shoes during a summer heatwave has a way of slashing prices and filling closets. To date, I own a few pairs of Feit shoes and they’re everything the rest of my shoe collection is not: free of logos and other bells and whistles and only made from natural materials. Oh, and they mold to my feet. Try that with glass slippers.
Honorable Mention: Nike Roshe Run Boots were a gift to my feet this year, as was Kith, a downtown sneaker Mecca that’s always keeping me up to speed with what’s hot.
7. Bubble Tea
There aren’t many things from the 1980s that just keep getting better. Invented in the same decade that brought acid wash jeans, disposable cameras and big hair to the world, bubble tea (also called boba tea) is the most amazing invention to come from the mighty nation of Taiwan since….whatever came before bubble tea. Typically fruit-flavored or milk-based, bubble tea comes in hundreds of flavors and styles depending on where you are in the world. It wouldn’t be bubble tea without the small tapioca pearls bouncing around at the bottom of your cup, though. Partially added for flavor, but mostly there for the fun of sucking them through a giant straw, I never thought I’d willingly drink tapioca or pay homage to an ‘80s food item, but I truly couldn’t get enough bubble tea in 2016.
Honorable mention: On the alcohol front, I was introduced to Cocchi Americano, an Italian aperitif, and it rocked my summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day without taking July 4th off.
8. American Ballet Theatre’s Performance of Swan Lake at Lincoln Center
When you’re trying to buy tickets for a show’s next performance during intermission, it’s a pretty good sign that you like what you’re seeing. That was me on a spring night at Lincoln Center where American Ballet Theatre was putting on a flawless and almost unspeakably beautiful performance of “Swan Lake”. That was also when I knew it would end up on this list. I never knew a performance could make me cry tears of joy, but just listening to Tchaikovsky’s suite and watching the tragedy unfold on stage was enough to turn on the waterworks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to another performance and the show’s run was already quite limited, but I’ll make it back there next season and I’ll probably cry again.
Honorable mention: For live performances, seeing Coldplay perform from floor seats of MetLife Stadium was something I’ll never forget. Likewise for Garth Brooks, who took the stage at Yankee Stadium after a two hour rain delay. He put on a tremendous show and while I’m not a country music fan, I was that night.
9. Hartwood
For the past (almost) 2 years I’ve been turned on to restaurants and foods that I never thought I’d try, much less enjoy. Caviar? Love it! Buckwheat noodles? Yes, please! Tequilla drinks? Fill ‘er up! So, yeah, I’ve been indulging and the fact that food is even on my radar now is something that still surprises me. The truth is that I had some mind-blowing dishes in 2016 at some absolutely incredible restaurants, which makes this the hardest “favorite thing” category. After ruminating about it on some post- holiday runs, though, I have to say that dining at Hartwood in Tulum, Mexico was my most memorable meal all year. In addition to the freshest fish and the most unique cocktails, the ambience at Hartwood, an open-flame and completely outdoor restaurant, was an uncommon but thoroughly exceptional experience that didn’t just make Tulum special, but worth repeating.
Honorable Mentions: Babu Ji, Punjabi Grocery & Deli and Prune, all in the East Village, are all sensational places that I will happily re-visit in 2017 in an effort to become a regular. I also sampled Sean Brock’s fried chicken and it made me melt.
10. Pantsuit Nation
The internet can be a dark, ugly place. But it can also be a brilliant haven for like- minded people who would never meet one another if it were not for a high speed connection. In the months leading up to the election, the Facebook group Pantsuit Nation rallied camaraderie around the I'm With Her campaign and served as a digital community where Hillary supporters, including many who came from pro-Trump families, posted positive and often personal messages about the election, their beliefs and large and small ways they were using their voice. Following the election, Hillary supporters took to Pantsuit Nation not to whine about the results, but to double down on the effort to be inclusive, embrace diversity, and to celebrate badass girls and women. For many Americans (or 65,844,954 according to the results of the popular vote), post-election days were filled with disappointment, sadness and fear for the realization of Donald Trump's campaign promises on top of sheer disbelief. In those days, Pantsuit Nation was a place that reminded its nearly 4 million members that love trumps hate.
11. Under The Sun Documentary Film
I spend a lot of time thinking about far off places – usually weird, undesirable ones. For a long time it was Greenland, but in 2016 it was North Korea. I mean, really, what is it like there?! I finally got the answer watching “Under The Sun”, a documentary film covertly shot under the watchful but clueless eyes of North Korean Culture Ministry officials. In the film, Director Vitaly Mansky and his two-person crew follow a North Korean family as their young daughter prepares to join the Korea Children’s Union. When government officials assigned to oversee production demand take after take of the same scene, but with fabricated emotions, Mansky’s camera keeps rolling, unknowingly to the North Koreans. The result is a documentary film about the making of a film. Incredible. I saw some great movies in 2016 (see the honorable mentions below that are truly as amazing as “Under The Sun”), but the spying in plain sight nature of this film in one of the most mysterious places on Earth put it over the top for me.
Honorable Mention: O.J: Made In America was remarkable and deserving of an Academy Award. For dramas, I loved “A Bigger Splash” and “Moonlight.”