CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
NICO ARZE • designer and restaurateur • Walk and Talk Consulting
Borough you work and live in: Brooklyn
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
Since it’s the end of the week, we make sure all the projects are running smoothly. We’re working right now on a couple of very exciting projects in this neighborhood: the rooftop bar at Kellogg’s Diner (where we redesigned the interior, too), and Jr & Son, a 94-year-old family bar we’re bringing back to life after it closed during Covid. Then we usually go check Love's Club, a motorcycle bar/music venue we’re designing for our friend Jane Love. Then we head to check on one of Sal Lamboglia’s new spots — my partner Maddy has been collaborating with Sal for over two years, helping open Swoony’s and Cafe Spaghetti.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
I’ve been enjoying Pomp and Circumstance in Williamsburg. I really appreciate the food, the dips, and the kindness of everyone that works there. Our friend Tyler and my partner Maddy reopened No. 7 on Vanderbilt Avenue, and the broccoli tacos are a masterpiece. A few blocks away, Sage Geyer’s Bar Meridian is a really beautiful room and the cocktails are great.
We’ve also been tasting Chef Alex Ureña's new menu at Pan Pan Vino Vino in Greenpoint, and that’s been a real treat. Alex has worked on some of the best restaurants in NYC and now he’s partnering with us at Vino Vino. If I have to choose one plate, it’s the short ribs (and a side of patatas bravas). And I have a special place in my heart for All Night Skates, a roller disco inspired bar that’s as fun as a bar can be. And every day, Jackie’s huevos rancheros at Kellogg’s, of course.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I like to watch Masters of the Forge and Venezuelan soap operas.
Any weekend getaways?
Sometimes, I try to go fishing, but I’m not very good at it.
What was your last great vacation?
Everyone should do a road trip from the north to the south of Chile. It’s a similar distance to a cross country road trip in the U.S. You start at the driest desert in the world and end at one of the largest continental ice fields, in Patagonia. For dinner, anywhere where you see large trailer trucks parked on the Pan-American Highway — they’ll have great food. Order cazuelas, churrascos, and humitas, and drink all the wine you can find.
On my last trip to Chile, we watched fire and lava come out of the crater of Volcan Villarrica, patiently waiting for the big eruption that never came. A big eruption can last a few minutes, so you really have to be lucky.