Gadget of the Year: The Toaster Oven

Many of us won’t hesitate to spend more than $600 on a cellphone. Here’s another device to spend that money on: a toaster oven. Yes, you read that right. Like a smartphone, a good toaster oven can be an everyday workhorse. Apart from heating up toast, this underrated kitchen gadget can handle many other foods,…

Our Lives in the Time of Extremely Fancy Axes

The 2000s felt like a decade of looking forward. Wi-Fi went mainstream, phones got smarter, social media connected us, digital tools let us rely less on physical ones. But the 2010s brought a shift. There was still tons of new technology, but also glamping, #vanlife, tiny houses, “Cabin Porn,” the mainstreaming of the farm-to-table movement,…

Where the Dom Pérignon Flows Downtown

Little Sister Downtown Manhattan A petite blonde in a tight ponytail sashayed through the metal doors into the depths below. But three 40-something women in puffy coats grimaced when told it’s reservations only. An unshaven man in a black beanie couldn’t take the wait anymore and stormed off. Little Sister, which opened under the Moxy…

Is Tinsel Canceled?

The polar ice caps are melting before our eyes. Artificial snow will not be de rigueur this year. Even as whales starve because of the plastic they have consumed, and landfills swell beyond all reason, one age-old holiday tradition that has been hard to shake is the habit of excess. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s…