Something I've Been Noticing

The last time was at BarChef New York. Vibe Cabrera asked me four questions about how I was feeling. Then he performed some magic moves: hands dancing over bottles, a splash of something amber, a twist of something I couldn’t name - and handed me a cocktail no one had ever tasted before.

Our conversation became a unique drink.

That’s not a bartending decision. That’s an artist decision.

A couple months ago I was at Dead Letter No. 9 in Williamsburg, standing in a room called Cargo, looking up at the disco ball. Michael Ryterband, one of the founders, told me he built it himself. Glued every single mirror piece by hand. God knows how long it took.

That disco ball just had to be right.

That’s not a decoration decision. That’s an artist decision.

And I keep watching Dig Ferreira paint masterpieces with a brush held in his mouth. If you haven’t read our piece about how he turned grief into art, it’s here. Every time I see him work, I think about what it means to refuse to stop creating - no matter what.

The Artists

True artists don’t just perform in spaces. They are the space. Every room they touch, every drink they build, every song they play, every canvas they hold - it all becomes an extension of who they are.

Amaury (KingKlave) has been in every music room in this city. NPR picked his debut album as one of their Staff Picks of 2022. He’s collaborated with Iggy Pop, Robert Glasper, Q-Tip. Who would know where to find the best live music better than someone who’s dedicated his life to playing it?

DJ Smurfo, our resident at Juicy Soul Discotheque - he’s played them all. His grandmother was Terry Pollard, a Detroit jazz legend inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His father is Dennis “Menace” Weeden, a funk guitarist who helped shape the P-Funk sound alongside George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Smurfo grew up with disco, funk, and soul not as a playlist - as the family dinner table. Who better to know what makes a dance floor come alive?

PJ Adzima spent three years on Broadway in The Book of Mormon, then decided that wasn’t enough. So he built Stage Time - a modern vaudeville variety show that throws Broadway performers, drag artists, burlesque dancers, stand-up comics, and circus acts into the same room. Then he built Stage Time Studios, an art space in Harlem. His philosophy: “All the most talented, interesting, amazing artists live here in New York. But they’re incredibly siloed.” Stage Time breaks down the walls.

First time I walked into Stage Time Studios, I had two thoughts: This is "the room where it happens" - and later that night I met a Hamilton original cast member.

And: This is what the Warhol Factory must have felt like back in the day...

Our 2026 NYC Factories

You know the Warhol Factory? It wasn’t famous because of what it produced. It was famous because of who was in the room. The gathering was the point. The art, the music, the nightlife... those were byproducts.

I think every one of these artists is their own Warhol. And every place they touch becomes its own Factory.

Dead Letter No. 9, Ciao Ciao Disco, Public Records, Tai Diner... each one curated with love by its artists. Each one a world that exists because someone felt something and couldn’t stop until the room felt it back.

Warhol had one door, envisioned by one person. This new version is distributed.

There are Factories all over New York City!

Small, intimate, run by artists who spent years (sometimes decades) perfecting their craft and their taste. And most people walk past them every day without knowing.

That’s the part I want to change.

The Juicy Invitation

I want to invite you to all of them.

Not as a spectator. As a participant. Because no one wants to just sit and eat popcorn anymore. Everyone wants to be included. Everyone wants to feel something. And I think the reason we feel it in these places is because the people who built them felt something first.

That’s what separates a Factory from a venue.

The venue is a business.

The Factory is a feeling someone couldn’t keep inside.

I’ll keep finding them. I’ll keep introducing you to the artists.

And if you know a spot in New York City that feels like someone’s Factory... a place that only exists because one person felt something and built a world around it... I want to hear about it.

Hit reply. DM me. We’ll go check it out together.

May all be juicy.
🍊 - Fedor

Juicy NYC is a map curated by artists and a community for connection-worthy experiences. We host IRL adventures, earn Juice Karma together, and create meaningful co-experiences across the city. 🍊

Explore the Juicy NYC map at juicy-nyc.com

There are clubs you go to and forget by Tuesday.

And then there are places that rearrange something inside you - that make you wonder why you ever settled for yelling over a DJ to someone whose name you’ll never remember.

Dead Letter No. 9 is the second kind.

It’s a cocktail lounge, a conversation parlor, and a nightclub - all inside a space on Grand Street in Williamsburg, themed as a decommissioned postal warehouse for undeliverable mail. Dead Letter was created by Roll the Bones Theatre Co., an immersive theater company whose team includes alumni from productions like Sleep No More.

The team asked a question most nightlife people never think to ask:

what if a club was designed for connection first and dancing second?

We hope this video gives you an idea of what Dead Letter’s answer is:

How Dead Letter Number Nine Works

You walk in. You wander.. Then you discover one of the themed rooms. There’s a camper parked under artificial stars, with the sound of crickets - the kind of quiet that makes people say real things. A treehouse with a bunk bed and a CD player where you DJ for whoever’s in the room with you. A porch with a guitar.

There are no icebreaker games. The rooms themselves do the work. The design creates the permission. You sit with strangers and somehow end up sharing things you don’t tell your friends.

This is what creator and director Taylor Myers set out to build with Roll the Bones, his immersive theater company. Scenic designer Claire Karoff and the team layer in details with obsessive care. And then there is all the love from co-creator Michael Ryterband, who hand-glued every single mirror piece onto the disco ball in Cargo. God knows how long it took. The result feels like walking into someone’s memory… or a dream.

Then later the back room opens.

It’s called Cargo, and it runs on a custom, high-fidelity sound system that was designed and tuned in-house.

Now you’re dancing with the people you just met. The DJ (often Anna Collecta, one of the venue’s resident selectors) plays into the early morning.. And the transition - from intimate conversation to communal dancing - is unlike anything else in the city.

This is what going out can feel like.

Why This Is Personal

I grew up traveling around the world with immersive theater. So when a date first brought me to Dead Letter, I couldn’t believe it was real - an immersive theater set, open to anyone, in a club format.

But what amazed me most was how you don’t need actors or prompts. The spaces themselves define people’s behavior.

In the camper room, you’re sitting there talking, and when someone new walks in, everyone just says:

“Hey! Welcome to the camper. Come on in, sit down. Where are you coming from?”

People start role-playing - and the role they play is connection.

On the porch, people from different cultures pick up the guitar and sing songs from wherever they’re from. Everyone sings along. Strangers bond over music they’ve never heard before.

In the treehouse, people flip through the CDs, play their favorites, and explain why this song is special to them. The room turns into a listening session and a life story, all at once.

Every room has artifacts - little details that can become the start of a conversation. In the best tradition of immersive theater, everything is intentional. Everything means something.

And the team? Sarah at the bar. Samir at the door. I see them on Instagram hanging out together after work, before work. It feels like a family. You feel it when you walk in.

I’ve made more new friends there than I can count. Starting a conversation in one of the rooms. Or starting one on the dance floor, then going back to a room to actually talk.

Here’s my question: why isn’t every second club in the world like this? Why don’t more places have creative spaces for conversation?

I don’t have an answer. I think Dead Letter is one of one.

If anyone knows something like this - anywhere in the world - I want to visit it and add it to the Juicy Map. Please let me know! Hit reply or DM me.

The JuicyMeter

The Juicy Times doesn’t write about places because they’re trendy or new. We write about places that meet the standard - places where you leave feeling more connected than when you arrived.

Dead Letter No. 9 is one of the most connection-worthy nightlife experiences we’ve found in New York City. Here’s why:

Joyful: You walk out lighter. The combination of real conversation followed by dancing with those same people creates a kind of joy that most nightlife actively prevents.

Unique: We haven’t experienced anything like this in New York. And we keep hearing from travelers that it’s rare anywhere else. A conversation parlor built by immersive theater people that transitions into a nightclub - this only exists because someone with a very specific creative vision decided to build it.

Intimate: The rooms are designed for two to six people. The lighting is warm. The volume is human. You can hear each other. You can see each other. In a city where most bars optimize for throughput, this place optimizes for depth.

Communal: Strangers become dance partners. The progression from private conversation to shared dance floor creates bonds that feel real. Honestly, the rooms do more than even a shared table.

You-Focused: No VIP sections. No bottle service hierarchy. No scene. The whole place is built around the idea that you - whoever you are, whatever you’re carrying tonight - deserve to be met with presence and curiosity.

The Details

Best for:

• A date night that will be talked about for months

• Going alone and leaving with new people in your life

• Anyone who’s tired of yelling over music and calling it socializing

• Creatives, theater people, and anyone who values intentional design

Where: 63 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Cost: varies by night - many events are free with RSVP before a certain time, with covers often in the $10–$20 range after. Some Sundays are free and open from the afternoon. Always check the event listing.

When to go: most weeks, Thursday through Sunday is when you’ll find the full experience (conversation rooms + Cargo), but programming shifts. Check their IG @no9nyc for the current schedule.

Pro tip: Go early enough for the conversation rooms. If you show up around midnight on a weekend, you’ll have more people - which is great, but intimate moments is what makes this place different from every other club.

The Juiciest

The Juicy Times doesn’t do traditional rankings. We don’t do “best of” lists.

But some places are the cream of the cream. The places we’d feel good sending anyone, anytime. The places that represent what we believe nightlife - and New York - can be.

We’re calling this The Juiciest: the highest selection. Our top choices for connection. The places that set the standard.

Dead Letter No. 9 is on The Juiciest list.

Not because it’s the most famous. Not because it has the best cocktails. But because it solves the one problem every other club ignores: it’s hard to actually talk with anyone.

They built rooms for that. Then they built a dance floor for what comes after.

Save it. Share it. Go.

Discover more places for connection

Create your Juicy profile, earn Juice, and become part of the movement.

May all be juicy.
🍊 - Fedor

Juicy NYC is a map curated by artists and a community for connection-worthy experiences. We host IRL adventures, earn Juice Karma together, and create meaningful co-experiences across the city. 🍊

Explore the Juicy NYC map at juicy-nyc.com

This week, we’re witnessing artists building their own worlds.

A Broadway actor who got tired of the system and built a creative factory in Harlem. A tattoo artist whose work could hang in museums, but who chooses human skin - and is now inviting us to create alongside him. An award-winning performer bringing all of himself to the stage for the first time. And Juicy Soul Discotheque returns for round two.

Plus Sunday Gospel for those who want to start February with joy and hope.

Five very different doors into the same thing: people who decided to create the world they wished existed.

Here’s what’s happening.

Wednesday — Juicy Soul Discotheque #2

Dancing · Ciao Ciao Disco · Wednesday, 8 pm

This is what happens when a dance party works.

Last week, Juicy Soul Discotheque launched at Ciao Ciao Disco. The social dancing happened. Strangers cheered for strangers. The room became one organism moving together. Now it’s becoming a residency.

DJ Smurfo returns - the man whose grandmother was Terry Pollard (jazz legend who played with Miles Davis and Coltrane), whose father helped shape the P-Funk sound alongside George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Smurfo grew up with funk, soul, and disco in his DNA.

Yemen Cafe is the kind of place where the table fills before you even order - soup, salad, warm bread, sauces. Generosity as a default setting. It’s the right place to land after a morning like this: grounded, communal, a little bit holy in its own way.

The flow:
8pm · The Warm-Up - conversation with Smurfo, drawing, games, $10 espresso martinis
9pm · Social Dancing & Moves Exchange - the floor opens, we teach each other 10pm · The Dance Line - two lines, you dance down the middle, pure joy
10:30pm · Open Floor - the party keeps going

This night is juicy for its communal release. Social dancing where everyone participates, everyone cheers, and the room transforms. We're bringing back what dancing used to be.

Put on your dancing shoes. Come ready to move.

Put on your dancing shoes. Come ready to move

Hosted by DJ Smurfo, Aesop Lucy, Juicy NYC, and Ciao Ciao Disco 🍊

RSVP FREE HERE

Friday — Stage Time: Building the Modern Warhol Factory of Theater

Open Doors · Stage Time Studios · Harlem · Friday, 7 pm

What happens when a Broadway actor gets tired of the system?

He builds his own.

PJ Adzima spent three years playing Elder McKinley in The Book of Mormon on Broadway. He’s been on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Girls5Eva, and appeared in the new Jennifer Lopez film Kiss of the Spider Woman. But performing in other people’s productions wasn’t enough.

So he created Stage Time - a genre-defying variety show that mashes together Broadway, burlesque, drag, standup, circus, and indie artistry. And now he’s gone bigger: Stage Time Studios, a bold new creative hub in Harlem. Co-working spaces. Mentoring. Live events. Community nights. A place for the city’s artistic misfits to make work on their own terms.

This Friday, they’re opening the doors. An invitation to step inside a space built by and for artists who believe the most exciting work happens outside the mainstream… Meet the community. See what they’re building.

It feels like the Andy Warhol Factory might be making a comeback. Except this time, it’s in Harlem and around theatre.

This night is juicy for its proof of concept. The most interesting people are always the ones building their own worlds. Come see what that looks like.

Be the first in the room where it happens

Hosted by PJ Adzima and Stage Time Studios 🍊

FREE RSVP HERE

Saturday — Travis Fountain: An Invitation to Create

Book Launch · Brooklyn · Saturday, 8 pm

Travis Fountain’s work could hang in museums. Instead, he chooses the most sacred canvas there is: human skin.

As a tattoo artist, he transforms people’s deepest stories - their grief, their joy, their turning points - into surreal, cinematic imagery that lives on their bodies forever. His style blurs the line between reality and dream: otherworldly faces, impossible landscapes, memories made visible. He listens to someone’s life, then draws what he hears.

But lately, something’s been nagging at him. “It feels harder than ever to escape the screens,” he says, “and find ways of spending time that make you feel present and connected.”

So for two years, he poured his soul into a different kind of project: While Some of Me Sleeps, an interactive art book designed to reconnect us with wonder. It’s filled with his pencil illustrations and handwritten reflections—but the real invitation is the 50 pages of lightly stenciled, perforated paper. Just enough of a starting point to dive in. Free enough to make something completely your own.

The flow:
🎨 Giant page from the book for us to create on together
🖋️ Temporary tattoos of Travis’s designs
🎵 Music from DJ Sands

This night is juicy for its radical invitation. An artist actively fighting screen-induced numbness - and asking us to fight it alongside him. A chance to remember what it feels like to make something with your hands, with other people.

Come co-create and get inspired

Hosted by Travis Fountain 🍊

FREE RSVP HERE

Saturday — Ivan Cecil Walks: I.V.A.N. in Concert

Performance · Pinkfrog cafe · Brooklyn · Saturday, 8:30 pm

Ivan Cecil Walks is an Elliot Norton Award-winning actor. He trained at Boston University, where he also minored in dance. He’s performed at the Huntington Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, and the Goodman Theatre. He made his Hallmark movie debut last year.

And for the first time ever, he’s bringing all of himself to the stage.

I.V.A.N. in Concert isn’t a polished showcase. It’s a becoming. His own description promises: “4 mics. A guitar. A bass. A bass clarinet. Really good hair. Storytelling. An occasional yelp. A tear here or there. Pain. Lust. Rage. Love. A piano. Dance? Acting? Live music. Great hair. Talented Black people. A stage that is stairs. A bar. Chicken nuggets. 1 beret. Pair of loafers. A suuuper hott drummer. And blankets.”

We’re going to witness an artist in the beautiful, messy, brave process of finding his full voice. A 40-minute set being expanded into a 90-minute journey—and we get to be there for the first version.

This night is juicy for its creative courage. Witnessing someone become is one of the deepest forms of connection there is.

Ivan promised us chicken nuggets and a suuuper hott drummer.

Hosted by Ivan Cecil Walks 🍊

Get Your Ticket Here

Sunday — Gospel at Brooklyn Tabernacle + Yemeni Lunch

Experience · Brooklyn Tabernacle → Yemen Cafe · Sunday, 11 am

This Juicy hang is one of the most joyful experiences in NYC. We’re starting with coffee, then walking into Brooklyn Tabernacle together to witness one of the most celebrated gospel choirs in the world. Grammy-winning, technically stunning, and known for moving rooms full of strangers - regardless of what they believe.

You don’t need to be religious. You just need to be open.

This isn’t about doctrine. It’s about listening to something powerful, noticing what it stirs, and talking about it after with people who were in the room with you.

Then we eat.

Yemen Cafe is the kind of place where the table fills before you even order - soup, salad, warm bread, sauces. Generosity as a default setting. It’s the right place to land after a morning like this: grounded, communal, a little bit holy in its own way.

Come curious. Come kind. Come hungry — in more ways than one.

The flow:

11 am · Coffee meet-up
12 pm · Gospel service at Brooklyn Tabernacle
3 pm · Lunch + reflection at Yemen Cafe

This morning is juicy for its unexpected depth. The kind of experience that catches you off guard—you walk in skeptical and leave moved. A slow Sunday that might just rearrange something inside you.

A slow Sunday that might just rearrange something inside you.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP HERE

If any (or all) of these nights feel juicy to you, this isn’t just about choosing an event—it’s about choosing to show up together.

Inside the Juicy NYC app, the This Week tab is where you RSVP. Then we meet as a community, wander into rooms side by side, and end up in conversations and connections that deeply move us.

Juicy is a new way of moving through the city with intention, curiosity, and company.

New York is better when we show up together.

May all be juicy.
🍊 - Fedor

What does a Juicy week actually look like? Not the concept - the real thing.
I don’t think we can fight NYC loneliness epidemic with an app. But I do believe we can fight it with presence, with joy, with co-experience. The map is just the beginning - the community and the movement is where the change actually happens.

Last week, we lived it. Here’s what happened.

Monday: Producer Mondays at Nublu 151

The week began where every good Monday should: on Avenue C, climbing the stairs to Studio 151.

For the uninitiated, Nublu is a New York institution. Opened in 2002 by Swedish-Turkish saxophonist Ilhan Ersahin, it was designed as a clubhouse where friends could just play music together.

Upstairs, Studio 151 is the vinyl-and-cocktail bar that feels like someone’s impeccably curated living room. Behind the sushi counter sits Kamui Sumida, a chef and DJ who most nightlife experts call out as a must-visit. His omakase is an experience unto itself.

Three Juicy community members - sisters, as it turned out - joined the event for the first time.. They found us through TikTok, showed up with open hearts, and instantly brought their own magic. We ended up filming a little video together - introducing each other, sharing how they found Juicy, and laughing like we’d known each other forever. It felt like friendship at first sight.

Moments like that are why this exists. I hope you all get to meet them at future events

Meet Taylor.

Meet Sigourney

As it turned out, one of the sisters had never tried the sushi. So we started at the bar, watching Kamui work.

And just as the last roll hit the plate…

Ray Angry sat down next to us

If you don’t know the name: Ray Angry is a Grammy-nominated keyboardist, producer, and composer who’s toured with The Roots, played on The Tonight Show, and collaborated with everyone from D’Angelo to Esperanza Spalding. He created Producer Mondays eight years ago as an open-format jam session where legendary musicians and up-and-coming artists share the same stage, creating original music in the moment. No covers allowed. Just pure improvisation - what Ray calls “a portal” that channels the spirit of 1920s Harlem Renaissance jam sessions into something new.

He was just having dinner. But he recognized Juicy, and he sat with us. For thirty minutes, my guests got to thank him for his music, and he told us about the philosophy behind Producer Mondays - why Monday, why Nublu, why original music only.

Then we went downstairs to experience it ourselves.

The jam that night was everything: groovy, unique, incredibly alive. My “Juicy sisters” (I can’t help calling them that now) made friends with nearly every musician in the room - Jermaine the percussionist, Camau the drummer, the whole Council of Goldfinger. By the end of the night, we were the last to leave. Taylor, one of the sisters, sang a gospel song to Ray as a token of gratitude.

This is exactly what a perfect Juicy night looks like. Deeper connection than you’d have alone - because you came as part of something, and that something made you braver.

Tuesday: Parlor Social Club’s Rapid Fire Networking at Skinos

The vibe at Skinos Parlor Event

Different energy. A Parlor event at Skinos in the Financial District: structured conversations, five to ten minutes each, creative people pitching and connecting.

What surprised me was how often I didn’t need to explain Juicy. When I mentioned the map, people immediately started recommending places. When I explained what J.U.I.C.Y. stands for—Joyful, Unique, Intimate, Communal, You-Focused - something clicked. Phones came out. Accounts were created on the spot.

We’re now showing live member counts on the main screen. Every time someone shows up to an event, records a video testimonial, or brings a friend, they earn Juice to their profile - which unlocks access to limited-capacity experiences and other perks down the line.

The idea is simple: showing up is our currency. Let’s keep squeezing the juice together.

Join Events To Earn Juice!

Wednesday: Juicy Soul Discotheque at Ciao Ciao Disco

This was the one we’d been dreaming about.

Ciao Ciao Disco is a 1970s-inspired cocktail lounge and discoteca in Williamsburg, complete with a light-up dance floor that makes you feel like you’ve stepped into Saturday Night Fever—or better yet, the Soul Train set.

Our DJ that night was Smurfo, whose lineage runs deep: his grandmother was Terry Pollard (jazz pianist who collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie), and his father helped shape P-Funk. He’s also a graffiti artist, which is why the first hour wasn’t dancing at all - it was arts and crafts. Everyone came with creative ideas, sat at tables, drew, doodled, and exchanged inspiration.

Here is the vibe before we even started dancing

Then the music started. Then the dancing started.

The room was intimate, which meant strangers became dance partners instantly. We danced, we talked, we danced again. It felt like a private party we threw just for ourselves. I introduced Juicy members to each other. We’d dance together, then go talk, then dance again. People had dressed up. The lit floor glowed beneath us like something out of a dream.

This was the first attempt at what I’m calling the Juicy Soul Discotheque. It worked. So now it becomes a residency - a reliable place to come dance every Wednesday. We’re bringing back the Dance Line. We are developing new Juicy Moves that everyone can learn before the party starts: “Juicy Slide”, “Squeeze The Juicy Papa”, “Down With The Juicy Simpleton”, “Creative Juices Flowing”..

Social dancing used to mean something. We’re bringing it back.

Join Juicy Soul Discotheque 2

Thursday: WonderWheel

A quieter night. A storytelling game called WonderWheel - one of those magical tools that actually does what it promises.

The game works like this: you tell a story, and you map the emotions. Not just “happy” or “sad” - you track the journey, the turns, the moments when feeling shifts. Someone in the community called it an “empathy machine,” and I can’t improve on that description.

We left that night feeling genuinely close. Something about unpacking your real feelings in a structured, playful way creates a bond that small talk never could.

Hear it from Pirlo, one of our community members

Saturday: Dada Strain at the Secret Greenpoint Loft

The week ended with something truly special.

Dada Strain is a project run by Piotr Orlov, a music journalist who’s written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and The Village Voice, and served as senior editor at NPR Music and editorial director at MTV. For years, he’s been curating events around what he calls “Rhythm, Improvisation, and Community”—the idea that free jazz is dance music, that drum machines are tools of improvisation, and that audiences gathered around such sounds create temporary autonomous communities.

His events take place at Light & Sound Design Studio, a private Greenpoint loft with a vintage four-point Klipsch sound system, comfortable seating, and a rooftop. The address is only shared after you RSVP. No phones allowed. No talking during sets. You sit under blankets in a beautifully lit space and just... listen.

Saturday’s concert featured improvisational sets from extraordinary artists, the kind of thing you can only experience in a room of forty or fifty people who came specifically to pay attention. The last set was dancing, which felt earned after all that focused listening.

It was intimate. It was unique. It was exactly the kind of experience that makes New York magical.

Why We Do This

Here’s what I want you to understand: the real power of Juicy isn’t just the map, or the juicy ratings, or even the recommendations.

It’s going together.

When you show up to a Juicy event, you’re immediately surrounded by people who are looking for the same thing you are. You don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to prove you belong. The only requirement is showing up.

The loneliness epidemic is real. I see it everywhere. But in the Juicy world, it doesn’t have to be that way.

I’ll be at every event I can. I want to meet you, see you, appreciate you, get inspired by you, co-create with you. I want to hear your life story. I want to have fun.

The next week’s events are already listed in the app. RSVP. Show up. Get Juice to your profile. And let’s build this thing together.

Because showing up is our currency.

May all be juicy.
🍊 - Fedor

See what's happening this week

Create your Juicy profile, earn Juice, and become part of the movement.

Juicy NYC is map curated by artists and a community for connection-worthy experiences. We host IRL adventures, earn Juice Karma together, and create meaningful co-experiences across the city. This is our weekly recap. 🍊

Explore the Juicy NYC map at juicy-nyc.com

This week, we’re launching three new Juicy formats.

A morning of Grammy-winning gospel followed by the most generous lunch in Brooklyn. Our first movie salon — watching Marty Supreme together, then unpacking it as creators. And the debut of Juicy Soul Discotheque: social dancing the way it used to be, complete with a Dance Line.

Plus WonderWheel returns for those who want to go deep.

Four very different doors into the same thing: showing up, being present, and remembering what it feels like to connect.

Here’s what’s happening.

Sunday — Gospel at Brooklyn Tabernacle + Yemeni Lunch

Experience · Brooklyn Tabernacle → Yemen Cafe · Sunday, 11 am

This Juicy hang is one of the most joyful experiences in NYC. We’re starting with coffee, then walking into Brooklyn Tabernacle together to witness one of the most celebrated gospel choirs in the world. Grammy-winning, technically stunning, and known for moving rooms full of strangers - regardless of what they believe.

You don’t need to be religious. You just need to be open.

This isn’t about doctrine. It’s about listening to something powerful, noticing what it stirs, and talking about it after with people who were in the room with you.

Then we eat.

Yemen Cafe is the kind of place where the table fills before you even order - soup, salad, warm bread, sauces. Generosity as a default setting. It’s the right place to land after a morning like this: grounded, communal, a little bit holy in its own way.

Come curious. Come kind. Come hungry — in more ways than one.

The flow: ☕ Coffee meet-up ~11am 🎶 Gospel service at Brooklyn Tabernacle 🍲 Lunch + reflection at Yemen Cafe

This morning is juicy for its unexpected depth. It’s the kind of experience that catches you off guard - you walk in skeptical and leave moved. The combination of world-class music, communal presence, and a meal built on generosity creates something hard to find anywhere else.

A slow Sunday that might just rearrange something inside you.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP HERE

Tuesday — After the Credits: Marty Supreme

Movie Salon · Village East by Angelika → Citizen M · Tuesday, 7 pm

This is the first edition of a new Juicy format: After the Credits.

We watch a film together. Then we gather somewhere juicy nearby to unpack it - not as critics, but as creators. What did we notice? What moved us? What are we stealing for our own work?

The movie is the prompt. The conversation is the point.

Why Marty Supreme?

This film is a case study in creative ambition - on screen and off. Timothée Chalamet posted an 18-minute fake Zoom with A24’s marketing team, pitching increasingly unhinged ideas: an orange blimp, Wheaties boxes, painting Statue Of Liberty orange... Some of it actually happened. He became the first person to stand on top of the Sphere — transformed into a giant orange ping pong ball.

And then there’s Tyler, the Creator, making his feature film debut. “I love jumping head first into something new. Not being good, not being bad — just raw newness.”

This is a film made by people who believe in going all the way. We’re going to watch it, then talk about what that means for the things we’re making.

The flow: 🎬 Meet in the lobby at 6:45pm 🍿 Watch Marty Supreme together (buy your own ticket) 💬 Walk to Citizen M for the creative salon 🎲 Optional: WonderWheel if the room wants it

This night is juicy for its creative metabolism. Most of us leave theaters buzzing with thoughts and no one to share them with. This is the antidote — a room of people who want to turn watching into making.

The movie ends. The real thing begins.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP RIGHT HERE

Wednesday — Juicy Soul Discotheque #1

Dancing · Ciao Ciao Disco · Wednesday, 8 pm

This is a return to what dancing used to be.

A dance party where strangers become dance partners, where dressing up is part of the fun, where you leave lighter than you came in.

We’re launching Juicy Soul Discotheque — a night of funk, soul, disco, and house with DJ Smurfo, whose musical lineage runs deep. His grandmother was Terry Pollard, a jazz legend who played with Miles Davis and Coltrane. His father helped shape the P-Funk sound out of Detroit. Smurfo grew up with that music in the house as a way of life.

The flow: 8pm · The Warm-Up - conversation with Smurfo, drawing, games, $10 espresso martinis 9pm · Social Dancing & Moves Exchange - we teach each other 10pm · The Dance Line - two lines, you dance down the middle, pure joy 10:30pm · Open Floor - the party keeps going

This night is juicy for its communal release. The Dance Line is the kind of thing people used to do - social dancing where everyone participates, everyone cheers, and the room becomes one organism moving together. We’re bringing it back.

Put on your dancing shoes. Come ready to move.

Hosted by Juicy NYC, Dj Smurfo, and Ciao Ciao Disco 🍊

RSVP FREE HERE

Friday — WonderWheel at CitizenM

Storytelling Game · CitizenM· Friday, 6 pm

WonderWheel is a storytelling game designed to invite emotional exploration through play.

We take turns telling true stories and guessing the unspoken emotions behind them - a practice that taps into one of the oldest human rituals: sharing stories to connect, reflect, and learn about one another.

Think of it as a cozy, curious night of listening and being listened to.

WonderWheel is juicy for its radical commitment to presence. In a culture of performance, it creates space for vulnerability, empathy, and the kind of laughter that comes from genuine recognition. It’s a powerful reminder that everyone has a story worth hearing.

A playful, profound evening that feels like a shortcut to the human heart.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP WITH HEART

If any (or all) of these nights feel juicy to you, this isn’t just about choosing an event - it’s about choosing to show up together.

Inside the Juicy NYC app, the This Week tab is where you RSVP. Then we meet as a community, wander into rooms side by side, and end up in conversations and connections that deeply move us.

Juicy is a new way of moving through the city with intention, curiosity, and company.

New York is better when we show up together.

May all be juicy.
🍊 - Fedor

There are weeks in New York that feel scheduled.
And then there are weeks that feel alive.

This is one of those weeks.

From a Monday ritual that’s become the most-saved experience on the Juicy NYC map, to a rare birthday gathering for one of the city’s most boundary-pushing musicians, to a night of storytelling and emotional play - this is a week about showing up, listening deeply, and remembering why we live here.

Here’s what’s happening.

Monday — Producer Mondays at Nublu

Live Music · Nublu · Monday, 10 pm

This is the most-saved experience on the entire Juicy NYC map — and for good reason.

Producer Mondays is one of those New York nights that feels improvised, communal, and joyfully chaotic in the best way: rotating musicians, surprise guests, grooves that take over your whole body, and a crowd that actually listens.

We’ll meet at Nublu, listen to truly world-class live music, get to know each other, and see why this Monday ritual has become a Juicy community favorite.

If you want a magical, musical Monday with good humans — come with us.

Producer Mondays is juicy for its raw, unfiltered Community. It’s a weekly pilgrimage for music lovers, a space where connection is forged not through conversation, but through the shared experience of witnessing spontaneous creation. It’s a reminder that the most profound bonds are often built in moments of collective awe.

A night of musical alchemy that feels like being let in on the city’s best secret.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP HERE

Wednesday — King Klavé’s Birthday at Dead Letter No. 9

Live Music · Dead Letter Number Nine · Wednesday, 8 pm

This is the heart of the week.

On Wednesday, we’re gathering at the juiciest Dead Letter No. 9 to celebrate King Klavé turning 39.

King Klavé is a drummer, composer, and producer whose music lives somewhere between Afro-Cuban tradition, jazz, hip-hop, and the future. His debut album was named NPR Staff Picks Album of the Year, and his live shows feel less like performances and more like shared moments of attention.

The show is free. Everyone’s welcome.

Expect an intimate live set, a listening session, and the kind of energy that only happens when people come for the music — not the hype. Later, the night spills into a secret after party for vinyl holders, but the heart of it is simple: being together, listening deeply, and feeling New York again.

There are 39 hand-numbered vinyls available for those who want to support the artist and take a piece of the night home — but you don’t need to buy anything to be here. Come solo. Bring friends. Stay as long as it feels good.

This night is juicy for its profound Intimacy. In a city of spectacle, it’s a quiet act of rebellion. The focus is on the artist and the art, creating a shared experience that feels personal and deeply respectful.

It’s a space that invites you to listen, not just hear, and to connect with the people who are listening alongside you.

Less a show, more a shared moment of admiration — for the music, the space, and the artists gathered together.

Hosted by Juicy NYC 🍊

RSVP HERE

Thursday — WonderWheel at The Chai Spot

Community Gathering · The Chai Spot · Thursday, 7 pm

WonderWheel is a storytelling game designed to invite emotional exploration through play.

We’ll take turns telling true stories and guessing the unspoken emotions behind them — a practice that taps into one of the oldest human rituals: sharing stories to connect, reflect, and learn about one another.

Think of it as a cozy, curious night of listening and being listened to.

Chai Spot provides the perfect warm, safe container. Surrounded by the scent of spices, you’ll expand your emotional vocabulary and learn about others in a way that feels both profound and playful.

WonderWheel is juicy for its radical commitment to Connection. It’s a game where the only goal is to understand and be understood. In a culture of performance, it creates a space for vulnerability, empathy, and the kind of laughter that comes from genuine recognition. It’s a powerful reminder that everyone has a story worth hearing.

A playful, profound evening that feels like a shortcut to the human heart.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP HERE

Friday — Juicy Hang #9 at Public Records

Dancing · Public Records · Friday, 11 pm

Public Records might be the most intentional, beautifully designed venue in NYC. Part listening room, part plant-filled sanctuary, part dance temple, it’s a space that immediately signals that you are somewhere special. Every detail is considered, from the world-class sound system to the menu. It attracts a crowd that cares deeply about sound, community, and aesthetics.

This Friday, we are exploring it together. A Juicy Hang for the community to gather, listen deeply, and experience the space. It’s a night to celebrate the end of the week with pristine sound and good company.

Public Records is juicy for its singular Uniqueness. It’s a space that proves that intentional design can nurture connection. The environment itself is a conversation starter, encouraging a more present, mindful way of being together. It’s a venue that respects both the music and the listener, creating a perfect harmony of sound, space, and community.

A sonic sanctuary where the space itself is as beautiful as the music.

Hosted by Fedor 🍊

RSVP HERE

If any (or all) of these nights feel juicy to you, this isn’t just about choosing an event - it’s about choosing to show up together.

Inside the Juicy NYC app, the This Week tab is where you RSVP. Then we will meet as a community, wander into rooms side by side, and sometimes end up backstage - talking with artists, hosts, and each other.

This isn’t a calendar.
It’s a way of moving through the city with intention, curiosity, and company.
New York is better when we show up together.

May all be juicy. 🍊
– Fedor

The Juicy Times started as a list I kept for myself — places where I felt more alive, corners of the city that invited real connection.

Then I started sharing it with friends. They shared it with theirs. And slowly, something started to form.

Not just an audience, but a collective.

If you’ve been reading along, you’re already part of this. And if The Juicy Times has helped you discover a new spot, plan a better date, or just feel a little less alone in this giant city - I have a small ask:

Send it to one person who might feel the same way.

That’s it. One friend. One text. One “I think you’d like this.”

Use your personal referral link below (or hit “Share” on any post). When friends subscribe through your link, you get credit — and some thank-yous from me:

How to participate

1. Share The Juicy Times. When you use the referral link below, or the “Share” button on any post, you'll get credit for any new subscribers. Simply send the link in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends.

Refer a friend

2. Earn benefits. When more friends use your referral link to subscribe, you’ll receive special benefits.

• Get A 1:1 Juicy Hang With Fedor for 5 referrals

• Get Backstage To Juicy Artist Show for 10 referrals

• Get A Free Juicy Dinner + Show for 25 referrals

Visit the leaderboard

This isn’t about growth for growth’s sake.

It’s about finding the people who get it - who moved here looking for something too. The city gets better when we explore it together.

May all be juicy. 🍊
– Fedor

Artwork by Dig Ferreira - read Dig’s Juicy Artist’s profile here

Every week, we add new places that NYC artists point us to — then we grab the JuicyMeter, go experience them firsthand, and decide together if they belong on the map.

This week’s new additions all live in that zone where sound, ritual, and community overlap: two dance temples, a listening room, a tea house that doubles as a peace project, and a jazz club that feels like its own tiny village.

If you’re already inside the Juicy NYC app, you can log in, tap the heart on any of these, and they’ll land straight in your wishlist. Then send your wishlist link to a friend or a date and let them pick where you go next.

Here’s what just got added.

Silence Please — A Listening Room for Work, Rest & Wonder

Category: With Laptop • Juiciness: 3.94 🍊

Silence Please is a rare hybrid in NYC’s overstimulated landscape: a space that honors both productivity and presence, silence and sound, work and meditative rest.

By day, it’s an intimate café and listening room on the Bowery. On select evenings, it becomes a sanctuary for ambient techno, modular synth performances, and mindful listening sessions. Many events are free, and the focus is on exploration over spectacle.

The small capacity means you’re close enough to feel the vibrations of the modular synth and make eye contact with the artist. The crowd tends to be grounded — musicians, meditators, night-shift creatives, and regulars who treat the space like a ritual. Handmade speakers double as sculpture, reinforcing that you’re in a room built around deep listening.

Why it’s on the Juicy NYC Map: Silence Please proves that intimacy comes from attention, not volume — a rare place in New York where your nervous system can actually exhale.

Best for: solo work days that end in a show, quiet hangs, dates who love sound design and tea.Signal — A Nightclub Built for Listening

Where: 132 Bowery, New York, NY 10013

Signal — A Nightclub Built for Listening

Category: Dancing • Juiciness: 3.90 🍊

Signal is Brooklyn’s answer to the question: what if a nightclub was designed entirely around listening? Opened in May 2025 in East Williamsburg, it’s a compact room with a floating wood floor, skylights, and sculptural walls — all tuned to shape the sound.

Three different high-end sound systems (including d&b Audiotechnik, Genelec and Neptune Audio rigs) let the programming move across the full spectrum of dance music. A refined food and drink program by chef Josh Cohen and mixologist Sean Struss turns the night into a full sensory arc: Spanish tapas, natural wines, zero-proof cocktails, and an outdoor garden to breathe between sets.

Why it’s on the Juicy NYC Map: Signal puts listening and real presence back at the center of nightlife — an intimate, listening-first club where minimal grooves meet real human connection.

Best for: deep listeners, date nights where you actually care about the sound, small group adventures.

Where: 175 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237

The Chai Spot — A Peace Project in the Shape of a Tea Lounge

Category: With Laptop • Juiciness: 3.68 🍊

The Chai Spot is a magical tea lounge that transforms the simple act of drinking chai into a warm, cozy ritual. Tucked into Little Italy, it serves Pakistani chai varieties rarely found elsewhere, each brewed with care and layered spice.

The décor feels like stepping into a friend’s living room: low tables or floor seating, rugs and cushions instead of rows of chairs, tapestries, colors, board games and handmade goods. It’s explicitly laptop-friendly, so it becomes a peaceful refuge for reading, writing, or one-on-one conversations that stretch longer than planned.

Fifty percent of profits support women and children in Pakistan, and the café itself was born from an unlikely love story between co-founders Khalida Brohi and David Barron — the space is literally a peace-building project in disguise.

Why it’s on the Juicy NYC Map: The Chai Spot blends cultural authenticity, social purpose, and intimate hospitality into one deeply comforting room where warmth — emotional, communal, and literal — opens people up.

Best for: slow afternoons, heart-opening conversations, gentle first hangs.

Where: 156 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

Refuge — A Love Letter to NYC’s Dance Era

Category: Dancing • Juiciness: 3.80 🍊

Refuge is a love letter to New York’s legendary dance music era, created by nightlife veterans who finally found the perfect room to revive the spirit of Paradise Garage and Sound Factory.

This 500-capacity space refuses to compromise: a custom REX sound system designed before the architecture, a floating maple dancefloor that returns energy with every step, and a no-phones culture that restores the sanctity of presence.

Inside, the energy is unmistakably communal — professional dancers, nightlife lifers, and curious newcomers all melting into the same joyful pulse.

Why it’s on the Juicy NYC Map: Refuge is where multiple generations gather to remember what NYC clubbing was always meant to be: a weekly ritual where the sound literally lifts you up and the crowd is the star of the show.

Best for: all-night dancing, music nerds, people who miss “how NYC used to feel.”

Where: 360 Ten Eyck St, Brooklyn, NY 11221

Ornithology Jazz Club — Bushwick’s Bohemian Living Room

Category: Experiences (Jazz Club) • Juiciness: 3.66 🍊

Ornithology Jazz Club is a bohemian jazz haven in Bushwick, where live music unfolds in a room full of mismatched furniture and a Bechstein grand piano.

Founded by Mitch Borden — the man behind legendary New York clubs Smalls and Fat Cat — it’s one of the rare spaces where jazz still feels spontaneous and community-rooted rather than exclusive. Persian rugs line the floor, the owner’s teacup poodle Winnie wanders the room, and the bartenders’ own art shares wall space with portraits of jazz legends.

Next door, Café Ornithology adds vegan Mediterranean food, natural wines, and a library of jazz records, turning the corner into a miniature cultural ecosystem that feels like a hidden village.

Why it’s on the Juicy NYC Map: Ornithology strips jazz of pretense and restores it as a communal ceremony — proof that real magic happens when a room genuinely invites everyone in.

Best for: late-night jazz, cinematic dates, and anyone who wants to remember why live music still matters.

How to Play With These New Spots

If any of these places caught your eye, here’s your little mission for the week:

1. Log into Juicy NYC at juicy-nyc.com.

2. Find these spots on the map and tap the heart to add them to your wishlist.

3. Go to your Wishlist tab and copy your personal link.

4. Send it to a friend, date, or group chat and say:

“Pick one of these for our next adventure?”

Suddenly the plan isn’t “What do you want to do?” It’s “Which Juicy place are we claiming together?”

The more you use your wishlist, the more we can see which places are truly working for real humans — and keep tuning the map.

If you visit any of these, I’d love to know what your night felt like. Hit reply, comment, or DM and tell me:

• Did the JuicyMeter feel accurate?

• Was there a moment of real connection?

• Anything we should update?

We’re building this together.

Create Your Juicy Wishlist

May all be juicy. 🍊
– Fedor

“Freshly Juiced” is The Juicy Times’ weekly dispatch from the Juicy NYC Map — a living, artist-curated guide to New York’s most connection-worthy places. Every issue highlights new spots we’ve added to the map and how they score on the JuicyMeter (Joyful • Unique • Intimate • Communal • You-Focused).

If you love any of the places in this issue — or you’re curious to try them — log into juicy-nyc.com, add them to your wishlist, and share your link with a friend or a date so you can pick your next adventure together. If there’s a Juicy place you think we’re missing, hit reply or DM us with your nomination and we’ll go check it out.

You help shape the map every time you share, suggest a spot, or send your wishlist to someone you want to know better.

There’s a Brazilian artist in Brooklyn who paints with his mouth.

In 2016, after years of grinding in São Paulo’s architecture scene and losing his mother, Dig Ferreira found himself creatively numb. When he tried to draw, his hand wouldn’t cooperate. So he tried his left hand. Then his feet. Then, intuitively, his mouth.

What started as a desperate experiment to reconnect with art became his signature: Doc-Drawing — a performative drawing technique that uses a Japanese sumi brush and ink held between his teeth, capturing moments in real time as both witness and participant.

Since then, Dig has taken this practice from São Paulo’s streets to protests, festivals, exhibitions, and live events across Brazil, the U.S., and beyond, creating large-scale artworks that document the world as it unfolds.

But Doc-Drawing is just one of four pillars holding up Dig’s world. This is what a juicy Artist looks like — and we’re inviting you to dive in.

The Four Pillars of Dig Ferreira’s World

Most artists are told to pick a lane. Dig built a highway system.
His work lives inside four core pillars:

• Doc-Drawing – mouth-held brush and real-time painting from life

• Forging Armors – wearable armor made from second-hand clothes

• Shakuhachi – a traditional Japanese bamboo flute

• Dance – something Dig has been doing since age 10

Together, they weave memory, ritual, body, and transformation into a single, coherent universe.

Pillar 1: Doc-Drawing — The Living Archive

Doc-Drawing emerged in a time of need. After years of not creating freely — and then losing his mother — Dig hit a wall. He challenged himself to resume a daily drawing practice. It was almost impossibly hard, which pushed him to experiment with other parts of the body: his left hand, his feet, and finally, his mouth.

The technique is simple and radical:

• A Japanese sumi brush dipped in ink

• Held between his teeth

• Moving across large paper as life happens in front of him: concerts, protests, parties, street scenes

No sketching first. No correcting after. The body becomes the camera. The mouth becomes the lens. After about five months of exploration, mouth-painting became a symbol of his artistic freedom — a promise to never abandon art again.

For your own creative life: When your usual tools fail, your body knows other paths. The “limitation” is often the doorway to your true language.

Pillar 2: Forging Armors — Identity as Wearable Ritual

In Forging Armors, Dig transforms second-hand clothing into wearable art. The pieces act as armors — symbolic, poetic, and functional — reflecting the body’s resilience and the power of color as a healing force.

He takes thrifted clothes and reconstructs them into garments that protect, transform, and announce. Not costumes — armors for bodies that need to move through the world differently.

What began as a personal ritual is now a communal practice, inviting participants to reflect on fashion, consumption, and self-image — and to literally wear a new version of themselves.

For your own creative life: Your tools, your aesthetics, your “look” aren’t decoration — they’re strategy. Build armor that helps you become who you need to be.

Pillar 3: Shakuhachi — Breath as Ancestor

Dig’s connection to the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute, adds a meditative and ancestral layer to his work. As a disciple of Sensei Akio Yamaoka (Nishakukai do Brazil), he studies honkyoku pieces on both 1.8 and 2.0 flutes, integrating breath, silence, and discipline into his broader practice.

The shakuhachi is not a performance instrument in the Western sense. It’s a tool for meditation through breath. The player doesn’t entertain — they become present.

For Dig, this practice roots his high-energy, performative work in stillness. The mouth that holds the brush also holds the flute. The same body that dances also sits in silence.

For your own creative life: You need both fire and stillness. The slow, disciplined practice is what makes your wildest work sustainable.

Pillar 4: Dance — The Body as Medicine

Art has been central to Dig’s life since childhood. Influenced by cousins who were professional hip-hop and street dancers, he immersed himself in dance from a young age. Performing with his family’s dance company in some of Brasília’s most important theaters, he learned how movement can hold story, emotion, and community all at once.

Dance, present in his life since age 10, is the root system beneath everything else. Movement is ritual and medicine — a way to purify, liberate, and connect. He often carries this into his performances and artistic processes: the brushstroke has choreography; the armor has choreography.

For your own creative life: Your first language — the thing you did before you knew it was “art” — is probably your skeleton key. Return to it when you’re lost.

The Journey: From Brasília to Brooklyn, Via São Paulo

Dig was born in Planaltina-DF, near Brasília, in a childhood rich in love and family support, even if the local scene offered few artistic opportunities. At 18, he moved to São Paulo to attend university, and the shift to a large metropolis expanded his view of what was possible. He studied Interior Design at Centro Universitário Belas Artes and finished his degree at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED).

From early on, he worked in architecture and design, rising quickly through top firms and eventually founding his own studio, EPICENTRO, where he created residential, commercial, and scenographic projects.

On paper, it looked like success. In reality, years of an exhausting routine in São Paulo slowly suffocated his free creative expression and eroded his sense of self.

Then his mother died.
And the brush found his mouth.

Today, Dig lives in Brooklyn, New York, continuing to expand and integrate these four pillars into a single evolving practice.

The Integration: Why Four Pillars Work Better Than One

What makes Dig’s work a world instead of a portfolio?

1. Each pillar feeds the others.

Shakuhachi discipline brings focus to the spontaneity of Doc-Drawing. Dance makes his body-based art utterly believable. Armor-making gives his visual world a three-dimensional, wearable form.

2. They share the same core question:

How do we document, protect, and transform the body’s experience of being alive?

• Doc-Drawing documents moments.

• Forging Armors protects and transforms identity.

• Shakuhachi connects breath to ancestors.

• Dance liberates emotion into space.

3. They’re all rituals, not products.

Together, these four pillars form a language of presence, resistance, and poetic documentation — a living archive of life itself. Dig isn’t just selling art objects. He’s inviting people into a worldview where art is survival, testimony, and transformation.

The Authenticity Principle: What We Can Learn From Dig’s World

If you met Dig at a party and asked, “So what do you do?”, what would he say?

“I’m a mouth-painting, armor-forging, flute-playing, dancing multidisciplinary artist from Brazil living in Brooklyn”?

Most career advisors would tell him to simplify. Pick one thing. Build a brand.

But authenticity isn’t simplification — it’s integration.

Dig’s world works because of the four pillars, not in spite of them. Remove one, and the structure collapses.

Here’s a rough integration framework emerging from his story:

1. Follow the body when the mind freezes.
   When his hand wouldn’t draw, his mouth did. Trust the body’s alternative routes.

2. Turn personal rituals into public practice.
   Forging Armors started as self-protection. Now it’s a shared ritual for reimagining identity.

3. Let disciplines cross-pollinate.
   Interior design shows up in spatial awareness during live drawing. Dance shows up in gesture. Shakuhachi breath work shows up in performance endurance.

4. Document the journey as the work.
   Doc-Drawing literally means “documentary drawing.” The archive is the art.

5. Refuse to choose between spiritual depth and practical craft.
   He studies traditional Japanese flute meditation and sells wearable art and performs at festivals. It’s not either-or.

The Call: What Dig’s World Asks of Ours

Dig Ferreira’s world quietly poses a question:

What are we still refusing to integrate?

• What “weird hobby” are you keeping separate from your “real work”?

• What skill you learned as a kid have you abandoned as an adult?

• What ritual do you do alone that you’re afraid to bring into public?

Dig took mouth-painting — a desperate experiment in a dark moment — and turned it into his signature. He took thrift-store hunting and turned it into Forging Armors. He took childhood dance and made it the foundation of everything.

Authenticity isn’t about finding your “one thing.”
It’s about building the structure that lets all your things work together.

That’s what makes a world instead of a project.
That’s what makes an artist we were born to be.

May all be juicy 🍊
– Fedor

Where to Find Dig’s Worlds

• Website: dig-ferreira.com

• Instagram: @digferreira

• Doc-Drawing Events: @doc_drawing_events

• Shop: shop.dig-ferreira.com

Currently based in Brooklyn, New York.
Available for live drawing events, commissions, collaborations, wearable art, and performances.

This piece is part of The Juicy Times “Juicy Artists to Watch” series — portraits of New York City artists who embody one of the five Juicymeter qualities:

Joyful • Unique • Intimate • Communal • You-Focused.

Join Juicy NYC

If you know an artist — or you are one — who feels Juicy in this way, reach out to us on Substack or on Instagram and join the movement.

My friend, a chef who knows the NYC restaurant scene inside and out, said it casually over coffee:

“Thai Diner is the best restaurant in the city right now.”

I couldn’t believe it. A diner?
In a city of tasting menus and Michelin stars, a diner was the best?

But I trust my friend. So on a Wednesday afternoon around 3 pm, I walked into Thai Diner alone, not knowing what to expect.

I left two hours later feeling sparkly — and definitely more connected.

The Space: Golden Light and Warm Energy

The first thing you notice is the light.

It’s a corner spot in Nolita, and the golden afternoon sun streams through the windows, catching the bamboo-woven walls and making the whole place glow. It feels less like a restaurant and more like a warm little island in the middle of the city.

I walked right in, no reservation, and grabbed a seat at the bar. The energy was calm but buzzing — a mix of late lunches, solo diners like me, and friends catching up. Busy, but not chaotic.

It felt… happy.

The Experience: Sharing Dessert With Strangers

From the bar, you can see everything.

The team moves like a small, perfectly choreographed ballet. Service is top-notch but completely unpretentious. They help you navigate the menu, crack little jokes, and my water glass was never empty.

I felt taken care of, like a regular on my first visit.

This is the magic of Thai Diner: it has the soul of a Michelin-starred restaurant (it’s from the team behind the legendary Uncle Boons) but the heart of a neighborhood diner where everyone feels welcome.

And then something I didn’t expect happened.

I started chatting with the people next to me at the bar. First about the food, then about life, then about other places we loved in the city. When my dessert arrived - a massive coconut sundae - it felt wrong not to share.

I ended up passing spoons down the bar, sharing dessert with five strangers who, for a moment, felt like old friends.

We were just a group of humans bonding over a shared moment of joy.

That’s Juicy.

The Food: Three Dishes That Tell a Story

I ordered three things that called to me, and each one told a little story.

Chicken Liver Mee Krob: this dish arrived looking more festive than a birthday cake — a beautiful, towering nest of crispy rice noodles piled high with rich, velvety chicken liver mousse and fresh herbs, with warm roti on the side.

It’s playful and serious at the same time. A mix of textures and flavors that feels both comforting and completely new.

Stuffed Cabbage Tom Khaa: as someone with Eastern European roots, cabbage rolls are a taste of home. But this was something else entirely.

The familiar shape was there, but the filling was a fragrant mix of turkey and mushroom. Instead of a heavy tomato sauce, the cabbage was swimming in a bright, limey coconut milk broth with galangal and basil.

It felt like two grandmothers from different continents collaborated on a dish and absolutely nailed it.

Coconut Sundae: This is the dessert that brought a whole bar together.

A mountain of coconut gelato buried under a cloud of palm sugar whipped cream and a shower of candied peanuts. The flavor that lingers is the burnt caramel — a deep, complex sweetness that’s hard to forget.

🍊The JuicyMeter Breakdown

Here’s how Thai Diner stacks up on the JuicyMeter — my way of rating experiences based on connection quality:

J (Joyful)
From the golden glow of the room to the playful food and communal energy, this place is pure joy. I left lighter and happier than when I walked in.

U (Unique)
The blend of Thai flavors with American diner culture is one-of-a-kind. Dishes like the Chicken Liver Mee Krob don’t feel like anything else in the city.

I (Intimate)
Even when it’s busy, the acoustics are kind. You can actually talk. Bar seating is perfect for solo diners or couples who want to feel part of the room without being swallowed by it.

C (Communal)
I shared dessert with five strangers. Enough said. The space is designed in a way that quietly encourages connection.

Y (You-Focused)
The service is attentive without being stuffy. They guide you through the menu, anticipate what you need, and make you feel seen.

Overall JuicyMeter Score: 3.64 🍊 Badges: 🗽 Uniquely NYC (For context: anything above ~3.5 on our internal scale is very, very Juicy.)

Practical Guide: When to Go, What to Order

Best For:

• Solo dining at the bar

• A first date that feels special but not stiff

• A joyful catch-up with a friend

When to Go:
Weekday afternoons (like 3 pm on a Wednesday) are perfect for walking in without a reservation. Evenings and weekends are perpetually crowded, so plan ahead or be ready to wait.

What to Order:

• Chicken Liver Mee Krob

• Stuffed Cabbage Tom Kha(a)

• Coconut Sundae

• Thai Iced Tea

Locals also rave about the Thai tea French toast and lobster omelet — they’re on my list for next time.

Price Point:
Not cheap, but incredible value for the quality of food, service, and experience. Expect to spend $50–75 per person depending on how wild you go.

The Reflection

I walked out of Thai Diner feeling sparkly.

The golden glow of the restaurant felt like it had moved inside my body. It was a reminder that the best experiences aren’t always the most exclusive or the hardest to book.

Sometimes they’re found in a corner diner in Nolita, where the food is made with love, the service is genuine, and a bar full of strangers can become friends over a shared dessert.

My chef friend was right:
Thai Diner is one of the brightest experiences in the city right now.

May all be juicy 🍊
— Fedor

Explore More Juicy Spots

“Juicy Review” is The Juicy Times’ weekly dispatch from the Juicy NYC Map - a living, artist-curated guide to New York’s most connection-worthy places. Every issue highlights new spots we’ve added to the map and how they score on the JuicyMeter (Joyful • Unique • Intimate • Communal • You-Focused).

If you love the places in this issue - or you’re curious to try it - log into juicy-nyc.com, add it to your wishlist, and share your link with a friend or a date so you can pick your next adventure together. If there’s a Juicy place you think we’re missing, hit reply or DM us with your nomination and we’ll go check it out.

You help shape the map every time you share, suggest a spot, or send your wishlist to someone you want to know better.

I moved to New York to build a theatre company… and stayed for the people

In a wild twist while living in Boston, I got an unexpected invitation to compose music for a Harvard A.R.T. theater students’ graduation show – as both composer and live DJ on stage. We clicked instantly, became friends, and decided to launch a theatre company and move to New York City.

From day one, I knew NYC’s real gold was its people: the most diverse, driven, wildly creative crowd on earth. I was suddenly surrounded by humans who were building things, making art, staying up too late for the right reasons.

And as I was mapping out the city, I noticed something simple and consistent: it was fellow artists who kept sending me to the places that blew my mind, over and over again.

That’s when I realized what kind of map I was really building – first for myself, then for my friends, and now for anyone who’s curious:

A map of connection-worthy places. Places that made the little cells of my body radiate joy when I was there.

Why traditional guides weren’t cutting it

Google reviews don’t tell you if you’ll have a conversation with a stranger. Yelp doesn’t rate whether the lighting makes you want to stay for three more hours. Instagram shows you what a place looks like - not what it feels like.

So I started keeping a list:

I started asking artists – musicians, DJs, painters, chefs – where they went. The places they actually loved when they weren’t performing for anyone.

And I noticed a pattern.

The five qualities of a Juicy place

The best places shared five qualities. I started calling them JUICY:

J — Joyful
Does it ignite delight? Do you walk out lighter, grinning, maybe a touch more enchanted with the world?

U — Unique
Is it one-of-a-kind? Could this place only exist in New York?

I — Intimate
Can you hear each other, truly? Soft lighting, hushed tunes, a layout that whispers “lean in and connect”?

C — Communal
Do strangers become friends here? Is there something that brings people together — a shared table, a dance floor, a ritual (or yes, even an app that nudges you toward meeting someone new)?

Y — You-Focused
Is it built for your humanity, not just the bottom line? Those thoughtful touches that make you feel truly seen?

This is the lens we use to rate every spot on the Juicy NYC map we’re building together.

Not by how good the food is (though that matters).
Not by how cool it looks (though that helps).
But by how likely you are to leave feeling more connected than when you walked in.

What You'll Get from The Juicy Times

The Juicy Times is a weekly guide to these places.

Every week, I’ll share:

• New spots vetted by our crew and artists, ready for your adventures

• Artist guides – NYC through the eyes of the people who shape its culture

• Invites to Juicy Hangs – small, intimate experiences in Juicy venues

And sometimes, I’ll write about why any of this matters: about loneliness in the big city and building a real community; about what it means to build a creative life in a city that doesn’t let you stop for a second; about how the spaces we choose slowly shape the person we become. You can find all of it here: juicy-times.com

The Juicy Times

NYC's most connection-worthy places, curated by artists. Your guide to a more Joyful, Unique, Intimate, Communal, and You-focused city.

By The Juicy Times NYC

If you’re here, you probably get it.

You moved to New York looking for something too.

Let’s find it together.

May all be juicy 🍊
— Fedor

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Explore The Juicy Map