this is how new yorkers welcome a traveler to the city!

two months ago i made a commitment to facebook friend michele persiak that i would fly into new york just to take her to lunch at her favorite restaurant laconda verde.  why?  because michele had been experiencing a period of anxiety attacks and agoraphobia that made it impossible to leave her staten island home.  what was a place that would motivate her to walk around the block, take the bus a few stops, go to the store, all to get her ready for the trip across the water to manhattan?

i think it’s the sweetest most adorable endorsement of a restaurant that michele was willing to make major life changes and overcome obstacles in order to go to the restaurant laconda verde 377 greenwich in new york.

i flew in the day before our luncheon and had a chance to wander around.  i walked into the shop sabon, which sells sweet smelling soaps and candles and lotions.  the proprietress said that it was a company tradition that first time customers be welcomed with a ceremonial washing of hands.  new york is brutish, dirty, sweaty, hot and sometimes overwhelming.  this is how to be welcomed in new york and it is the same experience i hoped to offer michele when she came into manhattan!

sabon has three different locations in new york and while i was at the one at 1371 6th avenue, you can find the others at sabonnyc.com