GERTIE

"I’ve been following Not Work Related, Sarah Hussaini’s ceramics shop, since last summer, and have been coveting one of her gorgeous hand-thrown mugs for months. She makes them in small batches, and they always sell out as soon as they go live on her site. Last December, she opened up pre-orders for those of us who’ve been wanting an item and were willing to wait. My mug was ready for this past weekend, and since I opted for pick-up, we drove to Hussaini’s Greenpoint studio, where she also teaches private pottery classes. Since we were already in Brooklyn, we swung by Gertie, where new head baker Melissa Funk Weller has been making waves with her bialys, bagels, and pastries. Her bagels are soft and doughy in the best way possible, and absolutely worth a special trip; the pastry box had her famous babka and schnecken, a sticky caramel bun. Next up for Funk Weller and the Gertie team are themed boxes (the first one was a French and Jew-ish mashup that included pastrami reuben croissant sandwiches and kouign-amann). If you’re hoping to snag one, order ahead of time—these are known to sell out incredibly quickly."