New York is a true four-season city, which means the weather can sometimes lure you to the park and outdoor cafes during an early spring heatwave or keep you as close as possible to home base on rainy or snowy days. Luckily for any resident of The Kent, luxury purveyors of life’s necessities dot the Upper East Side in every direction, which means anything you might need is always a stone’s throw away—and of the highest quality—no matter the weather.
In fact, with so much to choose from, the question isn’t “Can I get groceries in a snowfall without straying far?” but “Which nearby shop has the ripest cheese and the highest-quality caviar?” That’s how you do snow days on the Upper East Side—go for a grocery run and end up in aisles stocked with everything you need for an impromptu wintertime feast.
The Gourmet Garage on Park Avenue and 96th Street is a foodie’s paradise, filled with organic produce, local specialties, and delicious prepared food. Just blocks away from The Kent, you can walk over to the Garage and pick up a Moroccan, Adobo, or Rosemary rotisserie chicken and some butternut squash soup along with staples like imported olive oil, lettuce from local Satur Farms and fresh locally baked bread, and you and your family can stay indoors for the duration of any kind of storm while watching the weather through your oversize windows at The Kent condos.
Other culinary standouts a short walk away include Lucy’s Whey, a gourmet artisanal cheese shop where you can find New York’s finest examples of a French Camembert or Boucheron along with a beer selection perfect for pairing with the shop’s other offerings. Whole Foods Upper East Side also has you covered, with every possible organic vegetable or meat product you can imagine, and its Whole Body selection of natural shampoos, toothpaste, and bath crystals makes it a perfect place for scoring all of your personal shopping essentials. Sometimes a walk in the snow is one of the most magical times in New York, but if you feel like staying in, this Whole Foods also delivers—everything you need and want—within an hour.
Most Upper East Siders already know that winter weather is no reason to sacrifice a little pampering—and with so many spas and nail salons just steps away from the Kent, you might deem a snow day to be the perfect time to have your nails done or get a haircut. The experts at Tomoko Shima Hair Salon can give your hair that midwinter shape and lift, and Bloomie Nails Salon on Madison is a New York Magazine critics’ pick for being the place that “rules the world of nail salons.”
For dry cleaners, look no further than Joy Town Cleaners, just down the block from The Kent. And for the one of the “little things” that really brightens the stormiest day, pick up a box of chocolate-covered strawberries at Chocolate Works, and you may wish every day kept you this close to home.