What's New

This week we’re sharing a fun way to celebrate Black History Month, highlighting a new pizza spot and introducing you to our cool new friend: Jackie Sabillón of Alero Coffee. 

Culture Corner

COOL NEW THING

SHOP

Keap Seconds Sale

When: Monday the 27th at 9am

How: Sign up for the Keap newsletter to receive instructions on how to place an order on the day of the sale.

What: The “seconds” candles are those that didn’t quite meet our quality check for a variety of reasons: minor glass imperfections, such as little bumps and scratches, small candle height variations, or functional candles returned to us which may have gotten knicks and bumps on their way back to our studio.

EAT

A little quote from the artist herself:

“Just like an inner writing on wax, the objects are like words positioned in a potential space, at first only mental, often erased and rethought. The objects are the active images that return what I need to remember when I walk past them. Memory shaped them into marks of what I wish to remember.”

- Beatrice Bonino

We recently introduced coolstuff classifieds: a way to have your voice heard in the coolstuff.nyc weekly newsletter! Use it to promote a service or to declare your love, but do keep in mind we’ll be curating what makes the final cut. If you’re interested please send an email to hello@coolstuff.nyc. 

Cool Friends: Jackie Sabillón

How did you start Alero, your Honduran coffee brand? 

My brother and I started Alero Coffee to highlight the underrepresented coffee of our home country Honduras. We want to share our culture with our American friends that haven't had the opportunity to visit Honduras (yet) or just want to enjoy a good cup of coffee! 

What’s your favorite part about the New York creative community? 

When we first moved to the US for college, there was a longing for the family, friends, and culture we left behind. To help with the homesickness, we would bring bags of coffee, refried beans, and tortillas back into the US every opportunity we got! (And we still do, just less often ;) ). A couple of years after graduating and moving to NYC, I noticed a boom in country-based restaurants and coffee shops. I thought it was the coolest thing to see immigrants and the latino community showing their culture through food and beverage. Funny enough, it was hard to find Honduran businesses and products in the city, especially Honduran coffee, so we decided to learn how to source and roast coffee and created our own brand!

What’s inspiring you right now? 

New York City is truly the place where misfits fit in. Finding creatives who vibe with me or are into the same niche things I do has helped me feel like I belong in this community. I often hear people outside of New York referring to New Yorkers as cold and rude, and while a lot of people in the streets present that way on the outside, I find that most are caring people that are willing to help, guide, and teach others. I've learned so much in the years I've lived here from the coolest people.

Since it's winter, I started figure skating again in the mornings at Bryant Park (it's free if you have your own skates!). Before my session, I like stopping by a local coffee shop and getting an almond milk latte. There's a certain quiet in the city between 6 and 7 am that brings me peace, and I find myself slowing down and taking in my surroundings a little more carefully at this time. There's so many people already working this early in the morning, and I have a lot of respect for them. It inspires me to be better.

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