How to Define Your Own Cool

As the former publisher of Tokion, a New York-based magazine about art, music, fashion, and film, Chris Ambrose is a taste-maker in the field of contemporary culture. When we approached him to show us someone he considers truly avant-garde, Paris Smeraldo was the first name that popped up. "Paris decided to open a farm-to-table organic restaurant in Bushwick in 2005 when there was nothing else in the neighborhood other than auto body shops, discount bodegas, and abandoned cars,” Chris recalls. The restaurant is called Northeast Kingdom, and since it opened its doors in the desolate northeastern part of Brooklyn, the neighborhood has developed rapidly and attracted artists and musicians for the cheap rent and huge loft spaces available for performances and studio space. It also must be said that Northeast Kingdom opened the door for other higher-end restaurants in the neighborhood. 

Learn more about Northeast Kingdom HERE. 

Production: Thomas Escher / Music: Bunnystripes