Blog

By Angela Li

Summer in New York City is an incomparable experience. The parks are verdant and filled with laughter; the streets are alive with pop-up events, outdoor cafe tables, and people from all walks of life. This summer, I’ve embarked on adventures around AALDEF’s office nearly every day after work. Located in Tribeca, the office is easily walkable to Chinatown, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Manhattan. Here are a few of my favorite spots in the area! 

The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

This ice cream place has been open for nearly four decades and offers up familiar Asian flavors like lychee, pandan, and almond cookie alongside what the shop cheekily calls “exotic” flavors, such as vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate chip. I stopped by the shop with my fellow summer interns and some staff one July afternoon for an impromptu dessert outing. We were headed to happy hour in the Lower East Side, and the 35-minute walk to the bar was only acceptable to us if we got ice cream on the way. It was worth trudging through the 90-degree weather.

Yu & Me Books

I first visited this bookstore during a queer bookstore crawl during Pride Weekend. The bookstore/café/bar specializes in AAPI literature, aiming to fill the representation gap of AAPI and immigrant stories within the literary space. The shop was shuttered after a fire last summer but reopened in early 2024. Community members and other bookstores in the area, as well as authors and customers around the country, rallied to support Yu & Me Books after the fire with donations and offers to lend space for a temporary location. I always end up adding more books to my TBR (to be read)whenever I visit a bookstore, and this time was no different. I can’t wait to dive into The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu and Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao!

Xi’an Famous Foods

I was born in Xi’an, China, and this NYC-based chain is my idea of comfort food. Every time my family is in the city, we make a pit stop here because authentic Xi’an food is still relatively rare in the US. During imperial China, Xi’an was the starting terminus of the Silk Road, and its food shares many commonalities with Central Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. It’s been great to see Xi’an Famous Foods locations take over NYC and bring the northwestern Chinese food I grew up eating to a wider audience. My top recommendations are the liangpi (cold skin noodle) and roujiamo (Chinese “burger”)!

Cafe Atelier

Though not in Chinatown, this gorgeous Korean-owned flower shop and cafe is kitty corner to the AALDEF office. Alongside drinks like lychee lemonade and mouth-watering pastries like the egg tart danish, they also offer ready-made bouquets and flower arrangement and candle-making classes. This is the perfect place to grab a coffee before work or chat with a colleague in the afternoons. For a boost one day, I spent the morning finishing up a research memo here because nothing helps more with legal research than a flaky pastry!

Uncle Lou

In an area full of restaurants where food quality and ambience are occasionally mutually exclusive, Uncle Lou is a crowd favorite with visitors and locals alike for its bright decor that does not come at the expense of the quality of the food. On my last day in the office, some interns, staff and I sat down here for a family style dinner. It was one of the best meals I’ve had this summer. I’m still thinking about the braised Chenpi duck we shared.

My summer in New York was defined by my work with AALDEF, exploring new corners of the city, and—naturally—eating delicious, diverse food. After my internship, I’ll be eating my way through Italy for a week before starting my 2L year at Harvard Law School. Cheers to NYC for an amazing summer. I’m already planning my next trip back!