Kerry Washington has lived in several cities, but when it comes to playing favorites, she takes her lead fr om her Yorkie-shih tzu mix, who prefers New York. “She likes the cooler weather and the change in seasons,” says Washington of her pooch, Josie B. “There’s much more interesting stuff to sniff on the street here!” The 32-year-old Bronx native makes her Broadway debut as the latest of David Mamet’s diabolical women in “Race.” And while the former swim team member at Spence now calls the East Side home, she’s still got a soft spot for The Bronx. “There’s a real diversity [here] that you don’t fi nd in a lot of places,” she says. “I don’t mean that in the obvious sense, but that there are so many industries, so many ways people are making lives and making a living.” This is her New York.
1) Jackson Hole, 1270 Madison Ave., at 91st Street
“Jackson Hole was a real home away from home for all us Spence girls — I loved their burgers, chili fries, cheese fries, onion fries. We’d hang out around the corner. When I’m in the mood for a burger, that’s where you’ll fi nd me, though now [that] there’s one in Midtown I go to that one more often.”
2) Whole Foods, Time Warner Center, Broadway at 59th Street
“My go-to place for a quick dinner or lunch. There’s a whole section for sitting. There’s an amazing salad bar, hot foods, a sushi bar, a dessert bar . . . you could do a fi ve-course meal at Whole Foods, but then you couldn’t stand on the express line!”
3) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fift h Avenue at 82nd Street
“I used to go to the roof garden as a moody teenager, looking for a place to contemplate life. This was a place my mom and I went together often. There’s a terrifi c photo exhibit there now, Robert Frank’s ‘The Americans.’ ”
4) Precious Pets, 895 First Ave., at 50th Street
“I was nervous about bringing Josie B. to a new place when I moved back East, but they do a great job, with really precision cuts, and they even document their fi rst session. They have a wonderful gift store with dog bowls and leashes, and there’s a day-care center for dogs, too, so if you can’t pick them up right away, they can stay and play.”
5) Wave Hill, 675 W. 252nd St., The Bronx
“It’s so spectacular — a uniquely New York place overlooking the Palisades and the Hudson River. My best friend was a student at Fieldston, and she lived in Manhattan and did the opposite commute I did. Wave Hill was the place we’d go, sometimes after football games, to hang out and have girl talk.”
6) Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West, The Bronx
“I kind of grew up there, going to school with my mom. The campus is so beautiful! They have a performing arts center that is really, really wonderful in that there’s a lot of Latin music and dance and international groups, like Chinese acrobats. It’s the Lincoln Center of The Bronx.”
7) Tosca Café, 4038 E. Tremont Ave., The Bronx
“My dad grew up in Brooklyn, my mom in The Bronx, and this is a family favorite. It’s traditional Italian cuisine — coal-oven pizza and all — and their weekend buff ets are incredible. They have this limitless champagne brunch.”
8) The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx
“Right now they’ve got the train exhibit, which is magical! They’ve basically re-created landmarks from all over New York City out of twigs and seeds, branches and fl owers — there’s a wonderful holiday glow around it.”
9) Quality Meats, 57 W. 58th St.
“I eat a lot of vegetarian foods, but if I’m in the mood for a great steak, they have the best. It’s a wonderful modern steakhouse, a mix of traditional items and new sides, like edamame and English peas. Their salads are incredible, too.”
10) Asphalt Green, 555 E. 90th St. (at the East River)
“It’s really a sports and recreation center for kids and families. I was on the swim team at Spence, and that’s where we’d swim. I come from a swimming family, actually. At the end of my parents’ fi rst date, they agreed to meet at Riis Park Beach.”