Miss Lily’s, 132 W. Houston St. (Michael Sofronski)
Black Gold Records, 461 Court St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (Lizzy Snaps Sullivan)
The Roots’ drummer moved to New york in 2009, after his influential hip-hop group landed a gig as house band on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” (Last week, they made headlines by introducing guest Michele Bachmann with the Fishbone song “Lyin’ Ass B—h.”)He quickly fell in love with the Big Apple and recently bought a cozy pad in the Financial District, to which he retreats after sampling soul food in the Village or catching a flick in Brooklyn. In addition to providing beats for Fallon, Thompson and the Roots made their 11th album, the conceptual “undun,”out Dec. 6. This is his New York.
PHOTOS: ‘?UESTLOVE’S’ NEW YORK
Fool’s Gold, 536 Metropolitan Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“A close friend ofmine,DJ A-Trak,ispart-owner of this go-to place for electronic music.I just found a record of remixes for the new Duck Sauce song‘Barbra Streisand.’ In addition to music,there’s tons of DJ equipment, headphones and iPad accessories
Nite hawk Cinema, 136 Metropolitan Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“My favorite thing to do these days is checkout classic-film theaters—and there are so many in Brooklyn.Nite hawk is a perfect place fora romantic date.There’stables and chairs setup inside,so you can have a great dinner and watch a movie the sametime.It has the best popcorn, too.”
Blue Ribbon, 97 Sullivan St.
“Mos Def and Dave Chappelle turned me on to this place back in 1998.It’s probable the best Southern fried chicken I’ve ever had.Soul food heaven. It’s classy/casual,and I always feel at home.This place serves food until 4a.m. Delicious, quality food.”
Black Gold Records, 461 CourtSt., Carroll Gardens,Brooklyn
“Black Gold has an amazing used-vinyl selection.It’s also part coffee shop,so you can just relax and enjoy yourself. I’m there like every other Saturday.I recently found some old Muppets’ records. [Laughs]I can instantly turn in to a 6-year-old when I hear them.Ialso found a few‘ Sesame Street’ones.One has Grover singing the blues,and the other has him singing a Doobie Brothers song.
Yotel, 570 10th Ave.
“Whenever I go,I get the Yotel VIP room—a miniature, glass hotel room inside the nightclub.You invite like 20 people and have a private party in this enclosed glass room where you cansee all the other guests and hear the music.If you want privacy,you just close the curtain.Very futuristic, very cool.”
Ace Hotel, 20 W. 29th St.
“This is my home away from home.I lived there for two years before I bought my apartment.The only thing I lacked was a real kitchen I could cookin.The Lobby Bar has the best speakers in America.It’s sonically ahead of anything I’ve ever heard.Q-Tip [from A Tribe CalledQuest] is a resident there.When I lived there he used to host a huge DJ party every Friday night,which I never missed
Miss Lily’s, 132 W. Houston St.
“This place isn’t a secret anymore—it’s the new hotspot.Within the last few weeks,I’ve seen Jay-Z, Kanye West and Prince there. It’s a high-end Jamaican cuisine.The menu has so many options,but right nowI love the jerk-grilled lobster.
Apple Store, 767 Fifth Ave.
“The 24-hour store is my favorite place to shop in Manhattan.I always throw on a hooded sweatshirt and head over there at like 1a.m.,to beat the crowds.But New Yorkers are catching on to my sweet plan.Now, it’s packed at1a.m.Luckily, my guy usually spots me and helps me first.”
Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave.,Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
“I hung out there so much,the owner asked,‘If [you] love it so much, why don’t [you] just work there?’[Laughs] So now I do.On Thursdays I host ‘BowlTrain,’ where I pay tribute to the legendary show ‘Soul Train’ by show in gold episodes on the 20 monitors while I do my DJ sets. I always hang out afterwards and grab some food since they have a Blue Ribbon inside.”