This is Highly Recommend, a column dedicated to our very opinionated editors’ favorite things to eat, drink, and buy.
Have you ever walked into a store and wanted to leave your old life behind and become the person you would be if your life was full of the things in that store? I hadn’t until I walked into At Land in Dobbs Ferry, New York. After a Jersey Ice Cream Co. Instagram post tipped us off, my family stopped by, but secretly I expected the letdown that normally follows breathless coverage by design blogs. This was different. Even the hardware on the front door was different, a sleek-yet-robust handle that managed to feel substantial yet only required a fingertip to turn. Once inside, soaring ceilings, thick wood beams, and a tranquil glow settled around impeccably curated clothes and home and kitchen goods.
Surrounded by objects that seemed to float a few inches above the shelves, my family became a slightly better version of ourselves. My kids seemed adorable, completely unlike the hellions who made me pull the car over on the Henry Hudson Parkway just hours earlier and threaten them with military school. They sat in the light-filled cafe area, watching a show about LEGO ninjas, while my wife perused the racks of dresses and jumpsuits from designers like Rachel Comey and Ilana Kohn.
I hung out by the coffee bar, surreptitiously trying to decode their homemade formulation for mushroom coffee. It was so good I didn’t even miss the extra dose of caffeine that my normal afternoon pour-over provides. Equally good were the golden milk, rose cocoa, and frankly every other drink on the menu. The fact that all the drinks are vegan is almost an afterthought—and quickly forgotten after tasting how thoughtfully crafted they are.
The most remarkable thing isn’t that this store exists. It is that it manages to be so cool, while falling outside the gravitational pull of New York City and “upstate,” in the vast stretches of flyover country (a.k.a. Westchester) that most New Yorkers dismiss. The owner, Melissa Lauprete, gave us untold numbers of recommendations for restaurants and hikes in the area, acting as a de facto ambassador for life just outside the city. Her impeccable taste (and the dream of a house with a yard) now keeps us coming back every few weeks for mini escapes from our city lives that always include a walk around the farm at Stone Barns and occasionally an open house. Somehow, committing to leave the city for good always manages to feel a couple years away, and we inevitably slink back to our lives in the city. In the meantime, At Land keeps us believing that a better us is at least possible.