{"id":349206,"date":"2026-09-17T11:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T11:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349206\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T11:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T11:55:13","slug":"sandy-liangs-guide-to-new-york-arts-intel-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349206\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandy Liang’s Guide to New York: Arts Intel Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before she became the downtown girly-girl\u2019s go-to designer, Sandy Liang had to come to terms with her love of fashion. \u201cGrowing up, if I cared about makeup or clothes, it was a sin,\u201d she told Elle. Liang was raised in Bayside, Queens, and spent her days at her parents\u2019 restaurant, Congee Village, on Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side. Though her parents found shopping impractical, Liang loved fashion\u2019s excesses, from ribbons and ruffles to the Chanel stickers she glued to her TI-84 calculator.<\/p>\n

After studying at Parsons, Liang launched her eponymous brand in 2014, inspired by teen magazines and Hayao Miyazaki\u2019s Kiki\u2019s Delivery Service. Since then, her unapologetic vision of femininity has acquired a name\u2014the \u201cSandy girl\u201d\u2014and a uniform: pink bows, pleats, and Mary Janes.<\/p>\n

Liang lives on the Lower East Side with her husband, Dorian Booth, and their son, Rainier, a few blocks away from her Orchard Street studio. Just days after New York<\/a> Fashion Week, she\u2019s releasing her first book, Dressing Up: Sandy Liang, on September 22. To celebrate, she shares her favorite spots in her native city.<\/p>\n

Cafe Katja<\/p>\n

This is my go-to neighborhood dinner spot. What is better than sharing a sausage and a gem lettuce salad in a cozy booth while watching the snow fall in the winter? Nothing. I\u2019m worried my friends are getting sick of how often I suggest it for dinner. (cafekatja.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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The exterior of Mission Chinese Food, in Chinatown. Mission Chinese food<\/p>\n

One of their desserts is named after me. Did I threaten Danny [Bowien] into it? Perhaps. (missionchinesefood.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Caf\u00e9 Sabarsky<\/p>\n

It\u2019s soooooo nice there. I feel beautiful when I visit and even more beautiful when eating a slice of cake there with Dorian. (neuegalerie.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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The pork buns and ramen at Okiboru House of Tsukemen. Okiboru House of Tsukemen<\/p>\n

My neighborhood ramen spot. Everyone who works there is so nice. I love ordering the regular ramen, even though they\u2019re known for their dipping noodles. I\u2019ve only been with friends, but I would like to go by myself one day. (okiboru.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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An exterior view of the Russ & Daughters Cafe. Russ & Daughters Cafe<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something so pleasurable about eating tinned fish with bagel chips and a side of whitefish chowder. (russanddaughterscafe.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Center<\/p>\n

This is where I grew up. Technically, I grew up in Bayside, Queens, but really my soul was formed here, among all the star-folding paper, Sanrio plushies, gel pens, and fun earrings.<\/p>\n

Haidilao Hotpot<\/p>\n

A hot pot restaurant in Flushing. It\u2019s insane how happy I am when I\u2019m at Haidilao. The adrenaline rush of making the right sauce\u2026 I always request a noodle dance, just because.<\/p>\n

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Battery Park, where the city meets the harbor. The Battery<\/p>\n

We would go every Friday after school, lying around in the grass, sometimes playing sports or games, sometimes just talking about how much boys suck. We\u2019d watch the sun go down and then take the train home together.<\/p>\n

Buy the Book <\/p>\n

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<\/a> <\/p>\n

Photos: Phoenix Johnson; @instagram\/missionchinesefoodny; Courtesy of Okiboru; Robert K. Chin – Storefronts\/Alamy; Stefano Politi Markovina\/Alamy\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before she became the downtown girly-girl\u2019s go-to designer, Sandy Liang had to come to terms with her love…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25690,130526,130525,130527,130528,130529,130530,9,24,50210,6231,11,10,130531,130532,111416,130533,130534],"class_list":["post-349206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-air-city-guide","tag-caf-sabarsky","tag-cafe-katja","tag-dressing-up-sandy-liang","tag-elizabeth-center","tag-haidilao-hotpot","tag-mission-chinese-food","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-guide","tag-new-york-fashion-week","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-okiboru-house-of-tsukemen","tag-parsons-school-of-design","tag-russ-daughters","tag-sandy-liang","tag-the-battery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}