A full omakase dinner served in your very own home

I recommend this undeniably delightful experience for a double date or a small group (four to six people is best). Offered across New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maryland, it starts with a professional sushi chef arriving at your front door with their own equipment, even chopsticks, napkins, and flatware. It’s an entirely self-contained operation and an abundant one at that. As the multi-course meal unfolds, so does a seemingly never-ending stream of gorgeous nigiri — sweet shrimp, velvety king salmon, perfect little butter-like slabs of raw scallop, and a hand roll crowned with a lump of bright, salty roe, just as it should be. Except this is in your living room, so it’s expertly served while you’re doing little happy jigs in comfy pants, or a ballgown. The dress code is whatever you want when the venue is your house. Another plus: The concept’s co-founder, Max Weiss, is a dream to correspond with when setting up the experience, as is the incredible sushi chef, Lim Piao, who texts ETAs leading up to the dinner. EXPLORE MORE

Stirring, candle-lit concerts in crypts, catacombs, cemeteries, and caves

When I was a little girl, I was supremely taken by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” both on Broadway and in the 2004 film adaptation starring Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler (the latter not quite a songbird, but he can do no wrong). The rock ’n’ roll gothic romance of it all, the candelabras, the subterranean singing … I’m breathless just thinking of it! My first Death of Classical concert, in the crypt below Harlem’s Church of the Intercession, struck a similar chord. The series gives voice and visibility to underrepresented composers and performers through concerts in bone-chillingly beautiful subterranean locations. The context is pure poetry: live music flowing through a space reserved for spirits. After a bit of wine and cheese in the rectory, I watched a trio called Empire Wild perform beneath dark, vaulted stone ceilings. Jazz and more modern sounds wove through their classical notes, which culminated in a heart-rending rendition of “Moon River.” I cried. EXPLORE MORE

A hotel, spa, brasserie, and bar — inspired by the city of love

The endlessly charming and sumptuous Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s just landed in Tribeca. I experienced the French hotel group’s property during a staycation with my partner, and it felt like a trip to Paris — the hotel’s bevy of French guests heightens this effect. Velvet-lined and intimate, awash in playful shades of rose and the lightest pistachio, Fouquet’s is worlds away from the gritty, honking chaos of New York City.

Its restaurant, Brasserie Fouquet’s, is a tribute to the original 1899 Fouquet’s, located in Paris on the Champs-Élysées. Chairs are cushioned in red velvet and chandeliers bathe the ceilings in amber. My partner and I kicked off the meal with a bitter argument about communication styles paired with caviar and Champagne, followed by French onion soup, endive salad, lobster, and potato gnocchi. We ended with two digestives and peace. Beginning the evening with utter wrath and ending it with a kiss across the table speaks to the decidedly lovely nature of this place. A drink beforehand at the hotel’s discreetly located bar, Titsou, is a must. With plush plum interiors and glowing art deco lamps, it’s like an enlarged jewelry box serving phenomenal cocktails. I ordered the Oh-La-La, a juicy, effervescent, tropical getaway in a glass.

Complete your stay with a visit to the subterranean Spa Diane Barrière. Its steam room, sauna, and indoor hot pool are excellent places to forgive and forget any lovers’ quarrels from the night before. EXPLORE MORE