Untapped Contributor Profile: Spencer Cohen

Today we profile Untapped Cities intern Spencer Cohen, who contributes to the History of Streets column and has written about the Top 10 Hidden Restaurants in NYC.

What’s your “day job”?

Currently, I am on a gap year and will be attending Columbia University in the fall.

What’s your favorite Untapped spot in your city?

Saturday’s Surf‘s original location in Soho has been one of my favorites spots in the city for years. Though it is generally known for its clothes and surf gear, sipping a cup of their coffee with great friends in the back garden is always awesome.

Florence Prime Meat Market in the West Village is also a favorite—one of the last old fashioned butchers in the city. When you order meat, they carefully trim it or do whatever else you need. It is always a fun experience!

Favorite piece you’ve written for Untapped:

Definitely writing on the Hidden Restaurants around the city! Though I was aware of the vast majority of them before I wrote, it was a great experience to find the others.

What’s your favorite Untapped place you’ve visited while traveling? Where do you want to visit next?

It was definitely Tour Paris 13! I waited on line for 8 hours and met everything from a Biology researcher from Albania to a few fascinating French students.

Next I want to visit Asia, specifically Japan, Nepal, or Bhutan. I have always been fascinated by Asia, mostly Japan, but have recently become fascinated by the Buddhist Himalayan culture.

Craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Months ago I was living abroad and spent some time backpacking through Europe. Every morning I would go to the train station of whatever city I was in and hop on the next cheapest train. One day I was in Zurich and thought why not go to Liechtenstein? I hopped on a train and got off at a tiny border town. It looked quite suburban but was within the alps, and I began walking through the streets. Mind this was early on a sunday, so it was deserted. I came across a large field with many cows simply grazing and spent some time sitting with the cows.

I am a major international relations news junkie, so I read the New Republic obsessively, with a lot of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. I also am a big fan of Nicholas Kristof, so am always on his NY Times blog, On the Ground. Men of Habit is also this fantastic fashion blog that I always read. Finally, I am very into very simple and minimal design (think very much in the style of Bauhaus), so love websites that give off that image. Niice is this awesome search engine for super cool images and then the Noun Project, which has also these super minimal icons (I have some on the there!).