In the lived-in corners of their Greenwich Village apartment, Ben and Shahar have cultivated a space where personal histories and personal aesthetics merge. Ben, a writer and adjunct professor at the New School, brings a background in kitchens and architecture, while Shahar, a stylist and owner of the vintage brand Aware, fills their rooms with seasonal flora and curated vintage clothing. Their home is a collection of fragments: a Brazilian guitar, a growing library of cookbooks, and a dusty box under the table that serves as a monument to a wedding day that was perfectly imperfect.
Is there an object in your home that holds a distinct memory or story for you?
Shahar: The one object that holds a memory for me is this box under the table. It’s probably very dusty and has no use, but it’s the empty bottle of champagne we drank the day we got married at City Hall. Ben was so sick that day. Like, so sick. We were in urgent care the day before; we even had a nurse come to our apartment to give him an IV. I was afraid I was going to have to bring him in a coffin to City Hall! Afterward, we went with his family to Gramercy Tavern and his dad brought this amazing bottle of champagne. Ben didn’t really get to enjoy it, but I enjoyed everyone else enjoying it.
Ben: Yeah, we keep this and it has no use, but we can't let it go.
Shahar: It’s the memory of our wedding and how everything was so not how I thought it would be, but it was still perfect.
Ben: For me, it’s my collection of cookbooks, which is always growing. Right now they are on the bookshelf and scattered around the apartment because I just like being surrounded by books. Cooking for my wife is my love language. Some of my cookbooks are gifts from people I really cherish. We got the Gramercy Tavern cookbook as a gift when we got married, to go with that bottle of champagne. Another favorite is from St. John. The chef there, Fergus Henderson, is a real inspiration for me. He studied architecture and then transitioned to being a chef; I sort of did the opposite—I worked in kitchens as a chef and then went to architecture school. I got to meet him, which was so cool, and he signed the book. I also love Ruffage by Abra Berens. I briefly got to work with her in Chicago when I was a butcher. She’s a really inspirational woman, and the book is all about utilizing produce in a variety of ways. It’s a cool memento of my time in Chicago.
Shahar: If we’re talking about something in everyday use, my answer would be my pair of flower scissors. I use them about five days a week. As you can see, I have an obsession with flowers. I cannot not have flowers in my space. It makes me so happy to wake up and see the arrangements I’ve made. It’s a ritual—going to buy them, arranging them, changing the water, and deciding where to place them. I go through phases with different styles, like Ikebana or big floral arrangements. The scissors are always out on the counter because I’m always trimming something to make sure the flowers are doing well. It’s like gardening in New York inside an apartment; the closest I can get to it right now.
Is there an object you've moved with from every place you've lived?
Ben: The thing I’ve had in every home I’ve ever lived in, basically since I was a kid, is my dad’s acoustic guitar. It’s a nylon-string classical guitar from Brazil that he got when he was a kid. He gave it to me when I started learning at age ten. To this day, no matter how many guitars I have, that’s still my favorite one. It’s the one I play most when I want to relax or meditate. The style I play on it is my favorite—flamenco and classical Spanish guitar. I’m self-taught in that style. It’s really difficult; it’s almost like a different instrument because of the finger-picking. I’ve always wanted to be better than I am, but it’s a nice lifelong aspiration to strive for.
Is there a small ritual the two of you have here—a walk, or a place you go on a weekend morning?
Ben: We thought of two. We have a nighttime ritual where we always make tea. Every night, we can’t go to sleep without it. I make the tea...
Shahar: He has to make the tea. I’ve lost the ability; I cannot do it. He has to make it, otherwise it’s not right, it’s not "sleepy time." It’s not the ritual!
Shahar: Our other ritual is in the morning. Our day has to start with both of us going to Madman Espresso to get our coffee together. They know our order; even if just one of us shows up, they know they probably need to make two.
Ben: It’s a very safe space for us. It’s truly an indulgence, but it’s one of those things that makes it hard to start the day without it. It gets us out of bed, we start the day together, and it’s really nice.
Both Ben and Shahar are wearing MATNAS reconstructed jeans/ in black
