21 Questions with Shayne
Get to know the creative force behind Hoteligence
I always loved New York magazine’s ‘21 Questions’ column. It appears to have been discontinued circa 2015 and then briefly resurrected for the magazine’s Curbed vertical in 2021. So look, I interviewed myself in that style as an homage. Enjoy!
What’s the last hotel you checked into?
The Grand Pigalle Experimental in Paris this summer. It was my second stay this year and I’d gladly return. It’s a cute little boutique hotel on a great block with a Frenchie in the lobby. I usually stay on the Left Bank in Saint-Germaine-des-Prés, but I was ready to switch it up and explore Paris from a different perspective. Pigalle is great, filled with cute little cafes, restaurants and bars. You’re at the foot of Montmartre and it’s only a 20 minute walk to central Paris.
That trip started on the Amalfi Coast with a stay at the Caruso, A Belmond Hotel, which might have been the most luxurious hotel experience of my life. Highly recommend. Both reviews forthcoming!
Where are you checking in next?
I’m off to Brazil in October with one of my best girlfriends who currently lives down there. We’re doing Rio and staying at Hotel Fasano and Copacabana Palace, A Belmond Hotel and also the Costa Verde and staying at Hotel Fasano Angra dos Reis.
But before that, I’m planning a trip back to Georgia to see my folks and I plan to visit Atlas, a gorgeous A-frame cabin on a farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains that my best friend built and you can book on Airbnb.
What’s your most treasured travel souvenir?
I’m not much of a souvenir shopper, but I did buy these two small water color paintings—one of a sea horse, the other a blowfish—at a maritime antique shop in Corsica that I love. I got them framed and they’re hanging in my kitchen. I like to pretend they’re recovered sunken treasure from a pirate’s ship.
On this last trip to Amalfi, I bought this little hand-painted espresso cup set with a saucer and lid topped with a lemon from a ceramics shop in Ravello. It’s how they serve espresso at the Caruso and it was delightful. Now, I get transported back on my occasional post-lunch coffee break and I love it.
What museum do you always return to?
I love the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. It’s where I first discovered Bonnard; his sexy, Impressionistic post-coital bedroom and bathroom scenes, and the way he uses color.
On my visit to Paris this summer, we visited the Pinault Collection at the Bourse de Commerce, which opened in 2021, and it was exquisite. It’s anchored by an incredible site specific installation by South Korean nomadic artist Kimsooja (ends Sept. 23) and the rest of the galleries spiral around it with surprise and delight at every turn; it’s easily one of the most sublime museum experiences I’ve had in ages—a must-visit the next time you’re in Paris.
What was the last restaurant meal to delight you?
We stopped by Misipasta in Williamsburg on the way to the US Open this weekend and every bite was transcendent: prosciutto di parma, fontina gougéres, mozzarella in carrozza, an artichoke sandwich, ricotta and pistachio-filled mezzaluna, spaghetti with lemon, bottarga and garlic breadcrumbs and a crazy good chocolate panna cotta. It’s a marketplace and cafe with a lovely backyard by Missy Robbins of Misi and Lilia fame, except you can actually get a reservation or simply walk in and the vibe is so chill.
What’s your drink?
Vodka martini. Or Champagne. But I like to dabble.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
Okay, so I actually have two nightstands for books in my apartment. One is by my reading chair where most of my reading gets done. Right now, there’s Hemingway’s Boat, a beautiful biography by Paul Hendrickson that he signed for me at a reading at Books & Books in Miami in 2011 when it was published. I’d been sitting on about 100 pages to finish, which I finally did, prompted in part by an essay I’m currently working on. Beneath that, there’s Aristotle’s Poetics and J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy, the novel version of Peter Pan published in 1911.
On my actual nightstand, there’s a collection of Herman Melville’s novellas and short stories. I’m on the last one, Benito Cereno, which is pretty wild. Moby Dick is easily my favorite book and Bartleby, the Scrivener is somehow just as epic. I love Melville; no one writes like he does. There’s also the second volume of Tennessee Williams’s complete works and his biography by John Lahr whose father played the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. I think it’s so poetic that his son grew up to be a theater critic and scholar.
What’s the last show you saw on Broadway?
“Oh, Mary!” (through Nov. 10), which is just rip-roaring wild and crazy.
Off Broadway?
Teeth, a new musical by Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson. The premise is something that normally would not appeal to me at all, but I am obsessed with Michael R. Jackson and his artistic journey and I will go see anything he creates. It did not disappoint. It was radical and brilliant. It finished its run at Playwrights Horizon, but it’s transferring to New World Stages in October.
Who’s your favorite New Yorker?
Jerry Seinfeld. And Nora Ephron.
What’s the best thing in or about your apartment?
I have an enormous, practically floor-to-ceiling, south-facing window that frames a view that I like to think of as a theatrical backdrop of Manhattan. There’s a big tree in the foreground and then layers of brick facades with water towers and a single skyscraper in the distance. And there’s so much sky. I love watching the clouds pass by and the seagulls flying to the Hudson River.
When was the last time you stayed out past 3 a.m.?
I think that would be Memorial Day Weekend. LIV Las Vegas. And somehow I made it into the DJ booth with Calvin Harris.
I love staying out late, but it doesn’t happen nearly as often as it used to.
What three people dead or alive, real or fictional, would you like to have dinner with?
A girlfriend posed this question last summer over lunch in Paris on a terrace on the Seine. It made for good conversation and a lot of laughs. My answer came to me surprisingly quickly: Ernest Hemingway, Elizabeth Bishop and Tennessee Williams. They are my holy trinity of writers. I identify with them because, like me, they all lived in Key West, they’re travelers, they love to drink and their love lives were chaotic. Oh, and, of course, because their writing is transcendent. I think it would make for a truly wild dinner party. I feel like we’d start in Key West and end up in Paris or Brazil or Rome depending on whoever was the most belligerent.
Where is the best view in Miami?
I loved the ocean view from my apartment in South Beach. If you really wanted to experience it, I suppose you could check into the 1 Hotel.
If you could live anywhere in New York City, where would it be?
Honestly, I think the Upper West Side, where I live now, is my dream neighborhood. The proximity to Central Park is everything.
But I’ve always thought it would be cool to live in one of those new buildings along the High Line in West Chelsea. In fact, I’ve picked one out on the occasion that I ever have one or more million dollars to spend on real estate. It’s called Jardim, designed by a Brazilian architect, and built on top of a nightclub I used to frequent. Boy, has that neighborhood changed.
I’ve also recently begun fantasizing about buying in Hudson Square, that little micro-neighborhood west of Soho and north of Tribeca; I think I could be happy there, lol. A girl can dream.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Winter.
What color are you always drawn to?
Blue. Or sunset. Or what Elizabeth Bishop calls “most of the colors that swarm around the sides / Of soap-bubbles…”
Do you have any travel regrets?
This is sort of an inside joke between me, my sister and some of my girlfriends, but I like to say that my biggest regret in life is not buying a Chanel bag at the original flagship at 31 rue Cambon in Paris circa 2008 when it was priced at just under two thousand Euro. It was a full twenty percent of my three month travel budget, though, and I just couldn’t justify it—although, I wish I had. It would have had zero negative impact on my life, whatsoever. I would have just gone back to work, made the money back and I would have a Chanel bag right now. Those purses go for four times that today, which is insane, so I feel like I missed my chance forever.
What’s your favorite NYC restaurant and regular order?
Balthazar at the bar. Kir royale, steak tartare, frites and maybe the Balthazar salad.
Although, honestly, the food at Pastis is better. They make my favorite steak frites au poivre in the city, but the fact that it’s not the original restaurant from the early 2000s = points deducted.
What’s your favorite Miami restaurant and regular order?
For some reason, I never know how to answer this question.
But the last great meal I had in Miami was brunch at Klaw on its rooftop terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay. The name is unfortunate because it makes me think of a reality show about manicurists, but the restaurant, itself, is gorgeous and the food and service was great. It’s actually named for the Norwegian king crabs it imports, but is it weird that the crudités with this incredible paremesan aioli was the most memorable dish for me? Well, it was next-level.
Worst piece of career advice you’ve ever gotten?
You can’t make a living as a travel writer.
For a slightly different version of this interview published back in June, head to Hoteligence.
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