April 8, 2008

Fantastic Voyage

Jan & Äya Boutique Opens

You were totally getting a cabin in the Berkshires, hitting up the equator, and adding some après to your agenda.

But you’re not much of an organizer when it takes more than a subway ride.

Fortunately the MTA can be your chariot to Jan & Äya. Run by a Swiss-American miss and mister (Carolyn and Kai Krienke) and named after their francophone bébés, it’s that pristine boutique (whitewashed floors, breezy space, designy accents aplenty) you’ll swear you’ve seen in guidebooks.

Peppered throughout are knitted jewelry pieces from the UK, leather goods from Germany’s Nuit Blanche, and Skinny LaMinx tea towels out of South Africa. Locally crafted offerings (Loyalty & Blood tees, Therapy’s handmade spa line, and Brooklyn honey flights) add authentic Americana.

Weekends bring out-of-this-world confections by Sarah Magid, and soon they’ll start hosting events with sights and sounds that’ll put your average multicultural center to shame.

Now, go get yourself a souvenir.

Jan & Äya, 99 Franklin Street, between Greenpoint Avenue and Milton Street, Greenpoint (718-609-1404 or janandaya.com).