Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked cool person Elliott Foos to come on Perfectly Imperfect & redistribute his good taste.

Elliot Foos a cultural consultant, the Mayor of NYC, and 1/2 of Cowboy Coffee, a pop up he runs along with photographer Austin Withers that brings cowboy themed mud to spots such as Flynn McGarry’s Gem and events like the Throwing Fits BBQ. His cultural dispatch newsletter (and radio show) Stir Crazy has been on hiatus for a bit, but check out the archive and subscribe just in case he brings it back soon. He also tells me that he’s behind the infamous meme page @nolitadirtbag… I can’t confirm or deny this claim. Elliot has great taste and lucky for us, he’s here to tell us what he’s been into.

Without further ado

Elliott Foos (instagram, website)

🪲 @Bug_girl_69

The best curator of tiktoks. My girlfriend and I wait to watch them together after work. They’re so good at finding the videos that turn the wheels of the internet. Each collection is weird, funny, bizarre. Buggy is how I found the Coley family, who post videos of themselves competing against one another in banal, wholesome games. 

🍝 Alimentari Uffizi

When meeting for coffee one morning, Austin Withers mentioned walking by a place whose walls were covered in post it notes. I had to go. It was one of my favorite meals in Italy- a one man operation, cool because it was honest & fucking good. The owner, Alessandro, is that one man- greeting everyone with a host’s panache and serving us cheese, meats, olive oil & bread which all came from his son’s farm. Incredibly chic. When I open my own cafe, Alessandro will be in mind. 

🪑 Sunfish Studio

Sunfish have launched their initial offering of furniture- quick hits are the staked stool and the peg rail. It’s simple, a bit naive, and ties into most interior design schemes. Unless you’re a sick freak who has the money to make your whole home Memphis Milano. But that’s not you, you’re your own type of sick freak, one who likes peg rails and tasteful wood tones.

📰 The Drunken Canal

Have you guys heard of this??????

🎞 Pig

A film that someone called a “tone poem”??? about the few things in life we get to really care about. It’s a sullen, deeply hurt performance from Nic, fighting for the principle of the things he loves. It felt a bit like Roadrunner, the Bourdain flick, in its celebration of the hard work us food and bevvies do- an insight into how we think and feel about our jobs. It resonated with me, it felt like relief. 

📸 Austin Withers

Austin is the photog I keep on retainer. The cowboy of cowboy coffee, he has an impeccable eye for photo and lighting. A former trophy winner himself, he’s been re-entering the world of rodeo, studying the culture and showing you the heart below the red neck. 

🧅 Charlie McCormick

The sickest IG account. Courtesy of my girlfriend Annie, who is a florist herself, Charlie McCormick is a gardener in West Dorset, England. His account is dedicated to the stunning flowers and vegetables he grows. Perfect Dahlias, onions… everything he grows. Award winning. And a massive fucking squash. If it doesn’t make your tired heart yearn for the more pastoral side of life, it at least makes you happy to be alive, alongside growing proof of divinity.

🖼 Amorelle Jacox

Amorelle is one of the city’s best painters, without a doubt in my mind. Her work lately studies space, and her strength is in color. I’m floored by her eye & style, reminiscent of many great painters and poets, and always capturing that something both present and infinite. She’ll be making great work for a long time, she’ll be lasting, the crosswalks and stop signs will start to look like her pieces.

🏕 Camping

Nothing like the great outdoors. When the world and the manic banality of city life really takes its toll, when GORP and OPULENCE and JAWNS leave you braindead, when you just don’t feel like yourself, the trees are there for you, silent and calm. Turn off your iPhone 12 mini, bring along the latest Sally Rooney spot, pitch a tent & listen to the bugs, baby. 

📝 Having a Coke With You 

My favorite poet Frank O’Hara reading one of his most famous poems. It’s a lovely, modern love poem, and something I return to when I need to feel a little more romance in my life.

Follow Elliot on Instagram and check out his website.

Follow Cowboy Coffee on Instagram

Perfectly Imperfect is a newsletter featuring good ol’ fashioned recommendations from real people (not some algorithm that thinks it knows u…) Hit subscribe for curated recs like these in your inbox ~2x a week~

Follow Perfectly Imperfect on Instagram

Join the Perfectly Imperfect Discord

Follow Tyler, Alex, & Serey on Instagram