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9 a.m. Diane needs new business cards, so we meet at Stern Graveur, the centuries-old engraver to, among others, Jean Cocteau and several kings of Morocco. "If Madame Stern doesn't like you, she won't help you." Pernet whispers.
11 a.m. Off to the atelier of furniture designer and Comme des Garçons perfumer Christian Astuguevieille. "I had a coup de coeur over a chair Christian made out of gilt cotton rope that I saw at a boutique in Bilbao," Pernet says. "I knew we had to meet."
12:30 p.m. Ben Gorham is in town from Stockholm to present his new collection of five scents, so we have a sniff at the Hotel Bourg-Tibourg, in the Marais, followed by lunch à trois at teahouse Mariage Frères.
3 p.m. "It's only here that you'll ever see me try on colors," Pernet says as she models an exquisite 1950's panther topcoat in Sixth Arrondissement Ragtime. "This is the best vintage store in Paris."
4:30 p.m. Pernet lists private sales on her site. Since Anne Valérie Hash is preparing one, we survey the racks at her showroom, which glitters with 19th-century mosaics and mirrors. "Sure, there are some days I spend more time in front of the computer." Happily for us, today was not one of them.
—Alexandra Marshall
Erstwhile VH1 producer and longtime urban foodie Leventhal blogs about New York's cliquey restaurant scene, posting reports of openings, closings, feuds, and partnerships on the two-year-old Eater. "We don't do reviews," he explains. "Eater is about picking heroes—and villains—and tracking their stories."
5:30 p.m. Leventhal is a pavement-pounder. After scouring New York's neighborhoods for hints of change, he'll hit up as many as five new restaurants and bars in an evening. Our first stop is Morandi, Keith McNally's newest bistro in the West Village. "When I find a chef or owner who's passionate, the energy of the place is intoxicating," Leventhal says.
6:15 p.m. We hop a cab to PDT (Please Don't Tell), an East Village speakeasy accessed from a faux telephone booth inside a hot dog shop. The cocktail menu was created by mixologist Jim Meehan (of Gramercy Tavern). Leventhal makes a point of keeping up with his moves.
7:45 p.m. Join nightlife impresario David Rabin in Chelsea for a tasting at Sueños, owned by chef Sue Torres. Leventhal introduced the two, and now Torres is slated to run Rabin's latest venture, Los Dados, opening at the end of July.
10 p.m. Back to the West Village, where Harold Dieterle, a winner on Bravo's Top Chef, has opened Perilla. "You get a real sense of tone just by observing the bar." We claim front-row seats.
12 a.m. Cap off at Resto, a Belgian bistro, for a crispy pig's head sandwich (available off-menu)—our third meal of the night. "I guess I'm hardwired to explore," Leventhal says.
—Sara Reistad-Long
Canadian expat, design aficionado, and freelance writer Jean Snow spends most mornings sifting through hundreds of e-mails and RSS feeds (see left) about new art exhibitions, design shops, and pop-culture happenings. Afternoons, he hits the sidewalks to see them for himself.
3 p.m. "The new trend is for artists and stores or cafés to collaborate," Snow explains. On the fifth floor of an office building in Aoyama, we visit A to Z Café, a joint project of Pop artist Yoshitomo Nara and design firm Graf Media.
3:30 p.m. An Agnès B. store across the street is touting a collaboration with California-based illustrator Shepard Fairey. "In Tokyo, the boutiques are almost galleries themselves, they're curated so meticulously," Snow says. Holding his camera at his waist, he discreetly takes a few shots of Fairey's paintings. "Japanese are very press-shy."
4:30 p.m. "I also find out about openings through magazines," Snow says. At the bookstore Nadiff, Snow picks up Paper Sky, OK Fred, Casa Brutus, and Pen.
4:45 p.m. The Ginza, known for expensive shops, also has a clutch of graphic-design galleries. We stop in at the Ginza Graphic Gallery; it's filled with creative product packaging and far-out typography.
6 p.m. On the seventh floor of the Matsuya department store, between women's nightgowns and stuffed animals, the tiny Design Gallery has a show of humorous print ads. "This is one of the things I love about Tokyo," Snow says. "You just never know where you'll find something really cool."
—Michael Endelman
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