NYC

New pin: KushKlub, Lower East Side

We just got off a call with the crew at KushKlub on the Lower East Side, who are now stocking us — and the business portion of the call lasted maybe four minutes before it turned into twenty minutes of them telling us where to eat within a two-block radius. Which, honestly, is exactly the kind of intel this series exists to launder into content.

KushKlub. 186 Orchard St, LES. Licensed, staffed by people who actually know their menu, and now carrying the device. Your welcome Bitcoin is in the platform before you've even opened the box — same upfront amount for everyone, yours from day one, claim takes a minute.

Why Orchard Street is the right street for this

The Lower East Side has been the neighborhood where new things get their first shelf for about a hundred and fifty years — pushcarts, then galleries, then whatever Dimes Square was. Orchard Street specifically has this compressed quality where a century-old storefront sits next to something that opened last month, and both are somehow busy. A smart device with Bitcoin inside, sold two blocks from where your great-grandparents' generation haggled over fabric, feels correct to us. The neighborhood has always been early.

If you've got the time, the Tenement Museum is at 103 Orchard — same street, a few blocks down — and it's the best ninety minutes of context this neighborhood offers.

The food, since you will ask

Straight from the KushKlub crew, verified by us on the walk back:

• Dialogue Coffee (188 Allen St) — one block west. Fully vegan, and there's a carrot-cake latte engineered to go viral on your feed. It is exactly as cute as it looks and better than it needs to be.
• Bufón (78 Rivington St) — a few blocks south. The Spanish spot the whole LES is quietly obsessed with and slightly protective of. Get the duck. Do not overthink it.
• And if you want the canon move: Katz's is up at Houston and Ludlow, a five-minute walk, for the sandwich that needs no introduction and accepts no substitutes.

The routine

Pick up at KushKlub. Tap the product, claim the welcome (here's how, if it's your first). Coffee at Dialogue. Then go be a person in a neighborhood — the LES rewards aimlessness better than almost anywhere in Manhattan.

Also live around the city: Smacked Village, Cannadreams, Bliss and Lex — with NUG Yonkers next. Full map at the store locator, or read the next pin: Smacked Village, Greenwich Village.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is KushKlub?

186 Orchard St, between Houston and Stanton, Lower East Side. Licensed dispensary.

Do I claim the Bitcoin at the store?

You can — the tap works right at the counter — but nothing requires it. Claim at home on the couch if that's more your speed. The guide is here.

Is the reward different at different shops?

No. Same device, same upfront welcome, every licensed partner. The shop changes; the deal doesn't.