West Village

Sister Pie is everything you want it to be upon simply hearing its name. Housed in an adorable corner spot in West Village, the bakery makes an-ever changing line-up of pies based on what's in season, from salted maple, to apple sage gouda, to cranberry crumble. Pies are available for order two days in advance for pick-up at Sister Pie's L-shaped counter bar. And in-house spots are available around the cozy communal table.

Signal Return Press specializes in gorgeous letterpress, doing their part to preserve the increasingly obscure art by offering workshops and open studio programs, and hosting visiting artists. If you're not in town during one of their events, it's still fun to stop by their shop, which has great cards, posters, and prints. It's a great place for picking up souvenirs.

Named after the neighborhood in Brooklyn, The Red Hook was started by a couple who met there before moving to Detroit together. On one side of the café is the coffee bar and pastry display case and on the other side a fairly zen space (at least in the early morning hours) for reading or catching up on work. Potentially also handy: The Red Hook keeps a box of toys and little kid entertainment by its door. While you're in the area, with coffee in hand, take a walk a few blocks east to Iroquois and then north to wander through historic Indian Village. Many of the picturesque homes in this residential neighborhood date back to the early 20th-century, and were built by major architects—Albert Kahn, Louis Kamper and William Stratton—for Detroiters like Edsel Ford (son of Henry Ford).