UES Gem: Tisane Pharmacy

With CVS stores on every corner, it’s fun to find an old-school pharmacy in New York City—and support a local business at the same time. Tisane, located on 86th Street, between 2nd and 3rd feels almost like a French pharmacy in that they carry a small and select number of speciality products like Nuxe, Bioderma, Avene etc. The staff behind the pharmacy counter is really helpful and most definitely feels like a small business. I was recently prescribed Retin-A and one of the employees behind the counter worked to get the price down for me, without even having to ask. But what I love most about this small shop is that it serves as a cafe. The word tisane, translates from French to tea., and here you’ll find tons of loose leaf tea blends, in addition to speciality coffee drinks, smoothies, Italian sodas, egg creams, and fresh-daily pastries from Balthazar. It’s not uncommon to see a few folks sitting at one of the small interior cafe tables, sipping a tea, and reading the paper. How lovely is that?