On our recent visit to Dublin we encountered a hospitable community recovering from the economic downturn with a resurgence of fashion, food and boutique hotels. Here, we share seven of the most memorable stops we made along the way.

Indigo & Cloth

When asking around for shops carrying the best independent fashion in Dublin, the name Indigo & Cloth came up more than once. Tucked into a subterranean space on South William Street, the modern, minimalist boutique carries menswear and accessories by Our Legacy, Oliver Spencer and S.N.S. Herning, as well as a smaller selection of womenswear. Owner Garrett Pitcher flexes his creativity on various other projects about town, collaborating on the original label design for Kilbeggan Whiskey and working with the editorial team at the Dublin fashion magazine, Thread. Pitcher is currently working with the other merchants on the street and surrounding blocks to name their shopping district South William Quarter.

Paula Rowan

Employing traditional techniques, Paula Rowan makes her hand-stitched gloves from the finest quality lambskin, deerskin and suede with silk and cashmere linings and embellishments like buttons, zippers and fur. Rowan's Dublin boutique is located in the quaint Westbury Mall just steps from the bustle of Grafton Street. In addition to the local flagship, she currently operates the "Glove Pod" pop-up in the Westfield Shopping Centre in London.

Bow

In the sunlit atrium of the Powerscourt Centre, Wendy Crawford, Margaret O'Rourke and Ellis Boyle stock Bow with a diverse range of Irish designers. In-store finds include cashmere and silk arm warmers, bows and loop scarves by Eilis Boyle, gold vermeil jewelry with lace, pearl and semi precious stones from Momuse, hats from Electronic Sheep hats and a prime vintage selection.

Dylan Hotel

Located in a building that was once a nurse's home in a quiet neighborhood in Dublin 4, this family-owned boutique hotel is walking distance from some of the best shopping and restaurants in the city. Each room is uniquely and playfully decorated, and the downstairs lounge features a custom library in which every volume, from the classics to David Beckham's autobiography, has been bound in pearly green covers. Dubliners go to the Dylan for cocktails, romantic meals and celebratory overnights, and the property marks the city's only boutique hotel included in the Mr. & Mrs. Smith collection.

3FE

These two coffee bars from three-time Irish Barista Champion Colin Harmon provide Dublin with expertly prepared pour-over coffees and espresso drinks in a low-key atmosphere. Serving single origin coffee from Has Bean, the tasting menu reads like an exploration of flavors, with coffee, espresso and cappuccino brewed side by side with the same beans. 3FE started as a small set-up on the front porch of the Twisted Pepper building and has since taken over the pub space and also opened a shop on Lower Grand Canal Street.

Clement & Pekoe

In this tiny shop on South William Street, their signature sleek black tins of loose-leaf teas, herbs and tisanes line the far wall. In the store, they serve tea and hand-poured single origin coffees with a selection of light pastries. Part of the new South William Quarter community, Clement & Pekoe is frequented by the local merchants and shoppers in the know.

L Mulligan Grocer

A self-described eating and drinking emporium on Stoneybatter—a street once considered pretty desolate for a modern locavore pub—L. Mulligan Grocer uses locally sourced ingredients to update classic Irish dishes. The extensive, familiar menu includes organic blood pudding, bangers and mash, scotch eggs and fish 'n chips, as well as vegetable stews, fresh salads and seafood. The "Libations" list features more than 100 whiskies, Irish craft and imported beers. Also know for their popular quiz nights and beer tastings, it's often hard to get a table but always worth the wait.

In the wake of last year's devastating tsunami, artist Masaki Batoh sought to address the emotional wreckage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The multi-talented Batoh has combined two decades of acupuncture work with his career as head of the musical group Ghost to create an album dedicated to those affected by the event. Dropping tomorrow, Brain Pulse Music (BPM) sets traditional spiritual tracks alongside music recorded from the brain waves of patients.

"Music and acupuncture treatment are really one and the same to me, an extension of my spiritual expression," explains Batoh. "It's a very natural thing." The musician wanted to produce an album that would help the healing process in the same way that acupuncture relieves stress. "The Japanese were hurt and beaten down by the great quake, very frequent aftershocks, no fuel at gas stations, no safe food and the explosions of nuclear reactors hit by the quake and tsunami," he recounts. "This is the requiem for dead and alive victims."

Two of the tracks on the album were created by recording signals from a modified EEG machine. The songs are purely improvisational, created by non-musicians in therapy-session settings. This method comes from Ghost's history of using improvisation, during which band members would be kept in separate compartments to minimize communication. Batoh specializes in treating developmentally disabled patients, and the machine is designed to help them normalize brain levels. By providing an audible response to cognitive changes, they are able to learn to gain some control over their mental activity.

The machine itself involves a headgear sensor that communicates with a motherboard. EEG waves are sent via radio to the motherboard, which outputs the signal as a sound image. Eventually, the "performer" learns to control the signal and can actually create music from their mind. The goal is to quiet the mind to a meditative state and allow the sensors to interpret the slight pulsations from the brain. Created by an electric pedalboard company, the custom-built machine is modeled off of medical EEG recording equipment.

The other tracks on the album come from the Kumano manuscript, Batoh's name for his replications of religious melodies heard in his youth near the sacred Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route. Hoping to effect positive change in the recovery of his countrymen, Batoh is donating profits from BPM towards a fund for orphaned children. Additionally, the Brain Pulse Machine has been reproduced and is available for purchase.

Check out the video of Batoh's BPM Machine at work, along with the two brain wave tracks from the album.

Striking a balance between simplicity and intricacy, husband and wife design duo John and Svetlana (Lana) Briscella seamlessly merge their talents in Aminimal, a multifaceted studio that pushes the dimensions of industrial design. Aptly named, Aminimal aims to artfully spin the belief that minimal design comes from constrained concepts. "Aminimal has the word minimal inside but reads atypical, like something different," Lana explains. Aminimal's name is also often misconstrued as the word "animal", a slip that the duo creatively embraces and occasionally integrates into their designs.

After meeting in Vienna, John and Lana set up shop in New York in 2011. Based in Brooklyn, the duo's designs have an abstract, urbanist appeal. Culling from their travels and dwellings in various cities as well as from John's academic background in Urban Strategies, Aminimal draws from the grid-like patterns of metropolitan spaces to create customized map mementos. Turning a memorable meeting place into commemorative and, in the case of the NYC Cork Board, functional art pieces, Aminimal celebrates "an emotional connection to the city."

The couple spent time in Paris before landing in the States, and paying homage to their former haunt, Aminimal tested the limitations of dimensionality by re-interpreting the Louis XIV Ghost Armchair by designer Philippe Starck as a 3D cutout shroud of a map of Paris. Matching conceptual forwardness with technical precision, Aminimal uses a variety of tools. However, they cite their best tool as the "connection between our heart, brain and eyes."

Initially exploring the energy of intersecting points through lamp designs—namely the polygonal-shaped Contact Window Lighting System—Aminimal added anatomy to the equation with its jewelry line, the Field Test Collection, which is "designed around the premise of structures found in magnetic fields." The couple also created the Second Skin Watch, which swaps numbers for LED lights. The timepiece answers the age-old design challenge to "make a watch that's not a watch", presenting a futuristic study of the human hand's natural contours, modeled after the flow of pouring water.

Aminimal's innovative Calibration Stool and its Lounge counterpart, respectively evocative of a porcupine and spiny caterpillar, are made up of multiple wooden legs to create what they call a "3D rocking chair". Bucking the notion that people remain creatures of habit, the Calibration Stool enables a person to move into a variety of seated positions by pivoting their weight against the numerous leg options.

Inspired by nature, Aminimal also turns to geometric formations. "In industrial design, you look for a line," says John. "You're looking to re-purpose analogies in your design. What I was looking for was, 'What is the negative and positive of points and what is the reaction that causes the relationship?'"