Stanton Sociability
catching the buzz around The Stanton Social opening, we stopped by this week with a couple friends to check it out – and wow, it's a great place! beautiful space, decorated with darks woods and golden lighting; very roomy and comfortable. there’s also a cool bar on the 3rd floor. and the food is inventive and delicious. over 50 items on the menu, everything is small plate and designed for sharing. at first the portions seemed small, but by the end of the meal we couldn’t finish dessert (at around $55 a person, including drinks tax and tip, for 3 hours of great dining it seemed like a bargain!)

cocktails were tasty and refreshing (our one complaint of the night was that they were on the weak side), but they have some unusual “signature” combinations (and a good wine list.) a bowl of super thin, homemade potato chips flavored with rosemary are brought out while you browse the massive menu. service is good and our waitress was very helpful. the menu is huge but organized in a way that makes it easy to order. you can start with a few dishes and add as you go. (we ordered several dishes at the beginning and the kitchen did an excellent job of paring items and sending them out at just the right pace.) everything we tried was very good, some were amazing….

- Kobe beef sliders, at $6 each and about 3-4 bites, are probably the most expensive burger we’ve ever had. they are also off the scale, insanely good! can’t even compare them to a regular burger. so flavorful, a decadent texture and there’s simply nothing you can do to keep the juice from rolling down your chin. even with our eye on so many things to try and their high price – we ordered a second round as soon as the waitress came back.
- Ahi tuna kabobs with a brown sugar crust and watermelon salsa fresca were heavenly, nicely browned with a delicious glaze on the outside perfectly rare and melt in your mouth tender on the inside. 3 for $14.
- French onion soup dumplings – LOVED the chewy dumpling dough and crispy crouton on the outside contrasted with the juicy burst of super rich onion broth and melty gruyere cheese inside. served in a cool escargot like dish, with bamboo spears, makes it easy you pop the whole thing in your mouth. 6 for around $8.
- Haricot vert with buttered almonds - a simple dish that we’re a sucker for, done perfectly with tons of luscious toasted almond slivers tossed in a pile of freshly steamed haricot vert $6

and we found ourselves in constant envy of what was being delivered to other tables. on our list for next time: red snapper tacos looked cute and delish, everything from the raw bar was fresh and fab, and the soufflé dessert trio looked fantastic. all around a great new addition to the hood that we can’t wait to return to!

Update: Catherine's Pita hit it Friday and has some raves of her own. and do not miss Andrea Strong's fascinating article in New York Magazine about AvroKO - a visionary group of young architects and designers behind The Stanton Social's fabulous space!