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“The Stanton Social”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Lower East Side	Moderate	Great

One of my favorite things about going to weddings…well, wait, let me rephrase. One of the ONLY things I like about going to weddings (other than witnessing the joyful bliss known as wedlock) is the cocktail hour. (Especially weddings at The Pierre. They do a nice job over there.) While dinner is usually some dreadful combination of dry salmon, rubbery chicken, or well-done (choke) steak, the cocktail hour is usually a lovely affair involving a flurry amuse bouche-styled snacks. It is also usually the point at which I try and assess the crowd (read: confirm that I am indeed the only single person left on the planet other than the recently divorced male who hails from Iowa and is lookin’ for a lady to take home with him to mind the kids), and then hang out by the bar-—alone. The point of all this is nonsense is this: I love hors d’oeurves. And I am not ashamed to admit that I can often be found hovering by the kitchen door waiting for the pigs in blankets. These pups go fast people. You need a plan to get at them.

And so the menu at Stanton Social—owned by Peter Kane, chef Chris Santos and Rich Wolf (Tao)—immediately made me smile. Not just because Chris, whom I have adored since his days at Wyanoka, is in the kitchen, and not just because AvroKO designed the soaring and stunning duplex space (if you have not read my article on them for New York Magazine yet, click on articles and check it out), but because the menu allows you to have your very own little hors d’oeuvres hour, basically a seated cocktail party, while tucked into one of AvroKO’s cozy Genie-in-a-bottle-styled banquettes. (Plus you can go with your friends, and not have to make small talk with some ill-suited wedding date.)

I have been to Stanton Social about a half-dozen times now, and clearly I have a problem because I cannot stop eating when I am there. Santos’ food is scrumptious and addictive, and speaks to the restaurant’s “social club” concept in its take and pass feeding plan, and nods to the era of the social club with modern riffs on dishes like Oysters Rockefeller and Beef Wellington, and just to make sure the LES gets some play, Potato Perogies and Essex Street Pickles.

One of the first nights I was there, with my trusty Team Food—Jamie and Susie, plus our best guy friend Court—we assaulted the menu with eyes too wide for our stomachs. We started with French Onion Soup Dum ... [more, click below]

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Posted: May 15, 2005

Other restaurants in Lower East Side :
+ Mojo   + WD-50   + Schiller's Liquor Bar   + Azul Bistro   + Barrio Chino   + 71 Clinton Fresh Food-- Closed   + Little Giant   + Kuma Inn   + Falai   + The Stanton Social   + The Tides   + Thor   + The Orchard   + El Bocadito-- CLOSED   + Bondi Road   + Rayuela   + Suba   + Bun (boone)   + Sorella   + The Fat Hippo   + Pulino's   

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