The Stanton Social

Our trip to New York now seems like almost a distant memory, even though it was just a few weeks ago.  The 36 hours we spent in the city had us eating everywhere (including Mario Batali's Eataly, if you missed it!), but the one planned-well-in-advance meal was at The Stanton Social, billed as "New York's Sexiest Restaurant."  J and I were both excited to see how a popular, full-service NY restaurant would compare to what we have here in Philly.

Located in the Lower East Side just south of Houston Street, it actually consists of a tri-level space, with the main dining room occupying the lower level and the mezzanine and top floor housing more of a lounge.  Eating later on a Sunday allowed us some breathing room, but it was still busy, considering.

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The menu offers fun riffs on comfort foods from around the world, most of which are served tapas style.  The waitress suggested we each order 2-3 dishes for the table to share, but we were all leaning towards ordering just for ourselves instead (something she seemed surprised to hear-- what, not allowed?).  It was hard to pick just a few, especially with options like their famous French Onion Soup Dumplings and Duck Confit Empanadas (like I said, influence from lots of cultures!).

The chef started us out with a small amuse bouche, served in the classic tapas style, emphasizing the group experience.  A small crumbly cracker was topped with a white bean mousse with hints of rosemary, topped with a spray of parmesan curls.  I love a little gratis bite to start the meal, and thought this helped get us excited for the array of flavors and textures we would experience much better than a simple piece of bread would have.

Both sides of the table had to have an order of the Red Snapper Tacos ($10), a combination of chopped flaky fish, jalapeno, mango, and a smear of avocado, all served in a crunchy shell.  Each taco sat in it's own compartment of the dish, atop a pool of a spicy, creamy mayo-based sauce, thick enough to bind to the shell without making it a soggy mess, and giving this dish even more of a "sushi in a taco shell" feel.  A squeeze of lime could also be added, if desired.  This dish was my favorite of the night- a great combination of flavors, although a bit difficult to share between two people.

After a day of nonstop eating, I added an order of the Baby Spinach Salad to ensure we ate at least one vegetable ($9).  This salad isn't necessarily super healthy, but it was a great combination of ingredients I would never think to combine on my own.  Soft spinach leaves, spiced cashew crumbles, small clumps of goat cheese and tiny kernels of roasted corn were tossed in a barely-there balsamic-based vinaigrette and a shower of grated Parmesan.  I was definitely scraping up the last bits of balsamic-coated nuts at the bottom of the plate when we were done.

Our table also received two orders of the Chicken Arepas, a miniature version of the Latin dish, each with three perfect tiny bites ($10).  A soft cornmeal cake, a squeeze of avocado mousse, carefully arranged shreds of hand-pulled braised chicken, and a miniature pile of deconstructed salsa perched on top combined every necessary ingredient with ease.

When a menu has pickled ANYTHING on it, I have to order it-- so of course, a bowl of "Essex Street Pickles" had to be done ($4).  I was a little disappointed with them though, as they didn't quite satisfy my cravings for something salty, crunchy, and fresh.  The grape tomatoes were a nice touch, but would have been much better if also pickled.

Our final dish needed some prompting of our waitress- I don't know whether the kitchen forgot or whether she never got it on the ticket, but we're glad we made the second effort to try the Artichoke Fritters ($7).  I have no idea how something with such a high water content gets made into a tiny ball of fried dough, but they worked their magic and made it happen, with delicious results- light and tangy, with a combination of the sweet artichokes and a hit of fresh lemon.

Dessert was a must, as Stanton Social has a mouthwatering list of options.  I'm a sticky toffee pudding fiend, so convinced J to split Stanton's Irish-inspired version, which is spiked with Guinness, adding even more chocolate-y flavor, and topped with an irish cream gelato (think extra-extra-vanilla) ($8).  The caramel sauce, the key to the "sticky," was addicting- overall, a fun but relatively standard version of one of my favorite desserts.

Our friends ordered their famous Warm Doughnuts, a pile of fluffy, sugar-coated, slightly-larger-than-hole-sized doughnuts served with three super sauces- salted caramel, raspberry, and dark chocolate ($9).  Give me these three sauces on some plain vanilla ice cream any day- doughnuts aren't my thing- but no bite went uneaten.

Spending dinner with two of our favorite people in a city we're all experiencing together is priceless, and Stanton Social didn't disappoint in terms of food.  I'm really not sure what makes the restaurant sexy, let alone the sexiest, so I was a bit disappointed in the general atmosphere- it seemed like just a regular restaurant to me.  On any other day, this would be nothing to think twice about, but I do think Stanton tries to sell themselves as something they might not be.  A fun place to eat some fun food, sure, but if this is what New York wants to pride themselves on, Philly is keeping pace without breaking a sweat.

Stanton Social
New York City, NY