The Stanton Social Restaurant Review - 99 Stanton Street

Went to "Social Exchange Mondays" at the Stanton Social located at 99 Stanton St. between Ludlow and Orchard.  If you truly know me then you know that one of my goals is to live in the Lower East Side.  So much swag in that district.

Anyway, me and the lady went out there for a late night dinner. Like 10pm.  I hadn't been there since my Wall Street Days (R.I.P.).  Good to know that this place hasn't lost a touch of its elegance.

Sexy dim lighting 1

Swagged out lighting 2

Stanton Social is tapas-style dining, meaning everything is meant for sharing.  Its ensconced exterior makes it great for intimate dates or casual yet serious group meetings.  This was confirmed by my future publicist, who I randomly saw working on marketing connections. Now to the good stuff.

They gave us some complimentary cream ish on a mini baguette. I'm sorry. I forget.

Maryland Jumbo Lump Crabcake 'Corn Dogs'

Now, I ain't been to Coney Island in a minute, but I do recall disliking corn dogs as a kid.  I just thought that a battered schmorgasbord of mystery meat was not the business.  But these were slammin'.  The crab was nicely seasoned and the batter provided a moderate amount of crust to make it delectable.  Interesting way to eat a crabcake.

Potato & Goat Cheese Pierogies with caramelized onions & truffle creme fraiche

Pierogies are pretty much Polish dumplings or unleavened dough - first boiled, then baked or fried in butter with onions - traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit.  It was my first pierogi and it was good.  The potato blunted the usually overpowering taste of goat cheese. And I don't like sour cream, but the truffle creme fraiche (28% butter fat with a pH of around 4.5) went very well with the pierogi.  Embrace truffle oil in your life.

My Cannon Powershot S95 is a monster.

Moving along...

Red Snapper Tacos - creamy avocado, spicy mango

The red snapper tacos were so dumb.  First of all the taco shells were still super warm and you could taste a hint of the oil in which the taco was cook.  That gave the shell its fresh-out-the-cooker taste.  Second the tropical fruit really complimented the soft texture of the fish.  Nicely done.


Creekstone Farms Braised Short Rib Soft Tacos
cherry tomato relish, poblano crema

If you've seen my last post, then you know how I feel about braised beef ribs. I was wondering why The Stanton Social had to mention the farm from which this hunk of red meat came from.  Turns out that Creekstone Farms is committed to producing the highest quality beef in America. It has many certifications:

- USDA Certification                                                                - Highest Quality Corn-based Feed
- Verifiable Black Angus Genetics (black power, baby)          - State of the Art Processing
- Humane Animal Treatment                                                    - Two USDA Certified Beef Programs -
                                                                                                     (Premium and Natural)

In other words, they treat their beef like royalty.  Either way, you gotta get these bad boys when you swoop through Stanton Social.

'Chicken n' Waffles'
brick pressed chicken, aged cheddar waffle,
corn pudding, balsamic spiked maple syrup

I gotta be honest, this wasn't my favorite dish.  Call me old fashioned, but I like my chicken and waffles done the regular way. Like Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles regular way.  The chicken was good, but something about it was just doing the most.  For me, this was a classic example of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".  But ya'll might like it. -_-

You can't even tell what it is...can you?

Dessert?

Warm Doughnuts and Dippin' Sauces

I heard these were mad good.  I'm not the sauce man, so I let those be. So what did I do?

Chocolate Chip, Reverse Chip, and Oatmeal raisin

I got some "milk and cooookies." They were good, but I wasn't feelin that shot of milk.  Can a brotha get some more milk, please? I bet you they thought that was cute.

All in all, we enjoyed our Stanton Social experience.  Ambiance was great, food was great, and the live DJ was goin H.A.M.(!!!!) in the background.  This deejay was excellent.  He was spinnin that hip hop and R&B, putting 15 years in between well-executed transitions.  He was so good that we had to check the upstairs lounge.  And What did we see?

People gettin it in upstairs!!!

You can't see but peeps was poppin bottles on a Monday. Wow..I'm not that baller.

It was a full-blown party upstairs. Models and bottles full throttle.  DJ Tablmar was crushin' it.  I might have him DJ my next party.  We grabbed a drink, danced a bit, and took in the vibe on a Monday.  it was awesome. 

Social Exchange on Mondays at the Stanton Social was dope.  I definitely can't wait to run it back.  Makes me sad that I'll be leaving the city in a few months :-(

Maven Out!