The Stanton Social (99 Stanton Street)

So, the gang (11 of us in all methinks), descended onto the Lower East Side yesterday for some excellent brunch at the super-cool Stanton Social. Given the number of diners, we were offered a 6 course tasting menu & boy was it good!

We all arrived & were seated on the mezzanine level which overlooks the hip, industrial main dining area. Brunch started off a bit shaky as the waiter forgot a few of our drink orders, but as soon as the food came out, it was pure bliss.

- Wolf & Sons' Bagel & Lox Platter.

Aye Curumba! I'm a huge fan of smoked salmon, so I was really excited to 'wolf' (pun intended) these down.

I thought that the presentation was excellent, particularly the cream cheese which was served like an scoop of ice cream. The fish was delicious, but my only real gripe was that it took a bit of effort to get at the capers. No biggie though.

- Vanilla Bean Pancakes w/Caramelized Bananas & Spiced Pecans.

Again, beautifully presented & topped with the bananas, pecans & a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. I'll admit that I'm not much of a pancake eater, but these were small & went down very easily. The maple syrup was some of the very best that I've ever had (move over Aunt Jemima!) I did, however, wish that there were more bananas on the stack.

- Classic Eggs Benedict w/Canadian Bacon & Hollandaise.
- Potato Latkes.

These two courses came out together & actually complemented each other very well. Nothing much of interest to report about the Benedict, standard fare (not trying to say they weren't good). I really liked the Latkes which were topped with sour cream & apple sauce. An excellent mix of sweet & savory.

- BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich.
- Lobster Rolls.

Whoa! Sandwich overload! It was like a mini surf & turf! I was already filling up by now, but I did enjoy both of these courses. Particularly the Pork which was cooked to perfection.

All in all, an excellent experience. I'd like to go back to The Stanton Social for dinner one day & sample the a la carte delicacies. Definitely check the joint out!

The Club Goes Diurnal (daytime drinking)

It's no secret that New York and New Yorkers love a good brunch. When recovering after a hard night of revelry in need of sustenance, where do you turn? If it's Saturday or Sunday the answer is easy, brunch. However, the choices are many......breakfast or lunch food, savory or sweet, sausage or bacon? Just sauntering through Park Slope or the Lower East Side on a Sunday afternoon, you can lose yourself in a maze of sandwich boards pasted with the daily specials.....All-You-Can-Drink Brunch!, Omelet of the day! $2 PBR with fries! Although easy and often affordable to gorge yourself with food and unlimited OJ-heavy mimosas, a homemade brunch is far superior, right? No screaming children escalating your debilitating hangover and ruining your cuss-filled conversation. No suspect looking chef sweating face all over your eggs Benedict........and so on.

So after all this time, Thursday Club finally does brunch with Teddy's menu of:

- Peach Bellini
- Papaya, banana and Grand Marnier smoothie
- Traditional English rarebit
- BBB (blood, bacon and bangers) terrine with tomato butter sauce, truffled potato hash
- Walnut, banana and chocolate muffins with Nutella and Apricot Jam

I have yet to experience a bad day after starting off with a fizzy Champagne cocktail, so I was overjoyed to see a plethora of beverages showcased on the menu. To add a bit more fuel to the fire, Mike brought a few seasonal ales and I contributed a Kir Royal to the aforementioned Bellini and fruit smoothie.

The Trifecta - Mr. Royal, Mr. Smooth, Mr. Peach

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of papaya (a papaya proponent?) or Grand Marnier for that fact, but a cocktail is a cocktail and I desperately needed the vitamins and boozy goodness this elixir had to offer. Emotions were high, voices were getting louder (and a touch slurred), and like a shot we congregated around the table for our first non-liquid course.

When you have ravenous group of lads with a few drinks in them, certain combinations just hit the spot regardless of the time. English rarebit in layman's terms is cheese on toast. Bullseye. In Thursday Club terms, it is a grated cheese mixture combined with Guinness, eggs and spiced with mustard. All of this was scooped liberally on an English muffin (strangely our English host has no recollection of a Mr. Thomas pioneering his home country's booming muffin trade) and broiled until melted and golden brown. It puffed up like a wonderful souffle served on an edible dish. It had everything we needed to get the meal started. Melted cheese. Warm, crisp bread. All slathered with some HP Sauce.

Nothing really prepared any of us for what was in store next. I had sampled Teddy's black pudding in the past and it was up there with the best I've ever had. He took that wonderful mixture and added a few breakfast staples to create a completely original and sensational dish. The terrine had crispy bacon on the outside and mild breakfast sausage links running through the 4 quadrants of the loaf. Once heated through and a light crust was broiled on the top, each rich slice was placed on a bed of crisped potatoes that were tossed in........sigh.....truffle butter. If that wasn't enough (it's never enough), a sweet, buttery tomato sauce was spooned around and over it all. A lot of times you can tell how good a dish is by the amount of ruckus it creates when it is plated and served and then by the silence it draws after the first bites have been taken. There was plenty of incoherent muttering and "I can't believe this is happening" to go around. All the ingredients by themselves would have been terrific, but together they formed one of the best brunch dishes I've ever had.

After another much needed digestion break, we reconvened around the table to the smell of sweet chocolate muffins and brewed coffee. Surprisingly, we had enough room left to devour those and declare war on a jar of Nutella.

The first daytime Club was a complete success. The food was unbelievable, drinks flowed freely and the weather couldn't have been better. Even after we finished up, we had the whole day to kick back, talk sh!t and enjoy the sunshine. Perfect.