Stanton Social’s Reinvented Chicken and WafflesThough the menu at Stanton Social is immense, there are always a few dominant dishes Lower East Side patrons order again and again. Recently it was the crab corn dogs, which Starchefs had chef Chris Santos prepare for the Rising Star Chef gala. Now it’s a postmodern “Chicken and Waffles” created by Santos and his soon-to-depart chef de cuisine Ryan Angulo. We spoke to Angulo about the dish. As always, mouse over the different elements to hear it described in the chef’s own words.
NewsFeed
Eric Ripert Builds a Perfect Burger — But You Can’t Eat It
When you think of Eric Ripert, you tend to think of ethereal lobster, marinated fluke, transporting escolar with miso brown butter, and the like. Which made it weird when the chef started enthusing about his hamburger the other night. “It’s the best hamburger anywhere — better than anywhere in New York,” the fish master says.
User’s Guide
Forget What to Eat — What Do You Wear?
Got dinner reservations for New Year’s Eve but still don’t know what to wear? We’ve got you covered. If you’re eating at Craftsteak, we recommend pairing your Wagyu New York strip with a Ralph Lauren charcoal suit and a Diane Von Furstenberg velvet wrap dress. Our Everything Guide to New Year’s has even more suggestions for your evening. And the photos are hot.
New Year, New Look
Mediavore
Gilt Besieged by ‘Gossip Girl’ Wannabes; More of the Old EastThe bar at Gilt is besieged by “a parade of ripe Lolitas,” all clamoring for cocktails like their idols on Gossip Girl. Unhappily for the nymphets, and any well-heeled Humbert Humberts who happen to be hanging around, you have to be 21 to drink in the real-world version of the bar. [Insatiable Critic]
Two of the last holdouts of the old East Village, Sophie’s and Mona’s, are both for sale. What will replace them? Trustafarian discos? Hookah bars? Collegiate-style ale houses? Somewhere Rockets Redglare is rolling in his grave. [NYP]
To help allay the bitterness of exile, the New York Food Anywhere blog will show you where to find New York food in places that aren’t New York. It’s depressing, but it does make you appreciate the fact that you don’t need to use it. [New York Food Anywhere via Serious Eats]
Back of the House
Fernando Navas Brings El Bulli’s ‘Cheese Air’ to SushiSambaAbout a year ago, Argentine-born Fernando Navas, then a sous-chef at Nobu Miami, got the news that he was one of the 50 applicants out of 6,000 chosen for a four-month stage at Spain’s El Bulli, the stomping grounds of hallowed molecular gastronomist Ferran Adrià and pretty much the most famous restaurant in the world. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays in January, Navas will present an Adrià-influenced $110 tasting menu at his current restaurant, SushiSamba. We’re not saying it’ll be as hard as scoring a table at El Bulli, but only twelve people will be accommodated per night. We asked Navas what it was like to fulfill every young chef’s dream.
VideoFeed
Eben Freeman of Tailor Imparts the Secrets of the ‘Hard Shake’
Eben Freeman of Tailor isn’t just a bartender. He isn’t even a mere mixologist. We’ll go ahead and say it: Eben Freeman is a cocktail guru. Who else could have imported the secret maneuver of the “hard shake” to our shores from its hiding places in Japan and Slovakia? No one. And that’s why we present this video, of how to perform the hard shake, for your viewing pleasure. Click on the photo to watch.
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Daniel Boulud and Ken Friedman Reveal New Projects in Cheesy Belvedere AdsThe Tenjune lads aren’t the only ones to recommend not-exactly-under-the-radar places in Belvedere’s “keys to the city” series: The interview with Marquee’s “head doorman/actor” Wass makes us want to hand him a douche card, Centro Vinoteca’s Anne Burrell plugs no fewer than four Batali restaurants, and pretty much everyone plugs the Spotted Pig.