Burgers and shakes, all grown-up @ Stand

When did New York become so burger-crazed? Not that I'm complaining - I think the burgers + fries + shake combination is one of the best things ever. There's Burger Joint (my favorite thus far but primarily because of the awesomeness of having a dingy greasy burger place hidden in the lobby of a prim and proper hotel in the heart of Midtown), Shake Shack (re-opening 3/21 much to the joy of fans everywhere), Corner Bistro (tried going last friday night but the lines were too long), brgr (burgers 2.0 style anyone?) and too many others to list.

I think that Stand is going to become my go-to place for a nice, civilized burger and fries experience going forward.

The Decor: (9.5/10)



Stand has a really clean, comfortable, pop-modern interior courtesy of Studio Gaia. The dining room is composed of lots of long picnic tables and comfortable benches which give the place a very laid-back feel but you also notice that all the furniture is custom-tailored by BDDW, a Soho design house. That's essentially the theme of the day - upscale burgers in great digs.

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The Food: (9/10)

Fresh blackberry soda, $4
Such a refreshing drink - nicely sweet and mildly carbonated. I think the flavor of the blackberry wasn't strong enough though and there was a bit too much lime in the mixture.

Chocolate Malt Shake, $6
Amazing, amazing shakes... if this is any representation of the full line-up of shakes (I really couldn't stomach more than one even though I wanted to try them all), Stand's shakes are huge winners. The chocolate malt shake hit all the right notes and felt velvety, creamy and well-rounded. All shakes are made with gelato from Il Laboratorio del Gelato, which might explain how these are so mind-numbingly good. They're also unfortunately $6 each so these might be quite a dangerous addiction.

Small shoestring fries, $3
These were a great example of what shoestring fries should taste and feel like - really crispy, fresh from the frier and perfectly salted- and went really well with the burgers.

Medium-rare cheeseburger - Sesame bun, beef, onion marmalade, lettuce, blue cheese sauce, $11
This was a really good burger and cooked just perfectly (medium rare) so that the juices were leaking all over the plate before we were done.

Mushroom Beef Burger with onion marmalade, lettuce, porcini sauce, $10
Since I love mushrooms so much, I had to get the mushroom beef burger and I was so glad I did. I have to say this is one of my favorite burgers now - the meatiness and richness of the mushroom really complemented the smoky grilled flavor of the beef. I got mine medium since I don't like bleeding meat and the burger was really firm but still juicy and bursting with flavor. I did notice that this was a bit under-seasoned but overall, excellent.

The condiments: Bertman ball park mustard, Kewpie mayonnaise (so cute!), Heinz ketchup

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Summary
Stand is a really aesthetically appealing place to get some upscale burgers, great drinks and yummy fries in the Village. I think that the food is a bit overpriced (our meal for two came to ~$40) but the ambiance and generally high quality of the food make up for it.

As a side note, I welcomed a new addition to my tech family this week - meet my new toy, the Canon Rebel XT - we're going to be grand friends :) This is the first set of photos from my new cam, but I'm hoping to start upping the quality of my photos as I learn more about what this baby can do.

The Little Owl

What an awesome meal... After hearing such great things about The Little Owl from the likes of Bruni, the Amateur Gourmet and restaurantgirl, I'd been dying to try it out. Reservations were always hard to come by but on Wednesday night, I took a chance and popped in at 6PM sharp to try to snag a seat. Not only were they gracious enough to seat my party of 2 immediately, we got a great seat in the corner of the cozy and bustling dining room. Our waitress was incredibly friendly and enthusiastic about the food and all her recommendations were stars.

We started with:

Cavatelli with veal cheeks, broiled tomatoes and escarole

I thought this dish was amazing - the cavatelli had a great chewy texture and the veal cheek just literally melted in my mouth. The broiled tomatoes gave the entire dish a very homey, rich taste and the ecarole gave it just the right amount of bitterness to round out the dish.

After this dish, we had the highly recommended Gravy Meatball Sliders:

These were made from a combination of beef-pork-veal, fennel and pecorino and were intensely flavorful. I liked these a lot but had to really squish the meatball down to eat it without making a total mess of the table.

And then we got down to business...

THE Pork Chop served with parmesan butter beans and wild dandelion

I love, love, love pork chops. It's one of my many weaknesses and I exploit this weakness often. This was definitely one of the best (if not the best) pork chop I've ever had and I've had plenty over my lifetime. Our waitress was kind enough to split everything into 2 portions for us and each portion was gigantic. The meat was perfectly cooked and tender and just fatty enough to make my taste buds and salivary glands go on overdrive. The parmesan butter beans were a perfect complement and tasted like creamy mashed potatoes. Perfectly seasoned and beautiful to look at too - this totally made my night.

At this point, we were stuffed to the point of bursting but we decided that we had to try at least one of the desserts.

The Dessert menu

So we chose the Baked Strawberry Custard:

This came with a little dollop of cream and lots and lots of sweet strawberries and a very dense custard. This was a lot firmer than I had expected - I was expecting something more akin to a flan or egg custard but was really different and not overly sweet as most desserts are. I don't think this was like anything I'd ever had before so I'd definitely chalk this up as a success though I'm not sure if I'd order it again.

Overall, awesome flavors, fresh ingredients, great service and a great location. Definitely highly recommended.

Pearl Oyster Bar

Connie (my always reliable fooding partner) and I decided to head over to Pearl Oyster Bar for lunch today. We'd been to Mary's Fish Shack a few weeks back and wanted to compare the two establishments. I liked the food at Mary's but hated the atmosphere - very cramped, noisy and very "divey". The atmosphere at Pearl was a heck of a lot nicer - it was dim, pleasantly buzzing and spacious in the dining room.

Now, on to the food:

Smoked Atlantic Salmon w/ Johnnycakes & Crème Fraiche

Wow... this was completely and totally awesome. The johnnycakes (cornmeal pancakes) went perfectly with the silky smoothness of the perfectly smoked salmon and Creme Fraiche. I'd order this several times a week if it weren't $10 a plate. This might be something fun (and easy) to make at home... I'll post if I ever get around to it.

Pan-fried cod sandwich with shoestring fries:

The fish was perfectly cooked - really moist, well seasoned and flaky. There was a bit too much mayo on it for my tastes but overall, a great sandwich. The fries were too greasy and not crisp enough for my taste - the fries at Mary's were much better.

Pan Roasted Skate Filet

The fish was really well cooked but someone went a bit overboard on the salt. My lips were tingling a bit after I finished eating my portion. The corn was a nice counterpoint to the fish.

Conclusion? I think I'd have to give the edge to Pearl's - mostly due to the ambiance of the dining room, awesome appetizers and a really good cod sandwich.