Lots has been going on in this sampler's life. I got a job (yay!) and moved so my time has been somewhat constricted for finding random eats around the city. But, now I am settled in a new apartment- hellooo upper east side!- and have been working for a month and am ready to get back to my true and original love. I'm going to slowly share with you some of the fab places I have been in the past weeks and soon we will be back up to speed.
Let's start with Stand. My parents came to visit a few weeks ago, and we did some seriously good sampling while they were here. My mom was a little under the weather while she was here, so on their first night in town it was just my dad and me. Now I love my pops, but let's just say he is not the most adventurous eater (if it's not meat-based and smothered in bbq sauce, he doesn't want it) so I wanted to find a place he and I could both enjoy. We decided on Stand, a super chic burger joint that hit the spot. If anyone has been to Top Chef contestant Richard Blaise's restaurant Flip in Atlanta, I would say they are highly comparable (and both delish).
Stand has a cool, trendy vibe and is a huge space for a restaurant in the city, which is not something you necessarily think about while you are there, but you do tend to just spread out and speak at a higher than normal decibel level simply because you can. I kicked the night off by ordering a 'drink stand'- the restaurant's namesake cocktail. It's the perfect combo of gin, lemondade, cucumber and basil- super refreshing and not too strong- great compliment to a burger. My dad was excited because he could get unlimited Diet Coke- a rare find in this city. After much contemplation, I decided to get one turkey and one chicken slider, my dad ordered 'the classic' burger and we opted to split an order of fries. Everything was exactly what you would want from a burger joint- juicy, almost too big to get your mouth around both buns and full of nothing-too-fancy flavor. Yes please.
Just a quick end note: I seriously hate pickles- like I have been offering my mom the pickles off my McDonalds hamburgers since I was 3- but Stand serves b&b fried pickles that will change your life. Okay, maybe not your life, but at least your attitude toward pickles.
