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“Stand”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Lunch/Takeout	New American	East Village	Moderate	Great

e newest entrant in the hamburger wars, joining haute burger boys Laurent Tourondel (BLT Burger) and Chris Russell (Brgr). So far, Stand’s my favorite.

Moor’s new place has got that effortlessly cool, I wanna-sit-at-your-table kind of vibe. He’s gone with a design that is fresh, clean, hip, and simple. Stand faces the sidewalk with a sheet of oversized floor-to-ceiling windows, and invites diners inside with a warm chocolate and orange color palate, an industrial steel-faced open kitchen, and stylish dark-grained wood picnic tables. It’s part urban cafeteria, part hipster dining room, and part picnic in the park. All together, it works. What’s more, the service is attentive and friendly, and so enthusiastic you half expect them to be on roller skates, and heading out to serve the drive in.

The food also works, quite well, right down to the shakes and salty golden French fries. I’ve eaten at Stand several times now and my burger requirements have been met every time. First, there’s the beef. There are seven ounces of it—not too much, not too little. Every burger is made from beef that is ground daily in house so it’s got great texture. And this beef’s got chops. It’s not bland or pale in flavor. It tastes like beef—meaty and just salty enough. The burgers are grilled to order and prepared to medium rare (unless otherwise requested), and every burger I’ve had has arrived at the correct temperature. Not overdone, dry and gray, not bloody and cold in the center, but the perfect temperature that’s just right. Bravo! Goldilocks would be happy here.

The idea behind the burgers at Stand is to riff on the Big Mac. Jonathan’s feeling is that like the Big Mac, which comes with its own special sauce (etc.), every burger deserves a set of matching condiments and garnishes. So he designed a menu of burgers that ranges from the classic burger, the little black dress of the menu, which stays simple, with choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and homemade ketchup ($9) tucked into a beautiful golden topped bun—to the House Burger ($10), a burger blessed with jammy onion marmalade, and house sauce, and the Bacon & Egg Cheeseburger ($12), one topped with bacon, cheddar and hard-boiled egg mayo. In this way, the menu offers something for everyone.
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Posted: February 19, 2007

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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