That there is an element of old club nostalgia about The Stanton Social is no accident. The award-winning designers of AvroKO have turned their considerable talents this wonderful New York Restaurant and come up with a beautifully congruous style which hankers after the Lower East Side’s clothing industry of the forties.

The Stanton Social is the brainchild of its three co-owners and long time friends, Richard Wolf, Peter Kane and Chef Chris Santos. With its three levels and thirty-foot herringbone wine display and the generous use of leathers, dark woods and even lizard-skin banquettes, there is more that a sampling of inspired man-about-town luxuriousness about it.

The niche nostalgia is further explored in the area of staff attire. You can expect A-line skirts and Mary Jane shoes. While AvroKO’s typically remarkable design is a large part of the appeal of this elegant and fun New York Restaurant, it is really a only half the story. A place with similar stylistic elegance might well have taken a back seat and let the aesthetes simply wallow in the deep banquettes and dark hues, but Chef Chris Santos has ensured that The Stanton Social is as regarded for its culinary efforts as it is for its environment, if not more so.

The menu has been created with an idea to sharing. Communal plates of delightful edibles are de rigueur. In terms of nurturing the ‘social’ aspect, this has a profound effect, but when it comes to the unexpected and curious culinary offerings, the food is often the sole topic of conversation.

Order the French Onion Soup and you’ll be hard pressed to find something familiar, rather you’ll be presented with dumplings which can be lifted and enjoyed in their Gruyère-covered loveliness. It is a fine illustration of the sense of fun which marks this exceptional food out from other New York Restaurants. This is multi-national cuisine at its most whimsical and wonderful, qualities which might not marry in many areas of life, but they certainly pair well in Chef Santos’ kitchen. To say ‘multi-national’ without pointing out that both styles and ingredients are often merged in single dish, is wholly unfair and misleading.

From a plate of Kobe Beef Sliders to Peking Duck Quesadillas, The Stanton Social is not merely a venue for Bettie Page look-alikes to sip fantastic cocktails and look sultry, but one where food takes centre stage. Playful and sexy, this New York Restaurant on the Lower East Side is at once a glorious homage to the textiles industry of the golden past and one of the most innovative and imaginative of the 21st century New York Restaurant scene.

Whether you’re in for a quick cocktail or a rather well-priced bottle of good wine with a plate of small marvels for two or three, or you’re in for the long haul with a full range of tasty delights from Raw Bar to the final warm doughnut dunked in caramel sauce, The Stanton Social has a little for everyone and a lot for those who prefer their food inventive, delicious and in elegant surroundings. Chris Santos and company have proved that pleasure and play can happily exist beside the chic and gently sophisticated.