New York - November 20, 2009

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

East Side Social Club Opens

A preview of the Gilroy family Thanksgiving.

Billy: We got a lot to be grateful for. East Side Social Club opens on Monday. The whole family, working together.

Jimmy: Here we go. My kid brother’s on a roll. What’s this, your 90th place, Mr. Macao Trading-Employees Only-Match?

Billy: You talk, Sir Legendary Sunday Night Bartender at Raoul’s for decades.

Jimmy: Hey. Don’t age me. Can I help it if we inherited the gene from Grandma, the original owner of Grotta Azzurra? (Before Little Italy was a culinary joke.)

Billy: Yeah, and East Side’s special. An Italian-American joint, like the social club Dad used to run on East 10th. Cozy booths, black and white photos of DiMaggio. Linguini with clam sauce, gnocchi Bolognese, sirloin with braised radicchio. Devon, my boy, you learned well at A Voce and Chanterelle.

Devon: Grace, tell Dad to shut up. You’re the GM. That’s your job.

Grace: That’s enough, guys. Can someone pass the gravy?

East Side Social Club, 230 East 51st Street, between Second and Third Avenues (212-355-9442 or esscnyc.com).

  Employees Only, Italian Charm, Neighborhood Gem, Old School