Now that Whisk & Ladle seems to have made good, it makes sense that another underground  outfit would pop up to take its place. Enter The Society.

Billing itself as a “supper salon,” this traveling dinner party
fuses food, drink and music with real-estate envy—last night’s event, for example, drew 20-odd Society members to a 2,000-square-foot Tribeca loft.

PDT mixologist Jim Meehan was working the tins, and his wife, Valerie Meehan (of Market Table), served his creations. Venerable busker and piano schlepper Colin Huggins banged on his creaky upright, and former Blue Hill chef Kevin Patricio turned out a stellar market-driven menu that would have made Dan Barber proud.

“Snails in the garden”—escargot with buttery bread crumbs and baby vegetables—were preceded by steak tartare with kimchi. Wild black cod came next, followed by lamb loin with farro risotto, and later a chocolate brioche bread pudding.

Could this have been a sneak preview of that Meehan-Patricio project we heard whispers of last fall? The chef was tight-lipped but said that his restaurant will be market-driven, “probably have the word Pony in its name, and make you realize that Manhattan is an island.”

We think the Rusty Knot has the tiki beat covered, but hey, we’ve never been one to turn down a luau.…—Hannah Seligson