Earlier this week we had the honor of getting a sneak peak at the new Beauty & Essex, brought to us by Rich Wolf, Peter Kane, and Chris Santos, the brains behind The Stanton Social. 

 

 

Similary to the SS, B&E brings to us richly flavored tapas in a fantastically chic lounge setting.  However, unlike the SS, you have to make your way through a pawn shop to get to the restaurant.  Unlike most sketchy and cluttered pawn shops, this one is neartly organized with only the most discerning taste in merchandise with great pieces of jewelry, antiques, novelty toys and a comic book from the days of yore, and even a gas mask.

The restaurant is beautifully decorated.  The walls are adorned with great pieces of decor, such as with hanging antique necklaces and jewelry, and this large ornate flower display that I would like to have for my own living room one day:

 

A gorgeous sparkling chandelier hung from the center of a winding staircase leading to the upper level.  The second floor housed the DJ booth, which looked a little bit small on confining, but DJ Reach who was spinning for the event seemed to pay no mind.

Bottle service was on display at all the tables, giving us an idea how it would look like on a typical late night out.  They passed hor d’oeuvres – parmesan fritters, chicken meatballs with ricotta, salt and peppered shrimp, cheeseburger sliders, crispy Bahn-mi style spring rolls, “jewels on toast” crostinis –  were all absolutely amazing, ensuring that we’ll come back for another visit to taste the rest of the menu. 

 

The rumors were true that there is champagne in the ladies’ restroom!  Is this only a temporary thing for the premiere of the restaurant?  Not certain, but I wouldn’t wait to find out.  Normally we’re so envious of the mens’ room line being so short, but in this case we’ll be glad to wait.

Beauty & Essex opens to the public tomorrow, December 11th, so head down to the Lower East Side to marvel in person.

Yours,
Von

Beauty & Essex
146 Essex Street
between Stanton and Rivington

See more coverage by Thrillist and Grub Street, which also includes the first look of the menu.