By Hunter Atkins
A reporter by trade, Hunter Atkins once paid $100 to eat a still-beating cobra heart in Vietnam. Reviewing food for New Yorkers seemed the logical next step.
Whiskey Social should be a fixture for whiskey lovers. Tucked into a quiet stretch on West 8th Street, the restaurant/bar offers 129 whiskies and unabashedly rich food inspired by Charleston, SC. Communal maple wood tables turn strangers into drinking buddies and 10 televisions satisfy game-day needs. But it is the sectioned-off whiskey den—with its cushioned booths flanking a gas fireplace beneath a shrine of illuminated lockers showcasing bottles kept for passionate patrons—that makes the place so cozy and cool.
The Whiskey Social has sold 18 of its 50 lockers as part of a club membership, which is available for $100 plus the price of a bottle, or included with the purchase of a bottle worth $250 or more.
The membership is fun for regulars, but the best deal is a 28-day-aged strip steak supplied by Pat LaFrieda for $23, which would cost nearly twice that at a steakhouse. The restaurant makes up for that margin with original $13 cocktails and $20 ot $25 whiskey flights themed by region.
There are no vegetarian entrées. Chef Christina Scifo prefers fatty booze mops: an 8-hour beer-braised pork shank, silky grits amplified with thyme and sherry vinegar and the popular short rib frites topped with whipped pimiento cheese.
Grab a drink here. Stay a long while.
