Brunch at The Stand
On a dismal, slightly depressing post-holiday Sunday, Laura and I headed to The Stand in Branford for their new brunch. First, let me say, that was the best decision I had made all week, because The Stand is a very happy, uplifting place. In summer, it’s an indoor-outdoor farmer’s market/barbecue mashup, but come winter, the fun moves inside a vintage renovated gas station. The interior has an upcycled loft-like feel, with an open, bustling kitchen and cozy bar on one side. Head to the counter to peruse the pickings for brunch and place your order. A reasonable $19.95 gets you a platter, a side, coffee tea or juice, plus a sweet waffle for dessert (kids are only $7.95). You’ll have a tough time deciding between the chicken and waffles, brisket hash, huevos rancheros or lox and bagels, but decide you must because you’ve still got all those yummy sides (buttermilk biscuits and gravy, house smoked sausage, broccoli & cheddar gratin) to choose from. Next, head to the bar for a bottomless fresh squeezed mimosa or (our pick) the oh-so-interesting margarita Bloody Mary with a smoked rib garnish. To offset our chicken and waffles, we picked rather healthy sides (roasted root veggies, kale, and chickpea salad) AND still didn’t make it to dessert. But not to worry, we’ll be back for our waffles with chocolate sauce, but next time we may save room by ordering lighter, like housemade granola with fruit and yogurt, or the Cobb Salad with pulled chicken.
Like most restaurateurs we know, the two behind the scenes here are earnest and hard-working, and wax enthusiastic about their locally sourced products and authentic barbecue that’s slowly smoking out back. They built the place themselves and are in-house making sure everything goes swimmingly. Which it does: our entrees appeared in just a few minutes (nice if you’re feeding a passel of hangry tots). We LOVE it here.
