By James Lomuscio
Shake Shack, the New York-born cult modern day “roadside” burger stand, attracted a standing room only crowd tonight to its VIP “housewarming party” on Westport’s Post Road East on the eve of the public debut of the popular chain’s first actual drive-in eatery and first suburban location.
Danny Meyer (l), founder of New York’s Union Square Hospitality Group which owns Shake Shack, chats with David Yearwood, Westport’s Shake Shack’s general manager, at tonight’s “housewarming.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com
The party at 1849 Post Road East brought together about 350 people—50 more than on the invite list—including local officials, business leaders, residents, as well as out-of-towners.
They were hosted by renown restauranteur Danny Meyer, CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group that in 2004 opened the first Shake Shack in New York City’s Madison Square Park.
With standing room only inside and on the outside decks, it was an evening of mingling and socializing underscored by free hamburgers, hot dogs, shakes, fries, beer, wine and music performed by The Crooners, a New York-based acoustic rock group.
The crowd was so large that the overflow parking practically filled the huge HomeGoods-anchored shopping center lot across the street.
To get to the food, many guests lined up outside the kitchen exit where they scooped up burgers, hot dogs, fries and shakes from trays of waves of young employees as they emerged from their glassed in work area.
On the “Specials” chalkboard at the entrance, the message read: “Coasting into Westport!! It’s a beautiful day in the Westport neighborhood! Thank you for checking us out!”
“This is what Westport has been waiting for,” said Gillian Duffy, culinary editor at New York Magazine and a Weston resident. “Everything is delicious. Danny is such a perfectionist.”
It was standing room only at tonight’s Shake Shack VIP party. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com
Her comments were echoed by Westporter Stew Leonard, Jr. who came to extend his well wishes.
“When it comes to Danny Meyer, I have huge respect for him,” Leonard said. “I love the Shake Shack.”
According to Meyer, the Westport restaurant is the eighth, freestanding Shake Shack, “and this is the first Shake Shack that relies on the automobile to get there.”
First opened in Madison Square Park, there are also Shake Shacks on New York’s Upper East and Upper West sides, in Washington, D.C., and on Miami Beach’s South Beach, as well as overseas in Dubai and Kuwait.
In addition, there are Shake Shack concession stands at Citi Field, the Queens home of the New York Mets, and at the Satatoga Race Track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
“We picked Westport because of what a remarkable community it is,” Meyer told First Selectman Gordon Joseloff at the VIP reception.
David Swinghamer, CEO of Shake Shack, praised the town for helping the restaurant open on schedule. “We could not have had better cooperation from the town and its officials,” he said.
It was a fast paced kitchen crew on duty tonight at Shake Shack. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com
The Westport location near the Fairfield line had previously been the site of several Asian restaurants, a Beefsteak Charlie’s, and in the late 1990s a nightclub, Deja Vu.
Many said that with Shake Shack, the location’s run as a Bermuda Triangle for restaurants had finally come to an end.
David Yearwood, Shake Shack’s general manager, said the new restaurant, which has 70 employees, is also “green conscious.”
“We’re trying to push the envelope for being green,” said Yearwood, noting that all the benches and chairs are made from recycled bowling alley wood, and that the tables were crafted from wood taken from an old Consolidated Cigar Factory in Glastonbury.
“We use a lot of recycled products, and we’re wind energy subsidized,” he said.
Laurence Bradley, director of Westport’s Planning and Zoning Department who sat in on all of Shake Shack’s permit applications, gave the restaurant high marks.
“I think it’s great,” Bradley said. “It’s just what this town needed in attracting people here. It’s something for people to be excited about.”
Westporter Mary Lou Weisman used a term not often heard when describing a roadside burger stand, “elegant.”
“The first thing I noticed is that there is a thumb depression in the wine glasses,” she said. “It’s very elegant. And the hamburgers are actually medium rare, and to mass produce medium rare hamburgers is a rare achievement.”
Wow, I can’t wait to get invited. Maybe then, I will be allowed to sample the food. Actually, you don’t need an automobile to get there. The Coastal Link runs by and hopefuly their riders will be allowed to dine there, too.
🙂