By Peter Elston
The owners of Southampton Social Club, Union Burger Bar, and Union Sushi & Steak are bringing a new concept to Southampton that has never been done before on the East End. Restaurateurs Ian Duke and David Hilty opened Southampton’s first ghost kitchen called The Coop. And, as food guru Ian puts it, The Coop serves chicken that is simply “scrumptious”.
The Coop is operating out of Southampton Social Club, which is closed during the off-season but is still open for private events. The ghost kitchen concept enables customers to order delivery as well as offer Curbside Pick-Up for guests who order through the website or over the phone. There, in fact, are daily specials for those who order directly through the restaurant’s website for Curbside Pick-Up. While there is no indoor or outdoor dining, The Coop is available for catering small gatherings and events.
“With the success of Union Burger Bar, it was absolutely part of crossing the idea of there being a ghost kitchen because of the sheer amount of take out and to-go business we’ve done these past couple of months. A lot of people are staying inside and now that dining outside is nearly impossible, we think there’ll even be a further rise in people wanting to just pick up the phone and order delivery,” Ian Duke says. “We’re excited now because we’re keeping people employed and in fact, we’re employing more. We’re just trying to keep going through this horrible pandemic that we’re all suffering through.”
The Coop is available on Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash. The menu certainly features chicken! A variety of fried and rotisserie chicken options are available with a wide assortment of sides. A few items to note that really separate The Coop from others include the Barbecue Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, chipotle mayo, cabbage, and apple slaw. The biscuits topped with fried chicken and covered in a rich sausage gravy are to die for, and the Fried Chicken Bowl brings mashed potatoes, fried chicken, corn, scallions, cheddar cheese and rich gravy together for a dish best described as simply awesome!
In addition, you can order as many as 100 wings for a party (the chef recommends the Mango Habanero sauce, but the others available include Louisiana Hot Sauce, Teriyaki & BBQ) and that comes with homemade bleu cheese, celery and carrots. The menu also includes a Chicken Caesar Salad and Hamptons Wedge Salad with applewood bacon bits. Altogether, there are a variety of sides to choose from including biscuits, both creamed and fresh corn, honey glazed carrots, mac & cheese, and sweet potato fries. Beverages include ice cream floats, soft drinks, house-made sweetened and unsweetened iced tea, bottled beer, wine and sparkling cocktails.
“Ultimately I find people always have conflicting perspectives on what they want to eat. What we’re doing is incorporating the best of both worlds – we’re going to have ridiculously great tasting fried chicken and the mashed potatoes with gravy and creamy corn,” Ian says. “But we’re also going to have the healthy rotisserie chicken with fresh sides like Brussel sprouts and roasted broccoli that are all farm to table. The chicken that we’re using is cage-free, antibiotic-free, and hormone-free. So essentially, we’re going to encompass something for everybody.”
For more information, visit: www.thecooptogo.com
The Coop
Located inside Southampton Social Club
256 Elm St, Southampton, NY 11968
631.984.1284
