Original cocktails worth sticking around for

Upscale restaurants rarely offer diners a reason to stick around other than the meal, unless of course you think that moose head on the wall is eventually going to talk about something other than "avalanche of flavor". For a restaurant you'll want to hit early and stay late at, there's The Southampton Social Club.

Opening its doors tomorrow in the former Madam Tong's, the SSC's plating prime eats in their chandelier'd Venetian-style dining room, but's also giving post repast-ers a place to straight hang thanks to their firepit-and-wood-furnitured lawn, and Library Lounge loaded with banquettes, working fireplaces, and a 50-seat bar made of mahogany, so what's the Rush, Frank Marino? Bringing in the exec chef from Manhattan's York Grill, homemade pastas and raw bar fare (Jessup's Neck oysters, Jonah crab claws, etc.) sit next to innovative, seafood-centric American dishes like slow-cooked Pacific halibut over local vegetables and drizzled with verjus beurre blanc, but not beurre Blanche, as Ms. Devereaux was consistently hot. Designed by Dale DeGroff, the tails're equally impressive, including the St. Ginger Rita (tequila, fresh ginger, elderflower), a vodka martini w/ fresh lime and coconut, and a citrus-y variation on the Manhattan called the Hot Summer Nights -- drink too many, and it will definitely take the words right out of your mouth.

If the space isn't enough to get you to hang around, they've got a late-night small plates menu to go with live music & DJs, and should you insist on leaving they'll even cater an event at your home, after which you may realize the only reason people showed up in the first place was the meal.