Immaculate Infatuation

Andrew Steinthal a 1998 grad of SHS runs the PR Department of Warner Music's Independent Label Group by day and at night works on his website ImmaculateInfatuation.com, the #1 ranked NYC food website on Urbanspoon. The site features easy to relate to reviews and features for people who love to eat, but aren't super foodies. He launched the food site with Chris Stang who is the Director of Marketing at Atlantic Records and says that they are "music biz guys bringing the worlds of food and entertainment together."

Here is an interview with Andrew and some insider tips on where to eat:

What are a few of your favorite food-related memories of Scarsdale?

Candlelight is first and foremost. Without Candlelight, there's probably no Immaculate Infatuation. For my group of friends, that's where the obsession with food started. Every night out ended with a late night trip to The Light for wings and waffle fries. Aside from the C'Light, other local favorites include Italian Pavilion in White Plains aka The Pizza Nazi as we called it back in high school. Both their sicilian and salad slices are excellent and their pink Italian dressing is ridiculously good. Walter's Hot Dogs in Mamaroneck, obviously. Also, back in the day I was obsessed with City Limits. They had really good pickles and french fries.

Other than the Candlelight, where do you like to eat now in Scarsdale/Westchester?

Blue Hill at Stone Barnes has the highest rating on our site, that place is absolutely incredible. I've been meaning to try Batali's Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, but haven't gotten there yet. I've heard it's a bit underwhelming. Generally, I make my family come to Manhattan or Brooklyn when there's a meal related event going on.

What inspired you to start the site?

My friend Chris Stang and I had been conspiring to start something ever since we graduated college. Initially it was going to be our own record label, but with the business falling apart at the seams over the last decade, we knew that wasn't a good idea. We had multiple meetings and even came up with a name for our clothing line, but that just had too much overhead. Then we decided that since we were always the one's people were asking "Where should we go tonight?", that we'd start an email service that guaranteed a personal response to that question within 24 hours. Twitter took care of that idea. So, instead, we set out to answer the 'Where Should We Eat Tonight?' question and hit the internet in April 2009 with Immaculate Infatuation. We're trying to fill the role of that trusted friend you turn to when you need a solid restaurant suggestion. You won't find any pretentious foodie hobnob from us. If you want those kinds of shenanigans, hit up the "experts" at NY Mag, Time Out NY or the NY Times. This is easy to relate to, honest food reviews and features for people like us who love to eat, but aren't super "foodies" (we loathe that word).

Do you write the reviews yourself or do others contribute?

Chris and I do all the content ourselves. We've had a lot of people ask if they could contribute, which is great and actually quite flattering. Right now, we want to make sure we keep the voice of the site consistent so we can firmly establish our identity.

How many new entries are posted a week or a month?

We post a new review, feature or video every week day.

Please offer Scarsdalle10583 readers recommendations for your favorites restaurants and links to the reviews

So, one thing that sets us apart from other sites is how we break restaurants down into our "Perfect For" categories such as Girls Night Out, Date Night, Dinner With The Parents, Drunk Hook Ups and Celebrity Sightings. Here are some of our favorite spots broken down by category.

Chronic Brunch - Cafe Habana

Date Night - Apizz

 Special Occasions - Eleven Madison Park

Girls Night Out - ABC Kitchen

 Raucous Party Atmosphere - Marlow and Sons

Full On Pork Indulgence - Momofuku Ssam

Birthdays - Yerba Buena Perry

Quick Eats - Luke's Lobster

Outdoor/Patio Situation - Shake Shack

Dinner With The Parents - Mas (farmhouse)

Do you produce the site for the love of food or is it a revenue-producing biz as well?

While we started this site for fun, I'd be lying if i said the end goal wasn't to make money because it absolutely is. Right now, we're still building our brand. Seeing how people react to the site and how quickly we've grown gives us the confidence to keep going. If we keep building and expanding our reach, the sky is the limit.

What’s in the stars for immaculateinfatuation?

First up is a complete redesign of the site which is will be launching later this summer. The new site is more user friendly, and people will be able to better utilize search capabilities to find the perfect restaurant for any occasion. Need an Italian joint with some Action At The Bar near Madison Square Garden? Right now, you can't search for all those things. It's coming. That's the short term. Long term, we're starting a heavy focus on video content which we're keen on developing and we're also looking to get into events as well. Food and music go so well together, we think that's definitely an area we could get into.

How do you do your day job and manage the site as well?

We wake up early and stay up late working on Immaculate stuff, it's the only way to get it done. We both work in the music business - I do PR for Warner's Independent Label Group and Chris does marketing for Atlantic Records and both of our jobs are extremely demanding. The only way to get much done on our side project is to sacrifice your free time.