Down South
Estelle’s Opening Night, by the Numbers

Somewhere around the time you were cracking into magnum bottle of prosecco number two in the hot tub on Saturday night (or just catching up on last week’s Boardwalk Empire before dinner on the couch), Brian Poe’s new Southern haven, Estelle’s, opened. We went. And here’s the field data...

James Brown songs heard while securing a table: 2
Estimated percentage of neighborhood locals comprising the packed house: 44.8%
Seats available at the natural-wood tabletops with old-fashioned iron-claw footing: 70
Beers on tap: 30
Types of 22-ounce bottles of stout available with “Dragonslayer” in the name: 1
Bottles of said Dragonslayer stout required, along with some bacon hush puppies, to feel like you could actually slay dragons: 2
Years executive chef Eric Gburski spent at East Coast Grill: 12
Po’boy sandwiches reflecting that: 3
Times some variation of “holy sh*t” was heard in the dining room after someone tried the traditional andouille-sausage-and-smoked-chicken gumbo: 3
Times we said it: 2
Cast members from Brad Pitt’s new movie, Killing Them Softly, dining: 1
Ben Affleck films set in Boston he’s played a gangster in: 2
Chances he could get your Good Will Hunting II screenplay in Ben’s hands: 0