Lisa Reisman Photos
Chef Jeyson Santoni; his jam-packed 259 Orange burger (top).
You might call the 259 Orange a cheeseburger, a bacon burger, or an egg burger. Or maybe a short rib burger or an avocado burger.
The only thing certain is that the 259 Orange Burger nearly didn’t happen. Nor, for that matter, did Dangle’s Bar and Grill, which serves the 259 Burger, and which opened three weeks ago on 259 Orange just up the street from the New Haven County Courthouse.
“I wanted to open a restaurant for years, but I couldn’t find a spot,” said Dangle’s owner James Cousins, as his chef, Jeyson Santoni, set a patty on the grill in the no-frills kitchen.
Then, in January, Cousins visited Christy’s Irish Pub on 261 Orange, which was for sale.
Cousins decided it was too big. He didn’t want the overhead.
Dangles owner James Cousins: Following in family tradition at community cookouts.
He was about to pull away when he spotted a For Sale sign in the window of the pocket-sized 259 Orange. The 1,200 square-foot space used to house the storied Cuban restaurant Zafra, until it closed in March 2020.
“Jey and me always talked about having our own restaurant, and he always said, ‘I’m ready when you are,’” Cousins said, watching Santoni lay a slice of provolone on the sizzling burger, as an aromatic smokiness wafted through the softly lit space.
The two met at a softball cookout nine years ago. “It was me and my mother and my sisters, in West Rock Park, and we did it every other Sunday, giving out hotdogs, hamburgers, and playing softball and having tug-of-war and sack races,” said Cousins, who grew up in Brookside Apartments.
Santoni didn’t remember the first time he showed up at a cookout. “I loved playing softball, volleyball, loved seeing people, loved seeing his mother and his sisters cooking,” he said, maneuvering his spatula between pans of eggs frying, of bacon sizzling, and short ribs simmering in their juices.
Soon Santoni was bringing dishes for Cousins and his family.
“He came up with these amazing egg rolls that had apple in it, it was like dessert,” Cousins said. “And ribs. No recipe. It was just stuff out of his head that he’d make. He’d say, ‘it’s simple,’ but I’d never tasted anything like it.”
Santoni picked up cooking tips from his grandmother, his aunt, and his mother while growing up in Meriden. “I learned some from them, Puerto Rican dishes, but basically I taught myself.”
“I cook with a lot of love and passion,” said Santoni, who has exercised his culinary chops at, among other restaurants, 900 Park Avenue in the Bronx and TD Homer’s Grill in Southington. “Any cabinet in your kitchen, you say there’s nothing to cook, I’ll make something. I can make something out of nothing.”
The Dangle’s menu reflects Cousins’ faith in Santoni’s creativity, and versatility. There’s the Old Charleston, with wild Panama shrimp and Cajun sausage; the Short on Grits, with 14-hour braised short ribs and creamed grits; the It’s Tofu, a seared tofu steak. Sides include Wild Cauliflower with a tempura batter and Sweet Fried Plantain.
“There’s really no signature dish here,” Cousins said. “I want everything that you taste to be a signature dish, to be perfectly laid out, and when you taste the food, I want it to be wonderful.”
Just three weeks in, Cousins reports stellar feedback, with many repeat diners. With Covid numbers increasing again, he’s currently deciding on a course of action that will include take-out to ride out the resurgence.
For his part, Santoni, who’s also an artist, said he’s “all in” to help keep the place going, Covid or not.
“I was going to Gateway to get my associate’s degree in culinary when the pandemic hit, so I had to start working at Big Y,” he said, laying the three short ribs on top of the eggs, the bacon, the avocado, and the patty, before topping the whole with a lightly seared bun. “I felt like my talent was being wasted, big-time.”
Getting the call from Cousins about the space on 259 Orange, he said, “felt like a gift.”
As For That 259 Burger …
Santoni at work.
This was a massive and magnificent sandwich. There was no way to take in all the ingredients in a single mouthful. Every bite featured a different combination of tastes.
The short rib and chuck patty distinguished itself with its impeccable char broil. Then came the subtle nuttiness of the provolone, the delight of the fried egg, and the bacon strips, crackling with an impudently smoky flavor. The avocado was silken, introducing a certain summery freshness. Then there were the tender slices of short ribs, with their bold richness.
Most memorable to this correspondent were the sweet fried plantains, deep-fried in oil until golden, caramelized on the outside, and soft on the inside. The spicy sauce, the ingredients of which Santoni refused to disclose, approached the sublime.
Asked how they could taste so good, Santoni shrugged.
“I’m Puerto Rican,” he said. “Simple as that.”
Dangle’s Bar and Grill is at 259 Orange St., danglesbarandgrill.com, 203 – 889-2912.
Looks delicious!