Food

During the steamy days and balmy nights of summer, local ice cream shops are the place to go for a sweet treat with family and friends.

In Dobbs Ferry, owner Frank Donato opened Brick Oven Pizza and Ice Cream on 147 Main Street 11 years ago and began selling homemade pizzas, pastas, subs, and other savory Italian fare. The place soon became a local favorite, and Donato had the idea to expand the business to sell homemade ice cream as well.

“I just thought pizza and ice cream go good together,” he said.  more »

Tarrytown’s eclectic food scene is fortunate to retain Indian cuisine, now that Swagat has settled comfortably into Cafe Tandoor’s old location on Broadway. Derived from ancient Sanskrit, the Hindi word, “Swagat,” means “welcome,” and the brothers, Abu Sayed and Abu Obaidullah, together with a brother-in-law, Ibrahim Hussein, are striving to welcome visitors to the culturally rich, flavorful and healthy traditional cuisine that has been a lifetime passion for them.  more »

Antoinette’s Patisserie in Hastings-On-Hudson is one of the best-kept secrets in Westchester, but word is getting out. Tucked under a red awning on Warburton Street in Hastings-on-Hudson, it is the place to go for carefully brewed coffee, flaky croissants, delicious sandwiches, home-made breads, tarts and cakes of every variety. Step inside and you will feel as though you are in a European cafe: lots of conversation, people reading books, the family scurrying around to make sure everything is just right. It’s a sheer delight.  more »

As the month of July approaches, we are reminded of not only summer’s arrival but Independence Day and its significance to our culture. It’s an All-American holiday, and our inclination is to celebrate it with All-American food and drink. But in a country that has been, from its earliest days, a land of immigrants, is there a food source solely indigenous to the Americas? The answer is corn, and while we’ve adapted the hot dog and the hamburger, beer and wine from other cultures, corn belongs to us. It provides an identity to our cuisine, but let’s not forget that it is also the source of our very own American libation: bourbon.  more »

Spring is finally here, and farmers markets in our area are open for business. Fresh seasonal produce, local wines, cheeses, artisanal breads, and grass fed beef, not to mention farm grown plants and flowers, home-made baked goods and sauces are bringing our communities together every week.

Tarrytown’s market in Patriot’s Park opened May 29 and will be in business from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday until November 20. Run by Community Markets, whose motto is, “The farm comes to you,” the Tarrytown market will host cooking demonstrations, live music from local musicians, corn roasts and tastings throughout the season.  more »

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Rainwater Grill, a spacious and neighborhood-friendly restaurant in Hastings-on-Hudson, is an easy 10 minute jaunt down Broadway from our local rivertowns. Briarcliff resident Tony Fortunate and his co-partner Ken Lauro, Jr., owner/managers, knew each other for years at Mighty Joe Young’s in Hartsdale before they created their dream restaurant, Rainwater. Their vision has become an inviting, comfortable bar space and dining room where friends and family can relax, enjoy their “elevated American food” and have a good time socializing.  more »

Mexican restaurants along our rivertowns are celebrating Cinquo de Mayo – a holiday that recalls Mexico’s early victory against imperialism. On May 5, 1862, at Puebla, Mexico, Mexican forces defeated the French army, better equipped and twice as large in number.  more »

Treating our wonderful mothers and grandmothers to a special brunch, dinner or festive time with the family is going to be a fun-filled experience, if you plan ahead. Our rivertown restaurants have a multitude of exceptional food offerings in store for the hard-working, loving women who deserve to be treated royally on their day of recognition.

Tarrytown:
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Day Boat Café, Irvington’s newest bright light in a burgeoning rivertown restaurant scene, brings fresh seafood to customers yearning for casual seashore dining.

Owner, and former real estate attorney, Gus Panopoulus, who, along with his partners, brother Russ and Chef John Durkin (the current nine- year mayor of Roslyn, N.Y.), have expanded and refined their original Day Boat Café in Roslyn that, sadly, burned down due to a fire next door after only three months of operation. Out of the ashes has arisen their new destination restaurant, a lively dining spot on the Hudson River.  more »

Trust chef Cliff Saladin to provide a unique evening of lavish pleasures on April 15 when Rioja hosts a wine-coupled tapas specialties night. He will be preparing a tempting variety of tasting for attendees. Chef Saladin has held executive culinary positions at the Rye Town Hilton, the Stamford Marriott and the Riverside Yacht Club in Riverside, Connecticut having trained at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York and at Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island. The pairing of wine to food will be conducted by Liberty Wine Purveyors. The festivities start at 6 p.m. Call the restaurant located in the Sheraton Tarrytown at 332-7900 for details.
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Irvington’s Day Boat Café will open in early March at One Bridge Street, the location previously occupied by restaurant One. “We are still working on the menu,” said chef and co-owner John Durkin “but our signature dish will be a lobster roll and the menu will include Montauk stripped bass, grilled salmon, seafood stew, lobster pot pie, lobster ravioli and three kinds of chowder—New England, Manhattan, and corn and lobster.” For non-seafood lovers, Day Boat Café will offer hamburgers, flank steak and buttermilk fried chicken. Beverages will include homemade iced tea and homemade lemonade.  more »

What would an adventurous and gifted local architect and pulmonary specialist/pharmaceutical researcher do in their spare time? Lucky for the rivertowns, they decided to open an Indian restaurant.

Orissa, which specializes in modern Indian dishes inspired by traditional Indian regional cuisines, has made its debut in Dobbs Ferry. Architect Niall Cain and his scientist wife, Cynthia Caracta, fulfilled a lifelong dream when they realized that their hometown needed an Indian restaurant.

“We wanted to do something for our local downtown,” Cynthia said.  more »

Cooking with pork and seasonal ingredients will be covered in “ABC’S in the Kitchen,” a program offered at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Adam Kaye, chef and vice president of culinary affairs at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, will lead the two-hour tutorial-and-tasting on March 6 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

To attend, a Stone Barns membership level of Forager ($500 annual fee per family) or higher is required. Memberships are tax deductible and provide benefits such as special purchasing privileges at the farm market and free parking. A $75 registration fee per person applies to attend the March 6 class. Call 366-6200, ext. 140 for membership information or to reserve space.  more »

Finally, finally, Finalmente Trattoria Italiana & Wine Bar has opened to great acclaim and crowds out the door on weekends. Sleepy Hollow’s latest destination restaurant – a vibrant addition to Beekman Avenue’s burgeoning dining scene – has been years in the making, delayed by logistics, economics, renovation headaches and almost anything else one can think of. Owner and Tarrytown resident, Dan Damiano, Jr., no stranger to the restaurant business, is now fulfilling “a dream come true,” having grown up during his parents’ stewardship of the three-star “Damiano’s” in Granite Springs.  more »

Reserve early, since Valentine’s Day is second in popularity as a dining destination only to Mother’s Day. (In the article that follows, the prix-fixe costs shown do not include tax or gratuity.)

Who can better defy conventional cooking practices than Chef David Dibari at The Cookery in Dobbs Ferry? What Rod Serling brought to science-fiction TV and movie screens, Dibari duplicates in the confines of his Dobbs Ferry kitchen—the unexpected and the daringly different. Customers accustomed to the chef’s creativity won’t be disappointed by his four-course Valentine Day’s creations.  more »

Winter is finally here, but Tarrytown, Irvington and Sleepy Hollow residents wouldn’t know it from the number of indoor farmers markets that are proliferating in their area this season. Westchester shoppers need not rely on tired produce that has traveled great distances to arrive at our local grocery stores, when fresh local food is being brought to our communities from Hudson Valley farmers.
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Activity has picked up on lower Beekman Avenue in Sleepy Hollow these days, now that Bridge View Tavern has opened, bringing new life to the site of restaurants past. The driving force behind this already bustling food and drink destination is Chris Maceyak, whose family knows a thing or two about the restaurant business.
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December’s holiday festivities encompass many cultures and religions, a variety of traditional dinners, and a multitude of ways to spend New Year’s. Luckily, most of these happy times include wine or champagne in the course of celebrating the holiday spirit. And, fortunately, Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow and Irvington each have knowledgeable wine purveyors who have taken the time to pick and feature holiday offerings, highlight unusual sparkling wines, or suggest pairings for those special meals we all enjoy. Whether you are hosting a dinner or attending as a guest, our local merchants will give you expert guidance in your selections.  more »

Thanksgiving and Halloween are the two holidays that make us happiest. That’s according to Facebook’s recent online survey, which documents our attitudes about traditional holidays. While Halloween is all about costumes, candy, pumpkins, parades and trick-or-treating, Thanksgiving encompasses the joys of family and friends gathering for a communal dinner. Halloween is a form of entertainment, while Thanksgiving is about families, shared experience and food. The preparation, planning, cooking and eating are all part of the communal experience, a way for family members near and far to reconnect, and to remind themselves of the joy of gathering for a sumptuous feast in celebration of the harvest.  more »

Wine appreciation classes will be held at Chutney Masala in Irvington on November 10 (Chardonnay) and December 1 (Cabernet Sauvignon) by Andrea Kish and Tony Russo, owners of Aries Wines in White Plains. The classes will cover grape origin, wine making style, wine service, storage, and pairing with foods. Accompanying tasting plates from Chef Navjot Arora’s kitchen will feature Indian appetizers that demonstrate compatible coupling of food with wine. Mild cheeses and crackers will be served as palate cleansers. Class registration and food sampling fees apply.  more »

On Thanksgiving Eve, November 25, 2009, The Cookery will provide complimentary dining for those who are less fortunate and in need of a warm atmosphere with family-like surroundings. Dining times will be at noon and 2 p.m. Local charities and organizations interested in participating are invited to contact The Cookery at 305-2336 concerning table reservations and transportation.

The Cookery’s co-proprietors Chef David DiBari and Michael O’Neill opened the restaurant, located at 39 Chestnut Street in Dobbs Ferry, in mid-March 2009. During a program conducted in August and September, the restaurant donated a portion of its receipts to the charities of choice of customers.

“Welcome to Mima Vinoteca – our menu reflects the freshest ingredients that the market will offer us.” So the menu greets all customers at Irvington’s popular Italian hot-spot on Main Street. Owners John Leggio, cousin Dana Santucci and her husband Armando, with Dana’s brother Robert and father, Phil, have joined forces to highlight the cooking of their “mimas”-- the Sicilian term of endearment for grandmothers.  more »

Cupcake lovers will have a lot to choose from when Jay Muse opens Lulu’s, a bakery and coffee bar, at Hudson Harbor in Tarrytown a few weeks from now.

“We are going to take cupcakes to another level,” Muse said. “This is not just about putting movie-theater candy on top of a muffin. Our cupcakes will be aesthetically beautiful and elegant; they will be crafted from carefully thought-out recipes.”

“But they won’t be chosen just so we can offer a lot of different flavors,” Muse noted. “Each cupcake will have its own clear, defined purpose.”  more »

A new “Home-style Menu” bowed in last month at Rioja featuring familiar classical American dishes such as chicken pot pie and meatloaf. “To ensure crispness, the chicken pot pie’s pastry topping is cooked separately,” Chef Cliff Saladin explained, “and added at the last minute.” The meat loaf is seasoned with a dash of teriyaki sauce and accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Both dishes are priced at $15. Rigatoni Primavera with vegan tomato sauce ($13), short ribs with fried onions ($18) and chicken noodle soup are also on the menu. Desserts include chocolate Bundt cake, key lime pie and an apple pie/apple cobbler served with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. All desserts cost $6.  more »

Slow Food USA, a national organization that advocates for food that is good, clean and fair, is organizing a National Eat-In on Labor Day, September 7, called “Time For Lunch.” On that day, people in communities all across America will gather with their neighbors, municipal and school leaders, and families for potlucks and barbecues to send a message to their legislators: It is time to give the country’s public schools the resources they need to serve healthy, nutritionally balanced, real food for lunch.  more »

Family friendly Italian dining is giving Cassano’s Pizza Trattoria instant hit status in Tarrytown. Brothers Chris and Steve Cassano opened their first trattoria in Hartsdale in 2005, and decided to bring their home-style traditional Italian cooking to the rivertowns last April. The place has been hopping ever since.  more »

Alaroma’s patrons keep coming back for owner-chef Jose Robles’ Chicken Scaparo, served with chicken on the bone and prepared with white wine, vinegar, garlic and a touch of butter. “We can add cherry peppers to kick it up a notch,” notes co-owner Donna Troiano. With a side of pasta in the regular or marinara sauce or vegetable of the day or French fries, the cost is $15.95. A boneless version is available at $16.95. Call 592-4213.

A’Mangiare’s most popular dinner entrée is Pollo Scarpariello—chicken sautéed with sausage, potato and vinegar pepper in a garlic, white wine sauce. Spaghetti, ziti, salad or potato croquettes is included. The cost is $16.95. Call 345-3200.  more »

Vibrant farmers’ markets have been appearing in community after community here in Westchester and throughout the country. Why? Because Americans are eager to eat “real food,” to connect with the farmers, cheese-makers, millers, bakers, wine-makers and other food producers who are devoting themselves to giving consumers whole foods and value-added products that not only taste good, but are packed with the vitamins, nutrients, wholesomeness and texture that food in this country used to possess.
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In “You Bet Your Life,” the 1950s television quiz show hosted by Groucho Marx, a make-believe duck with $100 in its bill dropped from the ceiling whenever a contestant mentioned a secret word known only to Groucho and the audience. While duck doesn’t fall from the ceiling at Tyrnda Thai Restaurant in Sleepy Hollow, it comes from the kitchen in so many different and delicious ways, Groucho would be delighted. Duck rolls, an appetizer, are a highly satisfying combination of moo shu duck and slivered vegetables amplified by hoisin sauce and wrapped in duck skin ($7.95). Duck salad ($10.95) mixes duck with onion, scallion, tomato, cashew nuts, pineapple and lime dressing.  more »