Okay, folks, I know that you’ve been dying to hear more about Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Westchester venture, but, to be honest, that small, precise Alsatian is pretty hard to get on the phone. At this point, all we know is that his new restaurant will be housed in the former Inn at Pound Ridge, and that the space will be designed by Perry Street’s architect, Thomas Juul-Hansen. We also know that the new restaurant’s menu will be similar to the style of food being served at ABC Kitchen, which is Vongerichten’s welcoming, mostly local/organic affair with a concentration in the Italian big sellers, pizza and pasta.
Does Westchester need another Italian restaurant? That’s pretty debatable. But since these New York City luminaries are flocking up the highways, I’d like to invite some other high-profile restaurateurs and chefs to come on up. Plus, why not use this space to air your own restaurant desires? Tell us all which restaurants that you want to welcome over the border.
Danny Meyer and Shake Shack. How messed up is it that Shake Shack skipped Westchester in favor of of Westport, Connecticut? I feel embittered. Slighted. Only a Westchester Shackburger could console me.
David Chang/Momofuku Noodle Bar. I can’t tell you how many gallons of Momofuku ramen I have slurped—and from way back in the day, too, at the original bar where a meal was usually eaten in the fiery glare of an enraged Chef Chang. If I find myself within, say, a 20-block radius of the Noodle Bar, I feel that not dropping in is like spitting in God’s eye. David! You would make a hell of a lot of money up here in Westchester!
Eddie Huang and BaoHouse. Okay, this is totally selfish, but this guy just cracks me up. I loved his Top Chef recaps on the evil Eater.com, which were so shocking that you had to laugh (no big butt or brows were safe). Or his recent video tour of Chinatown, which was an only slightly mischievous homage to his Chinese culture. Eddie: we have cool sneakers in Westchester. Come sell your damn buns up here.
Grand Sichuan. There are like six of these joints (one in Jersey, for God’s sake), each specializing in something, from Sichuan hot pot to Chairman Mao’s “commie cuisine.” Doesn’t Westchester deserve just one?
Loreley Restaurant & Biergarten. Playland. Boardwalk. Beergarden. #Moneyspinner!
Anything by April Bloomfield. One of my girl crushes is on Chef April Bloomfield. I will gladly sit on a curb for three hours listening to The Most Vapid Hipster on Earth scream into her cellphone if only I can get a plate of April’s pig’s ear. Westchester needs a Breslin, a John Dory, or a Spotted Pig. April, go on—help a sister out!
