It’s that time of year again. For two weeks every spring (and fall), restaurants throughout Westchester and the Hudson Valley offer $32.95 three-course prix-fixe dinner menus as part of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. We scoured menus from the county’s 123 participating restaurants to find these five that represent exciting new openings, delicious-sounding menus, and real savings.
The Rare Bit
23 Cedar St, Dobbs Ferry; 914.693.8000
What: David DiBari’s new British gastropub, where all the cleverly improved English classics are actually on the restaurant week menu.
The Order: deep-fried Scotch egg, encased in housemade sausage; escarole-and-cheddar salad with toasted oats and curry-pickled-cauliflower dressing; pork-and-sage bangers with mash and gravy; shepherd’s pie; and spotted dick (a dense, currant-studded cake) with custard.
Maria Restaurant
11 Huguenot St, New Rochelle; 914.636.0006
What: A new Italian restaurant from the owners of New Rochelle’s Pop’s Espresso Bar and Fratelli Pizza and Pasta, serving a mix of classic favorites (a tribute to the owners’ mother, who’s also the restaurant’s namesake) and contemporary updates on the country’s cuisine.
The Order: fried artichokes; cauliflower fritters with nuoc-cham sauce; garganelli with white Bolognese, porcini, pecorino, and truffle; osso buco over polenta and pork sugo; and the one-and-only dannoli, the owners’ famous cannoli-and-doughnut hybrid.
Emilio Ristorante
1 Colonial Pl, Harrison; 914.835.3100
What: An old school Italian joint that’s a classic in all the right ways, including offering half orders of pasta as a HVRW first course.
The Order: half orders of sausage-and-veal-filled agnolotti with spicy tomato sauce or linguine cacio e pepe; pork osso buco braised in Moretti beer over saffron risotto; and chicken breast with mushrooms and black truffle sauce. All followed by coffee and dessert.
Equus Restaurant
400 Benedict Ave, Tarrytown; 914.631.3646
What: The fine-dining restaurant at the Castle Hotel & Spa may not put its regular — and very expensive — fare on the prix-fixe menu, but the restaurant-week options are still interesting enough to merit a visit.
The Order: Japanese-Peruvian ceviche Nikkei; potato-leek soup with bacon-potato hash; Duroc pork tenderloin over Carolina grits with caramelized-onion jus; and fudge-frosted dark chocolate cake.
Photo by Ken Gabrielsen
Mediterraneo
189 Main St, White Plains; 914.448.8800
What: The White Plains restaurant from Z Hospitality Group goes big on atmosphere, no matter the price point.
The Order: beet salad with crispy halloumi, hazelnut vinaigrette, and pickled onions; roasted tomato soup garnished with feta and crispy chickpeas; Hidden Fjord salmon over root-vegetable quinoa and porcini mushrooms; Icelandic cod with grilled lemon; and tiramisu.
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