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Why choose between a nightcap and something sweet(er) when you can have your dessert and drink it, too?
One of the hardest decisions we fellow foodies face is not so much where to eat, but how to end the meal. Dessert, or another drink? Lucky for us, there are a good number of restaurants in Westchester that get it and know the struggle is real. Their bar pros are making life sweeter for us by kindly and cleverly pouring liquid dessert into a cup and calling it a cocktail. And they’re not wrong. Dessert cocktails are becoming a thing and we’ve got the smooth scoop on where to find the some of the most intoxicatingly delicious last calls in Westchester.
Augustine’s Salumeria
213 Halstead Ave, Mamaroneck; 914.315.6541
Who can argue with a steaming cup of hot chocolate to end a creative homespun meal at this haven of all things local, farm fresh, and Italian? Not us, that’s for certain. You won’t find any naysayers in the mix either when it’s served spiked with Fruition Chocolate Works’ Sipping Chocolate, house-infused peppermint vodka, whipped cream, and a marshmallow. We think the sweet and zippy crushed peppermint rim is just icing on the, er, cocktail!
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For a similar sip that also screams, step aside Swiss Miss, stop by La Casa Bronxville for a Mexican hot chocolate cocktail. The drink is born from pure Mexican chocolate, Kahlua, Bailey’s, and vanilla vodka, plus milk and whipped cream.
Bellacosa Wine and Tapas Bar
147 Main St, Dobbs Ferry; 914.693.6259
Leave it to chef and owner Frank Donato to offer an assortment of sweet and luscious dessert cocktails — he makes his own ice cream, after all. And you’ll find a heavenly dollop of it in his chocolate martini that features house-made chocolate ice cream (natch) stirred with Smirnoff vanilla vodka and Irish cream. The fun doesn’t stop there: This intimate, dimly lit den of home-cooked Italian small plates and mains also offers a chill and sexy espresso martini, a dreamy tiramisu incarnation, and a salted caramel martini featuring High West rye bourbon and salted caramel liqueur. Say when.
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The Blind Pig of Westchester
174 Martine Ave, White Plains; 914.607.2686
At this hip, speakeasy-style bar — where Ireland’s meticulous mixologists Daniel Cahill and James Brennan craft original, inventive cocktails with finely curated ingredients and laser-focused attention to detail — the Tiramafizz is no exception. It’s a dizzying mix of biscotti, vodka, coffee, tonka bean, and ladyfinger cream, and comes with fine print that notes: 15 minutes to prepare. One sip, however, and you’ll discover a wealth of inner patience and cool resolve you never knew you possessed.
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Bona Bona Ice Cream
10 Westchester Ave, Port Chester; 914.481.5712
This ice cream shop with a twist blends the worlds of “I scream, you scream” with a more grownup and refined “cheers!” That’s because small-batch ice cream man and kid-at-heart Nick DiBona is the brains behind a boozy milkshake bar where his already addictive shakes are spiked with the good stuff. Flavors include strawberry, cookies ‘n crème, espresso, and our sweet and salty pick: salted caramel. It’s a base of salted caramel ice cream mixed up with bourbon, caramel, and chocolate sauce, and it will dominate your dreams until you can get your needy hands around another.
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Divino Cucina Italiana
524 Warburton Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson; 914.274.8501
After a hearty Italian meal, excuse yourself to the Speakeasy to tie on dessert. Sure, you can order yourself an after-dinner drink at the table in the perfectly appointed dining room, but for a kick, sneak downstairs and settle in with a campfire martini featuring vanilla vodka, Kahlua, and Bailey’s with chocolate syrup, plus an oh-so-yum graham cracker rim and a toasted marshmallow on top. Try all you must to be hush hush about it, but the secret is out on this bad boy.
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Greca Mediterranean Kitchen & Bar
189 Main St, White Plains; 914.448.880
Coffee is a civilized way to end a meal, but where’s the fun in that? After you’ve indulged in a finely executed and reimagined Greek dish that sizzles on the stoves of this downtown, upmarket, glass-wrapped beauty (across three levels of dining space), finish up with The Anthony Quinn. It’s an eye-opening and festive affair, for sure, with Mr. Black cold brew coffee liqueur and Greek iced coffee whipped up into a frothy, feather-light frappe.
The Parlor
14 Cedar St, Dobbs Ferry; 914.478.8200
It may not be a dessert cocktail per se, but with a name like The Nutty and the words “candy colored” and “limit one per person” in the description, we feel free to bend the rules a bit. The bar menu also calls it a “NY tradition” and our extensive research (no judgement) tells us the color changes with the seasons, so loosen up, people, and bottoms up — but just one, boss.
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Public Pizza
193 Market St, Yonkers; 914.652.7611
Classic Italian-American comfort food is this Ridge Hill restaurant’s specialty, and they know that comfort also comes in a cup when all is said and done. The frozen hot chocolate fits that bill, and then some, with chocolate ice cream, Stoli vanilla vodka, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and a hearty smattering of chocolate chips.
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tredici NORTH
578 Anderson Hill Rd, Purchase; 914.997.4113
And now for something completely different: Behold, the lychee martini. Light and frothy with a delicately sweet kick, you’ll see why Modern Italian cuisine and on-trend cocktails are a match made in heaven here, especially when a happy ending is in order. It’s just what happens when a skilled bartender swizzles together Hendricks gin, pear nectar, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, lychee simple syrup, and fresh lime, then adds a generous, light-as-air helping of house-made elderflower foam on top. Cheeriest of cheers to you, too!
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Related: Where to Get the Swankiest Espresso Martinis in Westchester
