Here’s a little tidbit from our Foodie Secret Code: The phrase “farm-to-table” generally connotes “strictly for rich folks.” The good news is that the restaurants below each serve fresh, locally sourced food for about what you’d pay for one shaming drive-thru bag of McDreadful. Really.
Village Dog
Good Mornin’ Dog with house-made soda
Let’s face it: Hot dogs are the All-American food that lives in infamy. Upton Sinclair. Ralph Nader. Eric Schlosser. You get the idea. But what if someone took the dish that America loves (but was frightened by), then made it wholesome with pure, locally sourced ingredients? You would have Village Dog, a restaurant that serves hot dogs you can actually eat in good conscience.
Sure, the ingredients at Village Dog are sourced from Flying Pigs Farm, Grazing Angus Acres, and the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, but that doesn’t mean that these dogs are the culinary version of altar boys. Far from it. Take the greasy (in a good way!) Good Mornin’ dog for $8.50: The sausages are house-ground from Flying Pigs Farm heritage-breed pork, then they’re wrapped in bacon and topped with a golden fried egg. This sucker doesn’t spare the fat—just the GMOs, pesticides, nitrites, and antibiotics. Wash it down with a spicy house-made ginger ale, a steal at only $2 per small cup.
18 Main St, Tarrytown, (914) 909-9000; villagedogtarrytown.com
Local
grilled sausage sandwich and “Oasis” sundae
We’re talking juicy grilled sausages made from wholesome locally raised pork, loaded into a Balthazar loaf with fresh greens, spicy chutney, and dijon mustard. Oh, and you’ll be sitting on a genuine Eames chair in a bright, sunny spot in Chappaqua. How much would you expect to pay for the pleasure?
But it doesn’t end there. At Local, you can end your meal with nostalgic sundaes made with ice cream from the elite local creameries Ronnybrook Farm Dairy (Ancramdale, New York) and SoCo Creamery (Great Barrington, Massachusetts). The sundaes are loaded with freshly whipped cream and gilded with house-made caramel or hot fudge, plus, you can choose from laundry list of other toppings. Seriously—how much would you expect to pay? Turns out the whole shebang comes in at just 19 bucks.
75 S Greeley Ave, Chappaqua, (914) 238-0698; chappaqualocal.com
Polpettina
large pie and growler deal
Here’s what we love about Polpettina. Even though it purports to sell down-and-dirty comfort food (pizza, meatballs, and fries), in fact, Polpettina’s kitchen uses excellent ingredients. In the pizzas, look for boutique American salumi and charcuterie. Plus, look for locally sourced salad greens, cheeses, and meats. But that doesn’t mean that Polpettina’s pricey. On Friday nights, look for its eminently shareable large pie and growler of craft beer deal ($25). That’s right, split it with a partner and your share is just $12.50—and you might even catch a buzz!
102 Fisher Ave, Eastchester (914) 961-0061; polpettina.com
♦ For more cheap eats, click here.