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The Beer While Polpettina offers a modest four taps devoted to American craft beers, the family-friendly meatball/pizza/fries place also serves around 50 to 60 more beers in bottles and more than 10 in cans, depending on the season. Expect Polpettina to offer a rogues’ gallery of every cool beer you’ve ever heard about. Also, look for the weekly $25 growler refill + pie deal—it’s a great way to start your Friday night.
The Food Though Polpettina touts itself as a modest neighborhood pie joint (with a slot-mouthed Baker’s Pride, no less), in fact, there’s a lot of cheffy, gourmet stuff going on behind the scenes. Many of Polpettina’s ingredients are boutique American products—like Maplebrook Farms burrata or La Quercia salumi—and, often, the dishes are spun with ingredients that you’re unlikely to find at your local slice shop. On one visit, we found pasta tossed in sea urchin butter.
102 Fisher Ave, Eastchester (A second location is set to open at 147 Larchmont Avenue in Larchmont sometime this month.), (914) 961-0061; polpettina.com
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Fortina
The Beer Daringly, Fortina offers a single tap (which, when last we checked, was devoted to Captain Lawrence’s Kolsch), but it also offers a carefully curated list of more than 50 beers in bottles and cans that features almost every style of beer. Look for ales, pilsners, lagers, kölschs, wiess, hefeweizen, saisons, IPAs, stouts, and barleywines (just to name a few); there is also cider. Most of the beers are sourced in the USA and Germany. Bottom line: There is plenty of variety here for beer geeks to savor.
The Food Chef Christian Petroni’s oeuvre is a cheerful mix of Italian purism and all-American fun and extends to a menu mostly executed in his dual wood-fired ovens. Look for loads of beer-friendly charcuterie, salumi, and cheese to start, then follow with tender, lightly charred, wood-fired pizzas; smoky bistecca alla fiorentina; and elegant pastas. All are perfect to pair with beer.
17 Maple Ave, Armonk, (914) 273-0900; fortinapizza.com
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The Beer New York City’s beer world took notice when Ithaca Beer Co’s star brewer, Jeff O’Neil, came down to Peekskill. Suddenly, Westchester had two serious breweries demanding tap space in City bars. O’Neil is particularly known for his on-trend sour beers, which, in their sparkling acidity, are ideally sessionable. Don’t miss the delicately sour Amazeballs and Simple Sour beers, whose crispness renders them, to beer, what Champagne is to white wine.
The Food Chef Sean Corcoran’s sophisticated liver parfaits, lime/sea-salt pretzels, and down-and-dirty poutine offer plenty of great reasons to stay at PB and have another beer. Look for house-baked breads (including PB’s hamburger buns), as well as irresistible bar snacks that include soft pretzels and house-made pickles.
47-53 S Water St, Peekskill, (914) 734-2337; peekskillbrewery.com
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» View our Peekskill Brewery Taste Test Here
The Beer A longtime supporter of the local beer scene, Blue Hill at Stone Barns has collaborated with numerous local breweries that include Brooklyn’s Kelso, Rockland’s Defiant, and Westchester’s own Captain Lawrence. Not content to merely brew, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture has grown hops that wound up at several breweries. This year, Captain Lawrence will be the sole recipient of the three types of hops (Cascade, Niagara, and Nugget) grown on the Stone Barns property at Pocantico Hills. The beer that emanates from this collaboration will be sold exclusively at Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
The Food There’s not much to say here that hasn’t already been said by scores of national and international magazines, but Blue Hill at Stone Barns is the iconic restaurant that is often cited as Ground Zero in the local food movement. Its chef, Dan Barber, has won numerous James Beard Awards, but, beyond the accolades, a meal at Blue Hill at Stone Barns is a mind-bending culinary journey that often lasts for 20 courses. You will definitely need a beer.
630 Bedford Rd, Pocantico Hills, (914) 366-9600; bluehillfarm.com
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The Beer Birdsall House is the Westchester beer geek’s house of prayer. Its 20 taps offer a swiftly changing pantheon of excellent craft beers that are mostly produced within a day’s drive away. Look for several unique, one-time-only brews; plus, you’ll often see cask-conditioned ales propped behind the bar.
The Food As befits its beer program that focuses on local brews, Birdsall House’s kitchen is firmly locavorian. Look for pork-centric comfort food whose ingredients often hail from many of the local farms in and around Westchester. We’re particular fans of Chef March Walker’s house-made charcuterie, a perfect pairing for local beers.
970 Main St, Peekskill, (914) 930-1880; birdsallhouse.net
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