Mount Kisco might not be the first place that makes you think of the tropics, but at Sugar Rhum, a new Latin American restaurant that opened in May, Westchester patrons can enjoy their share of summery cocktails and cooling ceviche. Co-owned by longtime Westchester restaurateurs and father-daughter team Juan Carlos and Lisa Ruíz (as well as Arturo Flores), Sugar Rhum combines Caribbean, Central American, and South American influences with, as Lisa puts it, “plenty of Cuban flair.”
“[We want to create] something unique that encompasses flavors of the old culinary traditions,” says Juan. Consulting chef Jorge Adriaszola’s international upbringing and experience — he has spent more than 30 years in the restaurant industry, including stints at NYC’s Patria and Sushisamba — lends to the menu’s creativity. Raised in Peru, Adriaszola’s neighbors were Japanese and his grandfather was Italian, “so I have those key elements to bridge the table,” he says. “From the get-go, I had that fusion in my blood.”
The largely seasonal menu is constantly rotating, but staples include paella, tapas, and ceviches. The popular ceviche mixto is a velvety mix of shrimp, lobster, octopus, calamari, and squid ink, topped with avocado, tomato, and plantain chips, and served in a wine glass with roasted and toasted corn. If you prefer a surf-and-turf-style appetizer, the anticuchos comes with grilled shrimp, beef, and chicken, perfectly charred and poised on a half grapefruit.
Seafood-heavy entrées include Adriazola’s interpretation of moqueca, a Brazilian shellfish-coconut stew with a hidden treasure of cilantro rice in the center, and grilled snapper (pargo), which comes with a bacon-sweet-plantain mash. Seared salmon boasts a crispy skin on a bed of earthy black rice, accompanied by peppers, peas, shrimp, and a sweet, tangy mustard-mango sauce.
Vegan and gluten-free options are also available, as well as a new lunch menu, which includes steak, chicken, and Cuban sandwiches.
Can’t afford a summer vacation? Don’t miss Sugar Rhum’s impressive selection of drinks (including extensive beer and wine lists), which traverses Cuba, Peru, Mexico, Spain, and the Dominican Republic. The summery pink grapefruit mojito is made with fresh lime and mint, while the grapefruit margarita is rimmed with the restaurant’s own spice blend. Order a Havana Mule and light up a cigar in their outdoor seating. You might be in Westchester, but you can almost taste the tropics.
Sugar Rhum
38 Main St
Mount Kisco​
914.864.1444
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