The Latest in Westchester's Food and Dining Scene

The owners of Thornwood’s The Barley House have opened Barley on the Hudson (236 W Main St, Tarrytown; 914.418.5724) in the space that formerly housed Striped Bass. The casual waterfront restaurant currently has 100 seats on the deck, plus 60 under an awning; indoor seating will be available when the interior is finished in October. On the menu: giant pretzels, burgers, grilled hot dogs, crab cakes, and a seared tuna sandwich. 

The owners of well-received French restaurant Appétit Bistro in Port Chester had planned to debut Capers Mediterranean by press time in the village. Expect Italian, Greek, Basque, and Moroccan ingredients in dishes such as octopus carpaccio, quail with lentils, lamb kabobs, and snapper with tabbouleh. The 50-seat restaurant (30 additional on the patio) is at 521 N Main Street, the space that once housed Café Mirage.     

The 135-seat white tablecloth La Bocca (8 Church St, White Plains; 914.948.3281) celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. Omnipresent chef-owner Tony Spiritoso creates regional Italian dishes, such as spaghetti alla chitarra, bucatini puttanesca, whole-roasted branzino, and tagliata di manzo (sliced 16-oz sirloin with arugula and shaved Parmesan in a balsamic reduction).

Chef-owner Isi Albanese has added new menu items at Exit 4 Food Hall (153 Main St, Mount Kisco; 914.241.1200), including a sushi burger, skillet paella, wood-fired veggies, and gluten-free pasta made from cabbage-family member and it-vegetable kohlrabi. 

Open for approximately one year at 189 E Post Road in White Plains before closing due to landlord issues, Pax Romana is scheduled to reopen as TVB by: Pax Romana at 171 E Post Road sometime this month (“TVB” stands for Ti voglio bene, or “I love you” in Italian, one of the most popular Italian street tags). The cuisine will remain Italian street food (especially Roman) but with the addition of some Italian American dishes. 

There are also new dishes to try at Park 143 Bistro & Fish (143 Parkway Rd, Bronxville; 914.337.5100). New starters include semolina-crusted fried oysters, sizzling shrimp in a dry sherry-red pepper sauce, crispy octopus, and tacos (mahi-mahi, jerk chicken, or barbecue pork). New mains to try are a mixed seafood burger, a veggie burger, linguine with white clam sauce, and homemade pasta with five kinds of seafood in a marinara sauce.