R5 Nibbles, March 2012: Restaurant Openings, Closings, Kitchen Changes, and Food Events in Westchester County, NY

Hassan Jarane has moved his celebrated gourmet foods market Mint Premium Foods (19 Main St, Tarrytown 914-703-6511) across the street to a larger space offering restaurant seating and a bar serving beer and wine. The eclectic menu will change frequently. Recently offered: moules frites in a French butter-saffron broth ($15); niçoise salad topped with caviar and seared foie gras ($22); and duck confit salad with pomegranate reduction ($15). Also new is a fill-your-own-bottle olive oil station at $8 to $15 for 17 ounces. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 10 pm for lunch and dinner // Bistro Latino (64 Main St, Tuckahoe 914-961-2233; bistrolatinorestaurant.com), a Rafael Palomino (Sonora, Greenwich Tavern) venture, has moved into the space that once housed The Main Street Café. The menu offers lots of tapas and charcuterie. Main dishes to sample: Palomino paella, yellowfin tuna with saffron aïoli and fingerling potatoes, and seared Hudson Valley duck breast with sweet potato and cinnamon purée. Bistro Latino is open Tuesday to Friday for lunch and dinner and on weekends for brunch and dinner // The Craftsman Ale House (235 Harrison Ave, Harrison 914-630-7484; craftsmanalehouse.com), a new beer bar, serves craft beers on tap and bottles and cans from small breweries.

Photo of Mint by Dorna Naseri

The Swedish meatballs from Darien Social are not for dieters, served with foie gras gravy.

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The food offerings ($10 or less) are beer-friendly basics, e.g., wings, onion rings with chipotle mayo, and a variety of burgers including a Reuben burger with Swiss, sauerkraut, and fried pickles. Open from 3 pm to midnight weekdays, noon to midnight Saturday, and noon to 10 pm Sunday // There’s a char and a crackle to the pizza crust at pizzeria Coals (35 1/2 N Main St, Port Chester 914-305-3220; coalspizza.com), set to open mid-month, where pies are cooked on a barbecue-like open grill, Providence, Rhode Island-style. Among the selections: The Dean Martin, with fontina, mozzarella, tomato, and pepperoni, and the Smokey Joe with fontinella, smoked mozzarella, tomato, pecorino, and pickled jalapeños. Pies are made with cheeses imported from Italy and olive oil cold-pressed in Sicily. The pizzeria is open Wednesday through Sunday for dinner from 5 to 11 pm // The gold mosaic-tiled Stefano Ferrara Napoli wood-fired oven is the star at Burrata (425 White Plains Rd, Eastchester 914-337-3700; burratapizza.com), a new pizzeria in the space that previously housed Martinis & Chocolates. Individual (12-inch) pies sold here only, including burrata with fresh garlic and wild mushrooms and a spicy sopressata with fresh mozzarella and Sicilian sea salt. Italian beers and wine are available too. The owner is French Culinary Institute alum Chas Anderson, former manager at Tarry Lodge // Derek Townsend, most recently sous chef at Manhattan’s 10 Downing Street Food & Wine, is the executive chef at the new 65-seat Park 143 Bistro (143 Parkway Rd, Bronxville 914-337-5100).

Cathy’s Biscotti now offers cupcakes.

Made-to-order savory crêpes (sweet shrimp in a pesto; mango-cucumber salsa; wild mushrooms in crème fraîche), numerous small plates (truffle oil-topped mac & cheese), and fresh pastas (cappellini with duck confit and quail eggs) are among the selections on the menu. Cocktails with ingredients such as from chipotle syrup to fresh dill are featured at the bar. The bistro, in the space which last housed Village Café, is open weekdays for lunch, every day for dinner, and brunch on weekends. Wayne Chessler, previously the general manager of Harry’s of Hartsdale and Underhills Crossing, is the owner // Taqueria La Picardia (118 Westchester Ave, Port Chester 914-937-1701; wix.com/taqueria lapicardia/lapicardia) is the latest Latin restaurant addition to the village. On the menu: tacos, burritos, burgers, Mexican tortas (sandwiches), enchiladas…no dish is more than $13.50. Open daily from 11 am to 11 pm // Nick Bilello, formerly at Burger Bar & Bistro in South Norwalk, Connecticut, is executive chef at the New American restaurant Darien Social (10 Center St, Darien, CT 203-614-8183; dariensocialct.com). Menu highlights include grilled artichoke pizza with sundried tomatoes; pork osso buco with braised napa cabbage; and wild salmon with Swiss chard. Desserts such as a root beer float with mascarpone ice cream are house-made. Darien Social is open for lunch and dinner daily // Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (845-561-2022; hudsonvalleyrestaurantweek.com) runs from March 18 to through March 31.

More than 184 Hudson Valley  restaurants (including 76 in Westchester) are participating, offering three-course lunches for $20.95 and three-course dinners for $29.95 (excluding tax, tip, and beverage). Among the restaurants taking part: Bistro Rollin, Division Street Grill, La Panetière, Ruby’s Oyster Bar & Bistro, and Turkish Meze // Bill Rosenberg, best known as executive chef/owner of the now-defunct F.I.S.H. Restaurant in Port Chester, is today the executive chef at the Radisson Hotel New Rochelle (1 Radisson Plz, New Rochelle 914-576-3700; radisson.com), heading the NoMa Social mediterranean restaurant set to open in April // Chef Peter Kelly and Xaviars’ Wine Director Billy Rattner, along with three spirits-industry insiders, are scheduled to launch Slovenia Vodka this summer.

The Fresh Market’s colorful produce display.

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The vodka is made from winter wheat and buckwheat and named after the central European country where it is distilled // The Fresh Market, Inc. (723 White Plains Rd, Scarsdale 914-723-6600; thefreshmarket.com), a specialty grocer with 114 stores in 21 states, has opened a location in Scarsdale, the company’s second shop in the state. The 21,700-square-foot space has a bakery, a full-service meat counter, a wide selection of ready-to-serve entrées, a cheese department, and a fresh seafood department (with seafood delivered to the market several times a week) // Gourmet Italian food company Cucina Antica Foods (333 N Bedford Rd, #118, Mount Kisco 914-244-9700; cucina-antica.com), once an online-only store, now has a brick-and-mortar location. The company offers all-natural pasta and pasta sauces, organic dressings and ketchup, and olive oils // More than 40 regional vendors sell their produce at the new, year-round Mount Kisco Farmers’ Market (351 Main St, Mount Kisco 914-666-8069). John Boy’s Farm of Pound Ridge, Slow Food Metro North, and the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester sponsor the market, which is open Saturdays 9 am to 1 pm in the Boys & Girls Club gymnasium // Panini, soups, salads, baked goods, and artisan coffee, espresso, and loose-leaf teas are offered at Deja Brew Café (5 West Broad St, Mount Vernon 914-699-3300; deja-brew-cafe.com), a new coffeehouse owned by Chef Bruce Tanner, previously a chef at Myong Gourmet in Mount Kisco. The beans are locally roasted // Cathy’s Biscotti (914-761-0440; cathysbiscotti.com) has two new product lines: scones (a dozen for $32), as well as cupcakes (a dozen for $36) // New items on the menu at Il Castello (576 Mamaroneck Ave, Mamaroneck 914-777-2200; ilcastellomenu.com) include pasta with jumbo shrimp and exotic mushrooms ($24); veal osso buco with risotto ($30); and sea scallops with julienne vegetables ($28) // Viennese pastry shop Patisserie Salzburg in Rye has opened a location in Scarsdale (1 Christie Pl 914-472-8300); Martine’s Fine Bake Shoppe of Tuckahoe also has opened in Scarsdale (48 E Parkway 914-722-4949), offering breakfast pastries and fresh-baked artisanal breads and serving soups and sandwiches // Coming this spring in the space that housed Mykonos Greek: specialty hot dog joint Dobbs Dawg House (25 Cedar St, Dobbs Ferry 914-693-5555; dobbsdawghouse.com) // Set to open soon is King Street Restaurant & Bar (76 King St, Chappaqua 914-238-9600), an American eatery where Grappolo Locanda used to be // Ralph Pisani, chef/owner of Abatino’s Pizza & Pasta Restaurant in North White Plains will open Papanice Ristorante Italiano Bar & Lounge (128 E Post Rd, White Plains) by late spring in the spot that held Tango Grill.

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