R5 Nibbles, October 2011: Restaurant Openings, Closings, Kitchen Changes, and Food Events in Westchester County, NY

The newly opened Yard House (One Ridge Hill Rd, Yonkers 914-375-9273; yardhouse.com) is part of a growing national chain known for its selection of 130 tap brews that complement an extensive menu of American dishes with Pacific Rim influences. The 130-item menu includes appetizers, salads, sandwiches, rice and pasta dishes, as well as steak (12-ounce grilled rib eye) and seafood (ginger-crusted Norwegian salmon) offerings. The 400-seat restaurant has a glass-enclosed keg room with capacity for 5,000 gallons of beer and also utilizes eco-friendly features such as waterless urinals, environmentally friendly cleaning solutions, and furniture crafted from plantation-grown teakwood. Yard House is open every day from 11 am for lunch and dinner; a separate happy hour menu is offered from 3 to 6 pm weekdays // Don’t look for French fries—or anything fried for that matter—at Energy Kitchen (energykitchen.com), a Manhattan-based health-conscious chain set to open this month at 40 Mamaroneck Ave in White Plains. The menu features wraps, breakfast dishes, salads, burgers, and entrées such as turkey meatloaf and salmon; all items have fewer than 500 calories and are cooked  to order. Locations in Rye and Bronxville also are planned // Ron Campanaro, previously head chef at Boe @ 324 in White Plains, is chef/owner at the new dinner-only Taste (265 Tate Ave, Buchanan 914-930-7866). Taste, which took over the space that once housed Four Doors Down, features a New American menu that changes daily. Dishes include homemade ravioli, ground-in-house Kobe burgers, Colorado lamb chops, Peking duck breast, and a “Best of Westchester” crab cake. Main courses range from $16 to $30; the international wine list features approximately 50 bottles ranging in price from $20 to $160. The dining room is small (36 seats), but additional seating is available on the patio (20) and in the bar/lounge (22). On Mon and Wed through Sat, Taste is open from 5:30 to “as late as diners come in,” says Chef Campanaro, and from 3:30 to closing on Sun // The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester (3 Renaissance Sq, White Plains 914-946-5500; ritzcarlton.com) is supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month with its Cupcakes That Care program.

Yard House can store 5,000 gallons of beer.

Nessa is now offering wine deals and many new menu items. - Advertisement -

Purchase a spiced-apple cupcake topped with a maple cream-cheese frosting ($3.50) and $.50 will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation ($42 per dozen; $6 goes to charity) // Craft beer drinkers should head to Growlers Beer Bistro (25 Main St, Tuckahoe 914-793-0608), a beer-centric small-plates bistro that opened in a former Metro-North substation. Chef Ciaran E. Cullen, who studied at the French Culinary Institute, serves a menu of shareable plates of oysters, cheeses, charcuterie, salads, and bruschette. The bar has 20 tap lines, including three for red wine. The 50-seat bistro is open Mon through Wed, 2 pm until midnight, noon to midnight Thu and Sun, and noon to 2 am Fri and Sat  // La Piccola Gourmet Italian Deli (885 Yonkers Ave, Yonkers 914-751-8620; lapiccolagourmetdeli.com) is celebrating its one-year anniversary this month. The market specializes in house-made sausages, sauces, and mozzarella; breads from the Bronx and Brooklyn bakeries Il Forno, E&V, and Addeo; and specialty Italian groceries // Explore the dining scenes of two terrific foodie towns at The New England Culinary Group’s Eating Greenwich & Port Chester Event (newenglandculinarygroup.com). From Sun, October 16, through Fri, October 21, more than 30 Greenwich and Port Chester restaurants will offer discounted prices on prix-fixe menus ($10-$18 lunch; $20-$30 dinner), plus other specials such as family-style dining, lunch buffets, early-bird dining, ladies-who-lunch deals, and wine-pairing meals. Diners will receive a 20-percent-off gift certificate good at any participating Eating Greenwich & Port Chester restaurant before December 1, 2011 (valid Sun to Wed only) // For the fourth year in a row, Morton’s The Steakhouse, which has a location in White Plains (9 Maple Ave 914-683-6101; mortons.com), has won Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence // Brady Duhame (Vox Bar & Restaurant, Picholine) has come on board as a consultant chef to revamp the menu at Nessa (325 N Main St, Port Chester 914-939-0119; nessarestaurant.com). Also new: Thursday is Wine Lovers’ night—half off from 6 to 8 pm on any bottle, glass, carafe, or quartino of wine // Opening some time this fall: a pan-Asian restaurant in the Village Green Center at 724 Saw Mill River Rd in Ardsley.