Small Bites

What a party at Le Fontane last night! By the time I left, I was waving and saying goodbye to everyone in the restaurant! Lots of people were dining out for restaurant week. We couldn’t even park in the regular parking lot: it was too full.

In case you’re just tuning in, I’m on a week-long assignment to cover Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (www.hudsonvalleyrestaurantweek.com.) (I know, I know: Break out the violins — I have to go out every night.) As I mentioned in Report No. 1: Mighty Joe Young’s, Abby Luby wrote a very nice cover story in The Line, telling readers that there are 22 restaurants in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam (more throughout the Hudson Valley) offering $16 dinners and $26 lunches for the next two weeks (Monday through Friday only). I’m posting about some of them here, hoping you’ll share your experiences, too.

Last night I hit northern Westchester: Katonah to be exact. (Or is it Somers? I get confused sometimes.) Anyway, I’d heard that Le Fontane won Best of the Hudson Valley for its pumpkin ravioli, so I knew it’d be a place to try. Once again, my friend Kelli was my date.

We arrived to a bit of confusion — waiting near the hostess stand where there seemed to be no hostess. But after we stepped into the actual dining room, we were seated right away.

The bread:

I thought the bread basket was cool:

Then we perused the menu. Here’s what was on offer for the three-course, $26 dinner:

Appetizers

Mussels marinara

Mozzarella and avocado

Baked little neck clams oreganate

Spinach salad with shaved parmigiano and sliced pear

Entrees

Pumpkin ravioli with butter and sage

Risotto pescatore

Gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce and homemade mozzarella

Grouper fillet with lemons and capers

Grilled trout with fresh herbs

Crabcake with linguine and shrimp

Roasted pork chop with apple sauce

Chicken fiorentina with spinach, proscuitto and mozzarella

Dessert

Apple strudel with vanilla ice cream

Pear in wine with pumpkin gelato
It’s hard to make a comparison whether the menu is a big bargain, because many of the choices from the Restaurant Week menu were not available on the regular menu.

The mozzarella and avocado, for example, was nowhere to be found. Neither was the clam appetizer. We also couldn’t see the ravioli (I wonder how it won the prize if it’s not on the menu? Is it a perennial special?), the risotto or the gnocchi, and the meat and fish dishes that we found on the menu came with different accoutrements. On the HVRW menu, the pork chop comes with apple sauce. On the regular menu (for $17.75), it’s sauteed with mushrooms and dried cranberries and served over apple couscous.

While were deciding, they brought us these rather doughy pizzette:

We chose:

The clams:

Good — not laden with butter. But I would have liked a little more time under the Salamander. (That’s restaurant lingo for a big fancy broiler.)

Salad:

It seems that Le Fontane was not ready for the onslaught of people that were taking advantage of HVRW. This was supposed to be the spinach salad, but even at 7:45, they were out of spinach already. So they substituted lettuce. They still kept the pears and Parmesan. We were very happy about that. The salad was a big winner. Very nice vinaigrette — light and not cloying or too bitter. It may not look so pretty but it was very tasty. Especially that nutty parm.

Between courses, I got up to talk to a few people in the restaurant. All but two tables were eating off the restaurant week menu, and only one table didn’t know about it beforehand. (Though they ate off the menu anyway.)

The first people I embarrassed, er, ingratiated myself to were a group of six hospice nurses. I guess they usually get together at the home of the woman third from right, but because of HVRW they decided to go out tonight instead.

The nurses:

A closer look at the nurses:

I can’t wait to hear what they thought. With six people, they could almost order the entire menu! (By the way nurses, thank you for what you do. Hospice is one tough job.)

While I was back at the table, I took a couple more snaps:

My refreshing sauvignon blanc:

So then the entrees came. Kelli got the ravioli:

Wow. It’s good. I see why it won the award. It’s sweet without being sugary. And the butter is brown enough that it tastes almondy. (I think a splash of Galliano helps that along, too.)

And I got the risotto.

Also very good. The fish was all very fresh and the risotto wasn’t gummy or lumpy. A success for sure.

Before dessert, I headed back out to the crowd. Everyone was very friendly. And some of you knew me and the Web site, LoHud.com! Thanks!

Here are Linda and Mary:

Ruby and Divina:

Rich and Sonya:

Ebony and Vi:

And, left to right: Mary, John, John and Lisa:

These were the people who didn’t know it was HVRW, but they ordered off the menu once they saw it. And by the way: Kudos to Le Fontane for making it very clear that it’s Restaurant Week. There were flyers at the door, and the HVRW menu was offered right on top of the regular menu so you couldn’t miss it.

Here’s our waiter, Guilio:

And, with all the picture-taking going on, owner Antonio Abate asked if he could take my photo. Kelli and me:

Time for dessert. Again, Le Fontane ran out of one of the desserts. I really wanted to try the pear in wine with pumpkin gelato, but alas. They offered us zuppa di ingles instead. It’s kind of like a cross between a trifle and a tiramisu. It’s very, very sweet, and not really my bag. But there’s nothing wrong with the way it’s made. If you like light, creamy, sponge-cake style deserts with fruit and nuts.

We also got the apple strudel, which came with pine nuts and raisins. Kelli adored the ice cream.

A few more snaps in the dining room:

As I left, I made sure to say goodbye to Rich and Sonya, to Ebony and Vi, to Lisa, Mary and the two Johns, to Linda and Mary, and to Ruby and Divina, who told me about a very nice event they attended at the Smithsonian in Washington that was a day all about chocolate. Sign me up for that!

On the way out, I snapped this pic of the eponymous fountain:

And a shot of the restaurant from the outside.

Except for being out of a few things (they need to plan better), Le Fontane gets good marks. The service was very good and there were a number of selections on the menu and they seemed to be representative of the restaurant. Get the pumpkin ravioli!

Photo Caption: img_7901.jpg