Small Bites

After working for several years in marketing and television production, I now divide my days between chasing after my rambunctious toddler, and scouting deals for the local daily deal site SuburbanMomma.

Whether it’s training for a triathlon or sitting down to an 8-course meal, I’m driven by the excitement of new things.  I was pleasantly surprised by the local culinary scene we found when my Rockland-raised husband, son and I moved to Rockland County six months ago.  We discovered it’s a great place to be a foodie.   Not only can you enjoy a delicious meal at one of the many renowned spots, but there are also tons of great off-the-map places to discover.

As a new member of the LoHud community, I couldn’t be more excited to be guest blogging for Small Bites during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.

Grand Central American Grill will open in April where the Tollgate Steakhouse and Limoncello used to be on Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck.

Mike Meaney/TJN

Owner Nicholas Ligotino tells me the place will be a comfortable spot for great steaks, salads, fresh seafood and burgers and will have two raw bars: one outside on the back patio, where diners can watch people shucking to order.

The chef, Matthew Levy, used to cook at Angelo & Maxie’s in Manhattan.

There are three floors in the restaurant, and the top two have exposed brick walls. The bright and spacious top floor has French doors that look out onto Boston Post Road. The first floor will have have a big bar with stone accents and old fashioned Edison light bulbs.

“It’s rustic industrial,” says Ligotino. “A lot of brick and stone, and the lights are going to be very dim. It’s going to be a very comfortable atmosphere.”

Ligotino and his partner, Joseph Tramo, also own Nicky’s Beer Garden in the Bronx, where there’s a giant beer garden outside. Ligotino says he opened in this spot because he loved the location.

The 411 is coming soon. Til then: 974 E. Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck. 914-630-7779

I moved to Chappaqua 6 years ago from the West Village (yes, for the schools) and my mission has been to discover new restaurants in Westchester.  I love all kinds of cuisines as well as cooking at home.  My family loves my coq au vin.

Looking forward to participating in Small bites’ blogging for this year’s HVRW.

I’m a lifelong resident of Westchester County, and one of reasons I love living here is the wide variety of amazing restaurants.  My wife and I love heading out to old favorites that have been around for years, as well as discovering new eateries as they open their doors.  When we travel away, we head off the beaten path and seek out locally owned restaurants rather than settling for the cookie-cutter national chains. I’m new to food blogging here on LoHud, but I post regular reviews of the restaurants I visit to Trip Advisor.

I’m an avid cook at home as well, dating all the way back to taking “Bachelor Cooking” in high school.  I’m no longer a bachelor, but that doesn’t stop me from experimenting with new and interesting recipes at home, including brewing my own beer.

Hi. My name is Sue Dorien, and a perfect day for me is bread dough proofing on the counter, the Dutch oven filled with braising veal shanks, and a cutting board piled high with raw vegetables ready to be manipulated.

I grew up in the Hudson Valley in a big family of eight children. Both parents worked so we kids were left to make dinner. To my siblings’ horror, my cooking expertise was limited to tuna casserole with crunched Wheat Thins on top. Wallpaper paste was more palatable.

Through the years, however, I’ve honed my cooking skills. My Ham and Cheese Scones were chosen by Cooking Light magazine (Sept 2002) for their Lighten Up feature. What was a past time soon became my passion. All the fame and glory must have gone to my head because I now eat, sleep, dream, and live food. I love everything about food; shopping for it, prepping it, cooking it, and sharing it.

I look forward to blogging for Small Bites during Restaurant Week. I’ll share my sights, smells, and tastes with you all.

Competing cauldrons of chili from two firehouse chefs, 10 restaurants with signature dishes and paired wines from Zachy’s — such are the draws at the Westchester Culinary Experience, a fundraiser being held from 6 to 9 p.m. March 28 at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains to benefit the YMCA. Tickets cost $75 and entitle you to taste dishes from:

Moderne Barn
X20
Milonga Wine & Tapas
Mulino’s of Westchester
Graziella’s
The Melting Pot
Fire Station # 6 Chili
Meritage
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
Royal Palace Fine Indian
Crabtree’s Kittle House
The Cookery
GEM Cuisines of China
Casaletto
Turkish Meze
808 Bistro
Sofrito
Johnny Gelato
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Harvest on Hudson

and more. For informaiton, visit www.ymca-cnw.org or call 914-287-2021, Ext. 202.

I’m JL Fields and I blog about my transition to a vegan diet and lifestyle at JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a Side of Kale (my original recipes have been featured on Foodbuzz, BlogHer and Meatless Monday) and I am the editor of the community blog Stop Chasing Skinny.   I serve on the board of directors of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary and on the advisory board of Our Hen House.

What does this have to do with Restaurant Week?  My husband and I—eleven year residents of Southern Westchester—dine out like it’s our job. Sometimes it feels like a job because while I am a vegan he is not; it is challenging to find a restaurant that pleases both the plant-based diner and the meat-eater. I look forward to sharing our experiences in “mixed” dining with you!

As a Manhattan commuter by day, I have been to some of the most celebrated restaurants in the city, and I can honestly say that many restaurants in the HudsonValley area have matched the culinary greatness of those in the city.  Some of the best chefs in the world have put down roots here and it is evident in the quality of restaurants the HudsonValley has to offer.

As a lifelong Rockland resident, I am proud to spread the word to people who are not familiar with the HudsonValley area, of the fine restaurants, shopping and nightlife we have to offer.

Food, glorious food!  Lucky for me I have a speeding freight train for a metabolism. I get to eat everything and then some. I’m a real ‘foodie’ who went to cooking school to become better versed in the culinary arts. After all, good food and it’s skillful preparation is in fact, art.

I’m a collector of all things cooking be they interesting gadgets, the latest appliance, cookbooks and cooking magazines galore. I have lived in lower Hudson Valley for 13 years now and am always on the prowl for new, interesting gourmet food stores and restaurants.

Ask any one, they’ll tell you I’m the ‘go-to girl’ for the latest and greatest restaurant find! For that reason alone I’m excited to participate in reviewing this years Hudson Valley’s Restaurant week. Happy eating!

Lent began yesterday with Ash Wednesday, and for many Christians, that means fish is on the menu for dinner on Fridays.

Problem is, fish is something many cooks have the least amount of experience preparing. Ask us to grill a steak or roast a chicken — no problem. But cook a fish? Suddenly we’re fearful.

At least I am.

So I turned to Brian Galvin, the owner of Ocean House in Croton-on-Hudson and one of the best fish cooks around, for some tips. And he was a great help — at least after he stopped laughing.

Flaky v. Steaky: Steamed branzino (flaky) with roasted tomatoes, capers and olive oil (Tania Savayan/TJN) and Grilled Tuna with Curry Vinaigrette and Chili Oil (Seth Harrison/TJN)

See, I figure fish falls into two main categories: flaky and steaky. And that’s how I asked for his help: To give me pointers for four common cooking methods — grilling, broiling, baking and steaming — for both flaky and steaky fish.

Flaky fish are, well, the kind that flake on your fork. These include black sea bass, wild striped bass, sole, trout, branzino, halibut, pampano, skate, fluke, cod and tilapia.

Steaky fish are, on the other hand, fish that you can cut into big steak-like pieces: tuna, swordfish, hamachi, mako, marlin and opa, otherwise known as moonfish.

Galvin says there is a middle ground, too — half flaky and half steaky, if you will — and those fish include bluefish, striped bass, monkfish, mahi mahi, and even salmon.

Brian and Paula Galvin, owners of Ocean House in Croton-on-Hudson. (Seth Harrison/TJN)

But for the purposes of this lesson, we’re going to stick with flaky and steaky.

He prepared two dishes for us: a flaky branzino, which he steamed and served with a tomato-caper sauce, and a steaky tuna, which he grilled and seved with a curry vinaigrette and chili oil. You can find those recipes after the jump.

But a good rule of thumb for all of his recommendations?

“Keep it simple,” he says. “And don’t mask the flavors too much.”

So consult the chart below for his recommendations for broiling, baking, steaming and grilling — whether for flaky or steaky.

Because really, there are only so many fish sticks you can fry.

Want to download a PDF to print out? Click right here: Flaky-Steaky Chart.

Recipes for Steamed Branzino with Tomato-Caper Sauce and Grilled Tuna with Curry Vinaigrette and Chili Oil, after the jump.

Mary Lynn Mitcham wrote this week’s Restaurants We Love column in Sunday Life. Here you go:

When you can’t get into a restaurant in the sleepy village of Buchanan on a weekend night, it generally means one of two things: Either the world is ending, or the restaurant is pretty darn good.

Photos by Xavier Mascareñas/TJN

Fortunately, in the case of Taste, which chef Ronald Campanaro owns with his wife, Alyssa Presta-Campanaro, it’s the latter. Home to a New American, globally influenced menu, the restaurant seems to be making waves not only as a neighborhood hotspot, but as a culinary one, as well.

I stopped in on a recent Thursday night — Ladies Night, when the drinks are half-price — and relaxed with a cocktail at the bar in the low-lit, cozy lounge before heading through the animal-print curtains that serve as a partition to the dining room.

The Suffern Farmers Market has moved indoors for the winter.

So now it’s easy to stock up on local produce from Do Re Me, artisanal bread from Meredith’s Breads, Honeybrook Farms honey, Coventry Bodycare products and locally made products from Etsy.com at the market, which will be held this Saturday, Feb. 25, and also March 24, April 28 and May 26 at the Suffern Community Center. There will also be children’s activities, such as arts and crafts, at future markets.

Details: 41 Washington Ave., suffernfarmersmarket.org.

Stephen Paul Mancini is known for taking care to select just the right wine to pair with your meal at Restaurant North in Armonk, no matter how esoteric or unfamiliar.

So, on Sunday night, when he opened a whole case of bottles from the North Fork of Long Island and left them out on every table in the restaurant, you had to know something was out of the ordinary.

The dinner was a celebration. Restaurant North, owned by Mancini and chef Eric Gabrynowicz, had just become the 18th venue in the northern suburbs to receive the Slow Food Snail of Approval award, and was serving a congratulatory family-style meal to the farmers who supply its meat and produce.

Kathryn Dysart and Mimi Edelman, left and right, co-chairs of Slow Food Metro North, present the Snail of Approval award to Restaurant North owners Stephen Mancini and Eric Gabrynowicz.

The Snail of Approval award is given to restaurants, farms, purveyors and artisans who “contribute to the quality, authenticity and sustainability” of the food in the region, according to the Slow Food website.

But Mimi Edelman, co-chair of the Slow Food Metro North chapter, which awarded the Snail, explains it better.

To win the award, you have to be the kind of business that is “creating a convivial setting, creating the platform for people to gather together, taking the bounty of your region and honoring a food culture and tradition,” she said.

They certainly do that every night at North, which is known for its farm-to-table cuisine and excellent wine and spirits.

But on Sunday, the meal felt like a dinner with family. (They even let us bring our children! Baby Samantha was there in her party dress!) Farmers from Sycamore Farms in Middletown, Meiller’s Farm in Pine Plains and Hemlock Hill in Cortlandt Manor, just to name a few, shared tables with Mancini’s and Gabrynowicz’s families and friends of the restaurant.

People were passing platters of braised pork and roasted chicken, olive oil-braised potatoes, roasted root vegetables and, for dessert, there were North’s now-famous skillets: chocolate chip and dark chocolate cookies served piping hot in cast iron pans with big scoops of ice cream on top.

More food, photos and a little bit more about Slow Food Metro North — and a list of other Snail Approved-restaurants and farms, after the jump.

My name is Denise de Castro. I love food – cooking, eating, taking photos of food, and attending cooking demos – all things related to food. I’ve been writing about food for over six years. My blog, deecuisine.com, features restaurant reviews and culinary events primarily in the tristate area, recipes, and more.

Beyond my blog, you’ll see some of my food porn in my tweets (@deeCuisine), on Foodspotting, Pinterest, Instagram, or my blog’s Facebook page.

This is my second year as a Guest Blogger for HV Restaurant Week. I’m exited to be writing two restaurant reviews this year. I look forward to good eats, drinks, and reviews.

Looking to celebrate Mardi Gras tonight? Here are three places to go!

Mardi Gras at Bourbon Street in 2007. File/TJN

• CJ Chenier will be in Mount Vernon on Feb. 21. The Grammy-nominated entertainer will perform, and there will be lots of revelry, including some beads, masks and who knows what else. King and Queen of Mardi Gras will be crowned at the end of the evening. 6, 8 and 10 p.m. $20 cover charge if not eating. The 411 on The Bayou.

• Bourbon Street comes to Hartsdale for Harrys FAT TUESDAY celebration! Beads and masks are the costume de rigueur and our mixologist will offer a complimentary cocktail for those ladies in Mardi Gras masks! We’ll turn up the heat with live music by Hit Squad from 9pm-midnight and offer Cajun specials along with our regular menu. Dinner will be served until 11 p.m.  The 411 on Harry’s.

• Live music and dinner specials at Bourbon Street in Nyack: The 411 on Bourbon Street.

16 Handles, a new frozen yogurt place in New City, serves 16 different flavor of yogurt at any one time. It’s the 16th franchise shop to open, it had its soft opening on Feb. 16, it’s 1,600 square feet big and its phone number is 845-596-1616.

That’s a lot of 16s!

But keep these numbers in mind when you visit: owners Ed Roth and Lenny Spiegel have 52 different flavors to choose among, and there are 50 different topings, from the very healthy (like granola) to the not-so-healthy (like candy).

The space has a cool, retro feel with oranges, pinks and greens, and there are flat-screen TVs, music and a party lounge that’s available for rentals. There will be a grand opening on Feb. 25.

Roth says he opened the space because frozen yogurt is fun, healthy and tastes good. “That’s a winning combination!” he says. We think so, too. And maybe he should play the lottery. Lucky 16?

Details: 170 S. Main St., New City. 845-596-1616.

Does your family celebrate both Passover and Easter? Well — they both fall on the same weekend this year. So whatever will you do when it comes to meals? Clean out the cupboards and then serve a ham? Hardly! (Or maybe you will!) Maybe a roast chicken is in order? Will you go vegetarian? For an upcoming story, we want to know what your plans are when it comes to celebrating the holidays at the table. Leave a comment below, or email me at ewjohnson@lohud.com. Thanks!

Linda Lombroso has this story in today’s food section:

If your Valentine’s Day dinner last night didn’t include any oysters on the half-shell, there’s no need to wait another year to enjoy a platter.

Nobody knows whether oysters really are aphrodisiacs. But oysters are so bountiful at Lower Hudson Valley restaurants, and often so reasonably priced, it certainly can’t hurt to give them a try. You can start with a handful as an appetizer, or order a dozen for dinner paired with a ice cold, steely glass of wine.

An 18-oyster order at Caffe Regatta Oyster Bar & Grill in Pelham.. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

Oysters are bivalve mollusks, like clams, mussels and scallops. They go by many names, but there are only five different species, says Ben Conte, owner of Conte’s Fish Market in Mount Kisco. They take on different flavors depending on the waters in which they’re raised.

Brian Galvin, chef-owner of the Ocean House Oyster Bar & Grill in Croton-on-Hudson, likes the “salty-briny-oceany” flavor of East Coast oysters. His wife, Paula, prefers West Coast oysters, which tend to be plumper and often have a “cucumbery finish,” he says.

Those who’ve shied away from oysters for fear of their slimy texture or fishy taste can ease into the experience at Caffe Regatta Oyster Bar & Grill in Pelham, where chef-owner Anthony Labriola offers them cooked, or raw with a choice of two dipping sauces: cocktail and mignonette, made with vinegar, shallots, carrots and celery.

Galvin, who’s encountered diners afraid of the “weird textural thing,” says that most first-timers are won over by the oysters’ flavor, and often come back to order new varieties and ever-larger platters.

Ocean House features a changing variety of East and West Coast Oysters. ( Seth Harrison / The Journal News )

Though he generally sticks to simple presentations of oysters on the half shell, this year’s Valentine’s Day menu at Ocean House offered a playful nod to the bivalve’s reputation with a dish called Ménage à Trois of Oysters.

As far as the mollusks’ power in the love department, Labriola laughs.

“If you’re going out and sharing them with somebody and having a few glasses of wine, I think that alone could set it up, if you’re with the right person,’’ he says.

Where to eat oysters in Rockland and Westchester? Follow this link: The Best Oysters in Rockland and Westchester.

Wondering what oysters taste like? See our guide and glossary, after the jump.

We know, we know, there are plenty of places to enjoy the raw bar in our fair counties. But here are a few that we really, really like. Are these the only best oysters in Westchester? The only best oysters in Rockland? Maybe not. So do you have other suggestions? Let Linda Lombroso and I know in the comments section below — and we’ll be sure to include your favorites the next time we write about bellying up to the oyster bar! Here’s our list:

Caffe Regatta Oyster Bar & Grill, 133 Wolfs Lane, Pelham. 914-738-8686. www.cafferegatta.com. On the menu: Blue Point, Connecticut, Fisher Island, New York, Malpeque, Prince Edward, Wellfleet, Cape Cod Island; $1 oysters on Wednesdays. Also: Oysters Rockefeller (cooked) and fried-oyster Caesar salad.

Conte’s Fish Market, 448 Main St., Mount Kisco. 914-666-3962, www.contesfish.com. On the menu: Martha’s Vineyard, Hog Island, Blue Point; best selection Thursdays through-Saturdays.

Crabtree’s Kittle House, 11 Kittle Road, Chappaqua. 914-666-8044, www.kittlehouse.com. On the menu: Rotating selection of East and West Coast oysters, including Fanny Bay and Island Creek.

Oysters at the Ocean House in Croton-on-Hudson. (Seth Harrison/The Journal News)

Eastchester Fish Gourmet, 837 White Plains Road, Scarsdale. 914-725-3450, www.eastchesterfish.com. On the menu: Beausoleil, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Spinney Creek, Kumamoto. Thursday night raw-bar special: oysters $1 each with dinner order.

Goldfish Oyster Bar & Restaurant, 6 Rockledge Ave., Ossining. 914-762-0051, www.goldfishdining.com. On the menu: Wellfleet, Blue Point, Deep Love; half-price oysters Thursdays through Saturdays, 4 to 6:30 p.m.

Half Moon, 1 High St., Dobbs Ferry. 914-693-4130, www.harvest2000.com. On the menu: Selection varies but always includes one East Coast and one West Coast. Available recently: Long Island Blue Point, Candy, Pebble Beach, Sunset Cove; Oysters Rockefeller (cooked) always on the menu.

Harvest-on-Hudson, 1 River St., Hastings-on-Hudson. 914-478-2800, www.harvest2000.com. On the menu: Selection changes daily; last week’s choices included Blue Point and Gold Creek.

Morgans Fish House, 22 Elm Place, Rye. 914-921-8190, www.morgansfishhouse.net  On the menu: Two West Coast, two East Coast. Currently: Nisqually, Blue Point, Skookum, Little Island. Tuesdays only, all oysters $1 each.

Ocean House Oyster Bar & Grill, 49 N. Riverside Ave., Croton-on-Hudon. 914-271-0702, www.oceanhouseoyster bar.com. On the menu: Rotating variety of East and West Coast oysters. Recent choices included Watch Hill, Moonstone, Wiley Point, Conway Cup, Fisher Island, Barron Point. Menu also features dishes with cooked oysters, including an alcohol-free Oysters Rockefeller.

Restaurant X and Bully Boy Bar, 117 N. Route 303, Congers. 845-268-6555, www.xaviars.com. On the menu: Selection changes often, but may include Fanny Bay, Kumamoto, Spinney Creek, Flower, Wellfleet, Malpeque, Belon.

Ruby’s Oyster Bar & Bistro, 45 Purchase St., Rye. 914-921-4166, www.rubysoysterbar.com. On the menu: Dabob Bay, Hood Canal, Kushhi, Onset, Blue Point, Bagaduce.

Linda Lombroso

One of Rockland’s prettiest restaurants just got a facelift — and with it, a chef who’s revamping the menu, too.

The Hudson House of Nyack, the restaurant in the old village hall — complete with the former jail as its wine cellar — has plenty of history in its walls, but as anyone with an old house knows, that means upkeep. A stream that runs underneath the building had taken its toll, and owners Matt Hudson and Amy Lehman had to replace the giant old wooden beams supporting the sagging floor with new steel ones.

Photos by Carucha L. Meuse / The Journal News

They had to close the downstairs to complete the renovations; in the meantime, they were serving in the upstairs dining room, which is usually reserved for private parties. The entire restaurant reopened last week.

They didn’t change the look of the downstairs dining room — thank goodness; we love the red banquettes and that beautiful mural of the Hudson River — but they did install a new oak floor over those supports.

Also debuting is the new chef, Jeffrey Kaufman, right. This is Kaufman’s first executive chef position; he’s a Wesley Hills resident and graduate of the French Culinary Institute who worked for Peter X. Kelly of Restaurant X in Congers and Neil Ferguson of Monteverde in Cortlandt Manor.

He is updating the menu with fresh ideas and wants “to seek out the stuff that nobody else is doing.” A promising new dish he’s introducing is salmon with chorizo and potato espuma — or foam.

A smoked artic arctic char appetizer I tried a few weeks ago was out of this world, and fans of HH’s now-famous shrimp and grits need not worry: Kaufman is doing it justice.

“I’ve been trying to get away from the same old formula, starch-vegetable-protein,” he says. “And I’d like to bring more local ingredients in.”

The 411 on Hudson House.

C’mon — you know you have an inner restaurant critic in you somewhere! I’m looking for your help!

We had such a great response to guest blogging Hudson Valley Restaurant Week for the past two years running, and I’d like to enlist your help again this year. There are more restaurants this year than ever before — and I’d like to see as many of them as possible covered here on Small Bites.

Here is a link to all the fabulous guest bloggers that helped cover HVRW we had in 2010.

And here is the link to all the coverage from 2011.

So many! Isn’t it exciting! Let’s beat that number this year!

So here’s the deal: send me an e-mail at ewjohnsonATlohud.com with your top five choices of restaurants you’d like to blog about — and how many of those you can commit to.

I can only allow one post per restaurant — otherwise we’d have a million of 42 and X20 and none of anyone else. I’ll try to accommodate everyone’s choices.

After we figure out who’s cover what, if you are a first-time blogger, I’ll send you instructions for test blog post. You’ll upload a photo and introduce yourselves to the readers. Then we’ll be out dining and blogging for HVRW.

Here is the list of participating restaurants for 2012.

Below, I’ve set some ground rules for guest blogging. They include stuff like treating our restaurants fairly, being familiar with blogging software (I won’t have the time to do your blog posts for you) and not throwing my name around to get special treatment. But you’d never do that, would you?

Blog rules below. Send me those e-mails!

HVRW Ground Rules for Guest Blogging

For a HVRW blog post, you’ll write about your experience at an HVRW restaurant. You’ll take photos of your dinner and the restaurant, describe what you ate and discuss the service, drinks and anything else that comes up during the dinner, such a great number of choices on the menu, a huge crowd at the bar, a great view, etc. etc.

You will not use your status as a guest blogger to ask for any favors and you should not expect any special treatment because you are a guest blogger. Please don’t announce you are a guest blogger. If someone asks, sure, go ahead and answer. But the last thing I want is people arriving at their reservation and announcing to the host: “I’m Jane Doe and I’ll be guest blogging for Small Bites tonight.”

We won’t reimburse for your meals. Sorry. This is a community effort, not a paid position.

You must be somewhat familiar with blogging software or have some kind of experience uploading photos and writing online. I’ll give guest bloggers user names and passwords, and you’ll write your posts directly into the Small Bites software. I will edit your posts and then publish them. If they not up to our standards — whether photos or writing or formatting — I will have to just delete your posts. I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to fix them.

Please treat our participating restaurants fairly. Of course if they make a bad dish, you can say so. But it is not my policy here at Small Bites to trash people for the sake of trashing them. You can fairly assume that if I don’t write about someone it’s for one of two reasons: I haven’t had a chance to get there — or I went there and it wasn’t good.

I expect that if you are guest blogging for me, you’ll consider that the restaurants we’re writing about have gone to a great deal of effort to put out an inexpensive menu for guests at a great deal of cost to themselves. Sure, it helps them in their marketing efforts. But the restaurants still have to buy all the food, pay their staff and pay their rent. They are not making a profit doing this. They’re participating in HVRW because it’s good for the Hudson Valley food scene, they want to get butts in the seats, and they hope that if they show you a great time, you’ll come back again when it’s not restaurant week. So your job as guest bloggers is to let us know if we should. Please just be honest and fair without taking pot shots.

Sorry for the stern tone — but I just want everyone to know what I expect going into this. Now let’s have fun and eat cheap!

A delectable-sounding Devil’s Food Cake for Two that’s for sale at Pie Lady & Son in Nyack is a romantic little idea for a Valentine’s Day treat — and it’s even sweeter when you share the fun backstory with your sweetheart.

Sadie Mae Burns, left, a Nyack High School junior who works at the shop, came up with the idea for the cake, a Devil’s Food Chocolate two-layer little number with chocolate ganache and a heart-shaped cookie made of pie dough (ah ha!) and homemade candied cherries. It sells for $8.50 and there are about 20 of them left.

Deborah Tyler, who owns the Pie Lady & Son with her son, Will, at right, says that Will gave Sadie the chance to come up with a special Valentine’s Day treat about a month ago. She came back to the shop with these “beautiful little heart shaped cakes for two” that she made at home, Tyler says.

Then the fun started. Burns got the chance to turn her homemade recipe into a large-scale product. She and Tyler worked on multiplying the ingredients, making the cakes in large sheet pans and figuring out what it takes to make something on a industrial scale.

“The same thing happened to me,” says Tyler, who started out selling pies out of her kitchen door a decade ago, and got overwhelmed with orders once her business got some press. “This is exactly what I go through with the pies. Problem solving, and you’re under pressure, people know about it and they’re expecting it.”

“She’s a real trouper,” says Tyler. “Having fun with the idea and then going through the whole process of making it into a product and then all the excitement of all the people coming in and saying ‘Oh! I want one of Sadie Mae’s cakes!’”

And Tyler can understand why everyone’s clamoring for them. “Oh my God,” she said when I asked her how they taste. “It’s just this really rich — not overly sweet, but rich — and spongy Devil’s Food Cake. It’s plain on top, except for we finally settled on making a (topper) with pie dough — this being a pie shop — sprinkled with white sugar and homemade candied cherries.”

“My daughter and I were saying, it’s supposed to be a cake for two, and we could finish one all by ourselves! We’ve got something real special here.”

The Pie Lady & Son is at  366 N. Highland Ave/9W, Upper Nyack. 845-535-3290; www.pielady.com. The cakes look a little different than these photos, which were supplied by the Pie Lady’s web site. Our own Tania Savayan took the portrait of Deborah and Will.

Bill Cary reported and wrote this week’s Sunday dining column, Restaurant We Love. He says Trevi is especially great for big groups – so get one together and head over there! Here’s a look:

If you’re among the legions of office workers who work in and around downtown White Plains, you’ve probably had your fill of the pub-like emporiums up and down Mamaroneck Avenue.

Why not hop in the car and head to West Harrison for a change of pace? It’s incredibly close, charmingly small-townish and home to a handful of nice family-run restaurants, especially if you’ve got Italian on your mind. And unlike most of downtown White Plains, you’ll find loads of easy, free parking.

One of our favorite spots in West Harrison is Trevi Ristoranti, which took over the longtime space of Via Appia three years ago. This stylish and welcoming Italian restaurant has been manned from the beginning by cousins and partners Joe Engongoro, the chef de cuisine, at right, and Joe Carvelli, who handles most front of the house matters. That includes putting together the well-priced wine list.

“The list is 80 percent Italian and 20 percent from California,” Carvelli says. “Most bottles are in the 30-40-50-60-dollar range, with a few expensive ones at the top.”

The 85-seat restaurant has one big room, with pocket doors to easily divide the room in half to make the large space seem more intimate or for private parties. There is also an attractive 14-stool bar up front, and lots of people come in to eat here, Engongoro says.

At lunch, Trevi offers a prix fixe menu of one appetizer and one entree for $18. It’s a good deal — the portions are generous, and the selections include just about everything on the regular menu. Come with a few cubicle mates from the office and you can really work your way through the menu. And you’ll probably go home with a doggy bag or two.

My lunch companion and I shared everything we ordered, and the wait staff could have not been more helpful with extra plates, bowls and utensils as needed. In general, service was very professional, very friendly.

The food scene in Haverstraw just got even more interesting. Chef David Martinez and front-of-the-house-man Paulo Feteira, owners of Union Restaurant and Bar Latino, are planning on opening a bistro-style restaurant up the street in the former Soup Stone Cafe space.

Along with Bella Rose Cafe, a promising new Italian place that opened this fall, and Antoine McGuire’s, the fun Irish pub with tasty French-influenced food, the new (and yet unnamed) restaurant is priming Main Street to become a mini restaurant row.

Feteira says the restaurant will be the sort of place where you’ll come to a long bar to meet some friends and relax over small plates and comfort food. The menu isn’t yet set, but he and Martinez are thinking pastas, meat and fish rather than the Latino style you’ll find at Union.

“A little bit of everything,” says Fetiera. “Just done in David’s style of cooking.”

That means the menu is about flavors and ingredients that combine well, says Fetiera, with simple and clean food that surprises your tastebuds. The partners hope to have the new place open by May. The address is 14 Main St., Haverstraw; there is no phone yet.

Valentine’s Day is only a few days away, and if you haven’t made your reservations yet, you might be in trouble. Which is why we just published a story on 7 places that still have tables!

But if those seven don’t float your boat, I’ve got a few other choices for you. Here’s a look at a few of my favorite romantic restaurants in Rockland and Westchester. I can’t promise you can get a table, but I can promise that if you do, you’ll find love in the air!

View Romantic Restaurants in Westchester and Rockland in a larger map

Uh-oh. Valentine’s Day is Tuesday. And you haven’t made a reservation for one of the most popular restaurant-going evenings of the year.

“I think this weekend is when they realize that it’s coming up in a couple of days,” says Jean LeBris, owner of the very romantic Vox, a French restaurant in the country setting of North Salem. “They better make a move or they’ll be in the dog house!”

Lanterna Tuscan Bistro in Nyack, flickering with candles. File/TJN

Yes, lots of places are already booked solid. But don’t worry. We’ve got your back. Earlier this week, we called seven — yes, lucky seven — of the region’s most romantic restaurants to find out if tables were available, and at what times. We can’t guarantee these reservations are still available, but its worth a try. So here’s your ticket out of the dog house. So don’t delay, go ahead and make a make a reservation!

Check out the list, after the jump. And if these don’t float your boat, check out our map of a few of my favorite romantic restaurants in Westchester and Rockland.

Reporter Leah Rae had this story in the paper today about Whole Foods coming to Port Chester. Take it away, Leah:

Port Chester, already known for its varied appetite, will gain another option next year with the opening of a Whole Foods supermarket inside a former A&P.

The Texas-based chain has signed a lease with AVR Realty Co. for the vacant building at the Kohl’s Shopping Center on Boston Post Road, just off Interstate 287.

Plans call for opening in late 2013. This will be Whole Foods’ third location in Westchester County after an opening in White Plains in 2004 and in Yonkers’ Ridge Hill development in October.

The news was announced Wednesday as part of the chain’s quarterly earnings report.

Port Chester takes pride in its reputation as the restaurant capital of Westchester, known for ethnic eateries and assorted markets. A Restaurant Depot warehouse store opened nearby last year on Regent Street off the Post Road.

The A&P closed last year, leaving a void across the street from the shuttered United Hospital.

“Whole Foods will be another great anchor store for Port Chester that will serve not only our residents, but will also bring many other shoppers from the surrounding communities into our village,” Mayor Dennis Pilla said.

Well folks, the waiting is over! Here’s the list of restaurants participating in 2012 Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, where  three-course lunches are $20.95 and three-course dinners are $29.95. The promotion goes from March 18 though 31.

Photo illustration at Peekskill Brewery by Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News

Caveat:  Very few restaurants are offering the deal on Saturday night, and a few have surcharges and exceptions. Please, please call the restaurant to double check before you show up for a reservation expecting the HVRW menu — when it’s not available. (Hey, it even happened to me!)

I’ll be asking for guest bloggers again this year — and it’s one blogger per restaurant, first come first served. I’ll make a separate post on that shortly.

In the meantime, let the reservations begin!

Rockland County
‘76 House in Tappan.
Alain’s Bistro in Central Nyack
Antoine McGuire’s in Haverstraw
AquaTerra Grill in Pearl River
Confetti in Piermont
Hudson House in Nyack.
Il Fresco in Orangeburg.
Il Portico in Tappan.
Marcello’s Ristorante in Suffern.
Mount Ivy Cafe in Pomona.
Ravi Continental Cuisine in Suffern.
Restaurant X & Bully Boy Bar in Congers.
Rick’s Club American
Two Spear Street in Nyack.
Union Restaurant & Bar Latino in Haverstraw.
Velo Bistro & Wine Bar in Nyack.

Westchester County

121 Restaurant & Bar in North Salem.
42 in White Plains.
808 Bistro in Scarsdale
Angelina’s in Tuckahoe
Augie’s Prime Cut in Mohegan Lake.
Aurora in Rye
Barn at Bedford Post
Benjamin Steakhouse in Hartsdale
Birdsall House in Peekskill.
Bistro Rollin in Pelham
Bistro Z in Tarrytown.
Cafe of Love in Mount Kisco.
Cafe Azzuri in Hartsdale
Campagna Pizzeria Restaurant in Shrub Oak
Caravela in Tarrytown.
Cedar Street Grill in Dobbs Ferry
Chutney Masala in Irvington.
Chianti in Tuckahoe
Cienega in New Rochelle
The Cookery in Dobbs Ferry.
Cortlandt Colonial Restaurant
Crabtree’s Kittle House in Chappaqua.
DeCosta’s Restaurant in Yonkers
DiNardo’s in Pound Ridge.
Division Street Grill in Peekskill.
Dolphin in Yonkers
Don Coqui in New Rochelle.
Don Tommaso’s Italian Bistro in Yorktown Heights
Eastchester Fish Gourmet
Eduardo’s in Mount Kisco
Emma’s Ale House in White Plains
Enzo’s in Mamaroneck.
Fig & Olive in Scarsdale.
Frankie & Johnnie’s Steakhouse in Rye
Fratelli Restaurant in New Rochelle
F.A.B. French American Bistro in Mount Kisco
Graziella’s Italian Bistro in White Plains
Half Moon in Dobbs Ferry.
Harper’s Restaurant & Bar in Dobbs Ferry.
Harvest-on-Hudson in Hastings-on-Hudson.
Haven in Pleasantville.
Hudson Grille in White Plains.
Il Castello in Mamaroneck
Il Sorriso in Irvington.
Iron Horse Grill in Pleasantville.
La Bocca in White Plain
La Lanterna in Yonkers.
La Panetiere in Rye
Le Fontane in Katonah.
Le Jardin du Roi in Chappaqua
Le Provencal Bistro in Mamaroneck.
Legal Sea Foods in White Plains.
Lexington Square Cafe in Mount Kisco.
Luciano’s Italian Ristorante in Yonkers.
Mama Rosa Restaurant in Somers
Marc Charles Steakhouse in Armonk.
The Melting Pot in White Plains.
Meritage in Scarsdale.
Milonga in White Plains
Mima Vinoteca in Irvington.
Moderne Barn in Armonk
Morgans Fish House in Rye.
Nemea Greek Taverna in Mamaroneck
Niko’s Greek Taverna in White Plains.
Noma in New Rochelle
Okinawa Hibachi & Sushi in Ossining
Olde Stone Mill in Tuckahoe
Opus 465 in Armonk.
Peekskill Brewery.
Polpettina in Eastchester
Posto 22 in New Rochelle.
Red Hat on the River in Irvington.
Restaurant North in Armonk.
Rini’s Ristorante in Elmsford.
Risotto in Thornwood
River City Grille in Irvington
Rosie’s Bistro Italiano in Bronxville
Ruby’s Oyster Bar & Bistro in Rye.
Ruth’s Chris in Tarrytown.
Rye Grill.
Sams of Gedney’s Way in White Plains
Sammy’s Downtown Bistro in Bronxville
Scaramella’s Ristorante in Dobbs Ferry.
Sofrito in White Plains
Somers 202 Bistro
Sonora in Port Chester.
Sweet Grass Grill in Tarrytown.
The Tap House in Tuckahoe.
Tarry Lodge in Port Chester
Tarry Tavern in Tarrytown.
Thyme in Yorktown Heights.
Tombolino in Yonkers.
Traditions 118 in Granite Springs
Tramonto in Hawthorne.
Trevi in North White Plains.
Turkish Meze in Mamaroneck.
Via Vianti! in Mount Kisco.
Woods at Hollow Brook in Cortlandt Manor
X20 in Yonkers.
Woods at Hollow Brook in Cortlandt Manor.
Zitoune in Mamaroneck.
Zuppa in Yonkers.

Putnam County
151 Grill in Mahopac.
Cathyrn’s Tuscan Grill.
Hudson House River Inn in Cold Spring.
Le Bouchon in Cold Spring.
Ramiro’s 954 in Mahopac. (Opening soon.)
Tavern at Highlands Country Club.
The Terrace Club in Mahopac.
Valley Restaurant at the Garrison.

As always, for more information, go to HudsonValleyRestaurantWeek.com.

Last night, I attended the launch party for Westchester Magazine’s Wine & Food Weekend, which is May 17-20 in White Plains. The Journal News is also sponsoring the event, so I’m sure I’ll be participating in lots of stuff up to and during the festival.

Photos by Verita Vision Photography.

There are five events, plus seminars and cooking demos, going on throughout the weekend. It starts with a Burgers, BBQ and Beer Bash in downtown White Plains on Thursday, May 17. The next night is ArtsBash, a food-meets-art event in the ARTSWestchester Gallery on Mamaroneck Avenue. Grand tastings, wine and spirits seminars, cooking demos, a winemaker’s dinner and a sparkling Sunday brunch will all be held at the Ritz-Carlton on Saturday and Sunday. Check out all the deets after the jump.

Last night’s party was a great kick-off — and it was especially fun to get out and about in the food scene again after being off for three months with the baby. Yummy food, too:

I chatted with chefs — including Peter Kelly of Xaviars, Anthony Goncalves of 42, Anna Maria Santorini of Anna Maria’s, March Walker of Birdsall House, Daniel Van Etten of Mima, and a bunch more.

It was nice to see the Westchester mag folks, too, like publisher Ralph Martinelli and food writer Julia Sexton. Our own publisher, Janet Hasson, was at the party, too — and up on the stage, no less! What a treat!

More details, after the jump.