Truth be told, on this…the almost-end-day of restaurant week (WEEKS!), I am so full that I don’t think I could go out for another meal. Well, at least not until dinner time. Thursday’s lunch at Harvest on Hudson was another special treat. My friend Lisa and I celebrated, seated in… Read More →
Patrice Costa here and I’m going to just say it … I’m totally jealous. Everyone has been out enjoying lunches and dinners for Hudson Valley Restaurant Week Spring 2013 (some managing both in the same day!), while I’ve spent most of my week in the kitchen at Harvest on Hudson… Read More →
One of the best kept secrets of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park is their student run restaurants which are open to the public. You can enjoy meals prepared by a future Iron Chef like Cat Cora, a modern culinarian like Grant Achatz or a food biographer like… Read More →
On an absolutley dreary afternoon, Patrice Costa and I (Margaret Rizzuto) took a rainy ride over to Cold Spring for lunch. While we may not have collected a lot of points in the HVRW Scavenger Hunt, we did enjoy a very nice meal in a picturesque setting along the river… Read More →
Since 2006, Janet Crawshaw and Jerry Novesky of Valley Table Magazine have been the organizers of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week which has grown to over 170 participating restaurants in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, and neighboring counties. Fellow blogger Margaret Rizzuto and I attended the kick-off event last week at the epicenter… Read More →
Anticipating the opening of Tagine, a French (slash) Moroccan brasserie in Croton-on-Hudson, made me feel like that five year old in the back seat asking, “Are we there yet? How about now? Soon?” Tagine is the newest endeavor of local restaurateurs chef Jonathan Pratt and Craig Purdy, owners of Peter… Read More →
I was lured into executive chef Ethan Kostbar’s kitchen with the promise of snippets of Gordon Ramsayesque behavior. And really, who doesn’t love a bad boy chef? Sadly, there were no screams, tantrums, or tears in Moderne Barn’s kitchen. What chef Kostbar did deliver was an organized and calm service… Read More →
I apologize that it has taken me such an embarrassingly long time to get this post done. Although a few things like a Napa vacation (and a stolen laptop, argh!) and the start of the new job sidetracked me a bit, my excitement spending the day behind the kitchen door… Read More →
[Note from Liz: Some of our bloggers are still filing their writeups from HVRW. I’ll be posting them as they come, even though Restaurant Week ended before Thanksgiving!] Briana Costa, guest blogger, here, very excited to tell you about the second restaurant I was able to enjoy during this Hudson… Read More →
I sometimes wonder if I might have been French in a past life because I’m always on the hunt for authentic country terrine, duck confit, or cassoulet. When our family visited friends in France, my idea of sightseeing included trips to local Carrefour supermarkets and a Paris shopping excursion which… Read More →
The Small Bites bloggers gathered for a pot luck, and we thought everyone should benefit! Here are the recipes from Behind the Kitchen Door blogger Patrice Costa. Says Patrice: “What better way to finally get to know my fellow bloggers than sharing a collaborative meal (a/k/a our version of a… Read More →
Listen carefully as you step into this bakery because the conversations you hear might make you feel like you’ve just been transported into a French boulangerie and pâtisserie. Owner and head baker Thierry Danvin is quick to greet his customers in his native French tongue (or any of the six… Read More →
Guess who is whipping up some delicious, healthy, and oh so pretty Love Potion smoothies (kale, beet, carrot, blueberry, and apple cider) at the Pleasantville Farmers’ Market? That would be me, your friendly neighborhood Behind the Kitchen Door blogger, Patrice Costa. our littlest customers enjoying a Love Potion smoothie Come visit us… Read More →
The morning I arrived at Tarry Lodge’s kitchen, chef de cuisine Sam Epps was not exactly where I expected to find him. He had his sleeves rolled up and was in the process of moving an unwieldy retired pasta cooker out of the restaurant. The team work was impressive, and I… Read More →
A while ago, my husband and I decided get out of our restaurant rut and head over to Nyack. Since a certain food editor suggested Hudson House for the blog, I figured we’d check it out for a Friday night dinner. From savory start to sweet finish, dinner was so… Read More →
It was the word “luncheonette” that struck deep into this Bronx girl’s heart, bringing on an unexpected flood of wonderful memories spent in the diners and corner candy stores in my childhood neighborhood of Norwood in the North Bronx. My “sweet shop” in the 1970s was Adolf’s Luncheonette on 204th… Read More →
As I completed each section of this post, I realized that I was becoming more and more smitten with Harvest on Hudson. My dad would have used the term “keeping company” — meaning the period of time he was dating my mom. I suspect this term for courtship was either generational… Read More →
In the words of Monty Python … and now for something completely different. Since my guest blog post about Cafe of Love last year, I was curious about the food truck from their sister cafe, Ladle of Love. In 2011, it was one of four trucks (and the only one… Read More →
A few months ago, I attended the Small Bites Hudson Valley Restaurant Week wrap-up party hosted by chef Peter Kelly at Restaurant X, his restaurant in Congers. [Note from Liz: A post on that party will be coming up next week!] The evening exceeded all expectations with (what else?) mega… Read More →
When I received the invitation to join chef Myong Feiner in the kitchen of her cafe and restaurant, Myong Gourmet, I was intrigued to say the least. I had read about their fresh culinary offerings right here on Small Bites, but I hadn’t yet had a chance to check it… Read More →
To expedite; to speed up or accelerate a process; to execute quickly and efficiently. In chefspeak, it’s the process of coordinating the delivery of each and every dish out of the kitchen in a timely manner. When I spent the day at Ramiro’s 954 with chef Ramiro Jimenez, I was… Read More →
It might be surprising to find a seasoned, CIA trained chef at Mt. Kisco Seafood. Yet, owner Joe Di Mauro’s customers know differently, and they rely on chef Jonathan Everin for freshly prepared, ready to go, meals for lunch or dinner and superb catering for all their parties. Just a… Read More →
This is the delicious French cake that I had the pleasure of making with chef Georges Zidi of Dish in Mahopac. He was kind enough to allow me to share the recipe. As I mentioned in my previous post about my day behind the kitchen door at Dish, this is the… Read More →
When Georges and Eileen Zidi took ownership of Dish last July, many patrons were worried that their favorite neighborhood restaurant would be changing. Together, with Georges in the kitchen and Eileen in the dining room, they have made the restaurant their own; and the welcoming atmosphere and menu staples that… Read More →
I recently had the opportunity to spend an incredible day behind the kitchen door of Peter Pratt’s Inn. I was welcomed into the inn by Chef/Owner, Jonathan Pratt, who is a just a bundle of culinary energy, and his extremely creative CIA trained Executive Chef, Nick Di Bona. Here’s what… Read More →
Patrice Costa is a passionate foodie who is on a personal culinary mission to learn it all from local chefs. Currently working at Thyme Restaurant in Yorktown as a chef-in-training (commis), her passion and desire is to gain even more experience and knowledge by interning for a day (staging) in… Read More →
I love that HVRW gives me a good reason to go out and enjoy a new or favorite restaurant. Just like my fellow guest bloggers, I’m looking for unique combinations, new flavors, and simply a good meal, but what is even more important to me is consistency. If I fall… Read More →
I am a huge fan of restaurateur Danny Meyer (Union Square Café, Eleven Madison, Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shake, to name a few); so when two of his alumni opened Restaurant North in Armonk, I couldn’t wait to check it out during HVRW. Patrice Costa here, eager to tell you… Read More →
Patrice Costa is a passionate foodie who is on a personal culinary mission to learn it all from local chefs. Although currently working at Thyme Restaurant in Yorktown as a chef-in-training (commis), her passion and desire to gain more experience and knowledge has fueled her to pursue opportunities to intern… Read More →
Patrice Costa, part time guest blogger and full time foodie, here with some exciting news. I recently made a major life decision to figure out if my love of cooking was truly something I wanted to do when I grew up. I was optimistic that working in a restaurant kitchen… Read More →
