Page 52 - Westchester Magazine - January 2011

American moist yellow cupcakes. French, American—either way, The Kneaded Bread is divine.
LEFTERIS GYRO
Mount Kisco (914) 242-8965 Tarrytown (914) 524-9687 lefterisgyro.com
Lefteris doesn’t have diners.
It has devotees. Be it the tangy dressing on the (huge) Greek sal- ads, the creamy house-made hum- mus, or the tzatziki-spiked gyros served on warm pitas, dishes across the menu have fans who say that Lefteris’s creations are simply the best they’ve ever had. (No wonder it started bottling its famous Aegean salad dressing and selling it solo.) Plus, unlike other popular Westchester hotspots, Lefteris is not the place people go to see and be seen, so you don’t have to feel sheepish walking in even in your rattiest jeans. (And, if you are, there’s always takeout— the dining room is perpetually packed, anyway.)
LA PANETIÈRE
Rye
(914) 967-8140; lapanetiere.com
We adore fine French cuisine, but we love it even more when it loosens up a little. This year, La Panetière opened up its Provence- inspired menu to more than just the special-occasion diner, with
a $35 prix-fixe dinner and new bar menu. And the positively best thing about La Panetière is that you can now bring it home for your own parties. The restaurant won a Best of Westchester award this year for its new catering ser- vice, which skips stuffy mainstays for more offbeat creations like citrus-infused spinach-and-leek dumplings.
LA TULIPE DESSERTS
Mount Kisco
(914) 242-4555 latulipedesserts.com
When Chelsea Clinton needed
a gluten-free wedding cake for her Rhinebeck wedding, she went to the same place we would for ex- pertly created, refined desserts: La Tulipe Desserts in Mount Kisco. (It was reported that the Clinton cake was decked out in 1,000 sug- ar flowers.) But we’d skip all the tiers and sugar flowers for a bite of the Chocolate Extreme Cake: a glistening dome of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and chocolate
ganache. If that sounds too deca- dently intense, you can always pick up a tasty cookie or macaron for the road.
THE LITTLE MEXICAN CAFÉ
New Rochelle
(914) 636-3926 littlemexicancafe.com
Don’t let the diminutive name fool you—there are some big flavors going on at this authentic Mexican restaurant. We go there to enjoy guacamole made tableside while perusing the list of tacos— though, in the end, we always end up choosing the roasted pork and pineapple. What you won’t find
at the Little Mexican Café are big egos. There are no affectations here—the wooden counter is worn, the pool table is used, and those tacos...only two bucks a pop.
LONGFORD’S OWN-MADE ICE CREAM
Larchmont (914) 834-0207 Old Greenwich, CT
(203) 637-0480
Rye (914) 967-3797 longfordsicecream.com
Keep your Cold Stone. To heck with your Häagen-Dazs. The rich- est, creamiest ice cream we’ve ever tasted is concocted right in Port Chester. Unlike those mass-pro- duced brands, Longford’s makes its ice cream and sorbet in small batches, with seasonal ingredients and dairy high in butterfat to en- sure the silky texture that calls out to us on summer nights.
LULU’S CAKE BOUTIQUE
Scarsdale
(914) 722-8300 sweetsbylulu.com
Lulu owner Jay Muse could quite possibly be the county’s best asset. There’s nothing he can’t bake—and absurdly well—from fun two-hands-required whoopie pies to tiered, Vera Wang-inspired wedding cakes that are so artful they’re almost a shame to cut into. With his soon-to-open venture
in Tarrytown, he’s working on revolutionizing the county cup- cake. His creations have graced magazine pages, his bakery’s been featured on the Food Network, and his sweets have been touted by big-name celebs. Even his Twitter feed (@everythinglulu)
is highly entertaining (and can sometimes get you discounts on those whoopie pies). But none of
that would matter if the sweets didn’t taste so darn good—which, thankfully, they do. Muse uses the freshest and, when possible, or- ganic ingredients and builds from there, baking treats that will leave you scrounging for the crumbs after the last forkful.
LUSARDI’S
Larchmont
(914) 834-5555 lusardislarchmont.com
Lusardi’s is an Italian restaurant for people who love Italian food. There’s no heavy red-sauce, no fusion, no strange ingredients like veal cheeks or duck tongue, to pre- tenses towards staying on the cut- ting edge—just timeless Northern Italian dishes presented elegantly. Just the way we like them.
MINT PREMIUM FOODS
Tarrytown (914) 703-6511
For those grab-and-go lunches and dinners, Mint owner Hassan Jarane has you covered. If you
haven’t already heard about his rotisserie chicken, you probably haven’t lived near Tarrytown long enough—it’s a nightly sellout.
The Moroccan-born Jarane is also praised for his worldly selection of cheeses—there are about 40 to 45 to choose from on a single day. We say go for the truffled pecorino.
MULINO’S OF WESTCHESTER
White Plains
(914) 761-1818; mulinosny.com
We’re not the biggest fans
of Mulino’s restaurant—you
are. Readers of Westchester Magazine have bestowed Best of Westchester awards on the Italian mainstay a whopping seven years in a row. (Distinctions have in- cluded “Best Italian Restaurant,” “Best Service,” and “Best Waitstaff.”) And, who could blame you, with such excellent versions of traditional Northern Italian cuisine on the menu? Of course, we have our own favorite dish, the nodino di vitello valdostana, a dense, rich, double-cut veal chop
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Pocantico Hills
(914) 366-9600; bluehillfarm.com
This American icon put Westchester on the culinary map, drawing foodie pilgrims from every corner of the world. They come to experience the perfect synthesis of restaurant and farm, the seamless uniting of ethical foodways and finesse. No other American restaurant can boast the beauty of a Rockefeller estate, complete with rolling pastures and heritage-breed livestock. Sure, a meal at Blue Hill is an investment, but the takeaway is priceless: you’ll learn how scumptious locally raised food can be.
50 / JANUARY 2011 / WWW.WESTCHESTERMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTOS THIS SPREAD COURTESY OF BLUE HILL AT STONE BARNS/JONATHAN YOUNG