The publicist for Morton’s tells me:

Andy Pettitte celebrated the World Series Championship last evening with a quiet dinner with his family at Morton’s The Steakhouse in White Plains. After a round of applause from surrounding guests, the celebration started with sparkling cider compliments of Morton’s. (Andy does not drink.)  They started with Caesar salads and crabmeat cocktail. Andy and the boys had single cut filets, while his wife and mom enjoyed Shrimp Alexander and Chicken Christopher, respectively. Andy’s dad enjoyed broiled salmon. They shared sides of mashed potatoes, hash browns and creamed spinach.  Andy rewarded himself with a Morton’s legendary hot chocolate cake. Andy was also very gracious and took pictures with  neighboring tables.  The family looked happily exhausted and were all looking forward to the ticker tape parade!

From an email blast:

Together with Duckhorn Wine Company, Trevi Ristorante invites you to attend a Wine Tasting Dinner on Tuesday, November 10th at 7:00 p.m. Frank Barbagallo will present new vintages from Duckhorn Winery,  one of the finest and most priced estates in Napa Valley.

Marcello’s Restaurant will host a special culinary event on Nov. 8, a meal designed not only to appeal to the taste buds but to help out those in need as well.

The info, from a newsletter blast, after the jump.

My wife Nikki and I are the writers behind the Italian food blog “Sunday Sauce” – SundaySauceNY.com. We are big fans of Liz Johnson and the Small Bites blog, so when Liz asked us to guest-blog about our experiences at the opening of Frank Pepe’s pizzeria on Central Ave. in Yonkers, we jumped at the opportunity. Thanks again Liz!

The bottom line is that Nikki and I enjoyed the two types of pizza we sampled at Frank Pepe’s this past weekend. We tried his famous clam pie, as well as his “original tomato pie” which is the equivalent of a pizza marinara – tomatoes, garlic, oregano and grated cheese which I believed to be pecorino.

I want to reiterate that we thoroughly enjoyed the two types of pies we tasted, however after we posted the positive review on Sunday, within 24 hours we started to get inundated with emails, a few comments on our blog and phone calls(!) by folks who tried it and were extremely disappointed. The re-occurring theme is that the pizza with tomatoes and mozzarella  is overly greasy and lacking taste.  One reader of Sunday Sauce sent the below picture of a greasy slice and box he had just bought at Frank Pepe’s.  To be fair, I have also included a photo of the clam pie that Nikki and tried on Saturday and really enjoyed.

Enjoy our review and update -  just go to http://www.SundaySauceNY.com.  Keep in mind that pizza preference is very personal, so I would advise that everyone just go out to Frank Pepe’s, form your own opinion and let us and Liz know what you think.

Ciao!

Jonny “Mangia” Giannettino

www.SundaySauceNY.com

A story about Kara and her cocktails will appear in tomorrow’s Journal News.  Here’s a sneak peek at the video, though. Be sure to watch til the end for an especially hilarious blooper by yours truly.

On Nov. 9, there will be a four-course dinner paired with wines at The Cookery in Dobbs, to benefit the Broadway Training Center in Hastings. Ned Towle of the Westchester Wine School will discuss the wines.

All the info, after the jump.

I’m off for a couple of days, so I won’t be able to get to the new Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria in Yonkers until next week. Lucky for us, then, that  Jonny and Nikki Giannettino of sundaysauceNY.com have agreed to guest blog their trip for Small Bites readers.

They have a few updates since they posted about their visit from the weekend. Apparently people have been sending them all sorts of comments on their experiences — good and bad! So check back later tonight for the upated Sunday Sauce Pepe’s report!

The indoor farmers market are coming back to the Westchester County Center on Sundays through the fall and winter. The dates are Sundays, Nov. 22 and Dec. 20, 2009, and Jan. 3, Feb. 7 and Mar. 28, 2010. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

More info, from a press release, after the jump.

A wine tasting to benefit  Burke Rehabilitation Hospital’s stroke, spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation programs, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday (that’s tomorrow!)  in the Rosedale Room, Billings Building No. 4 at 785 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains.

The fundraiser features Stu Levine of Vino 100, White Plains, who will pour several dozen wines from California, Oregon and Washington State, in addition to picks from Austria, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Chile, Australia and New Zealand.

Silent auction items include tickets to the New York Jets—Atlanta Falcons football game December 20, with access to the stadium club; gift certificates for Westchester restaurants, spas and resorts; Broadway and New York Philharmonic tickets; and luxury gift and gourmet items. Reservations are $50 per person.  RSVP to 914-597-2848.

The Saw Mill Club, high-end gym and fitness center in Mount Kisco, has a new cafe: Willy Nick’s Courtside Cafe. The cafe is operated by Andy Vitrone and Jeff Goodwin, owners of William Nicholas, the gourmet take-out shop, and Willy Nick’s, the bistro. Both are in Katonah.

Chef Michael Juers will oversee both Willy Nick’s Courtside Cafe and William Nicholas. His bio, from the press release:

Chef Michael Juers, whose impressive resume includes work with restaurants like the 21 Club in Manhattan and Baja of Long Island, has arrived at William Nicholas in Katonah, bringing a delicious, international diversity to the menu. His own restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, Fusions New World Cuisine, received rave reviews for its multi-cultural flavors and unique artisan dishes. Some of the new savory dishes at William Nicholas are: Asian Sesame Roasted Chicken – Mongolian Shrimp with Sesame Steamed Rice – Pork Loin stuffed with Fig & apricot & Pomegranate Sauce – Saffron Israeli Cous Cous with Mixed Vegetables.

Anyone is welcome to eat at the cafe. Willy Nick’s Courtside will also do the catering for private functions at the Saw Mill Club. The club’s address is 77 Kensico Dr., Mount Kisco. 914-241-0797.

The gourmet store, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on Nov. 23, is at 19 Edgemont Road, Katonah. 914-232-1949.

The 411 on Willy Nick’s.

Support Connection, which provides support and programs to people affected by breast and ovarian cancer, is holding a wine-tasting and buffet dinner fundrasier at Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. Tickets are $50 and include entertainment by Butch Barbbell’s Streets of the Bronx Band and wines from Marco Vople, the owner of Marco’s Vino and Spirits in Cortlandt Manor.  All the info, from a press release, after the jump.

This press release just came over my email:

New York Firm Recalls Fresh Ground Beef Products Due
To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination

(Released on October 31, 2009) WASHINGTON- Fairbank Farms, an Ashville, NY, establishment, is recalling approximately 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Saturday.

FSIS became aware of the problem during the course of an investigation of a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health and agriculture departments, FSIS determined that there is an association between the fresh ground beef products subject to recall and illnesses in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. FSIS is continuing to work with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, other state health and agriculture departments and the CDC on the investigation. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a physician.

The products subject to recall include:

Good morning and happy Monday. I spent the weekend in the city and had a blast. Fried chicken dinner at Momofuku Noodle Bar; pizza at Co.; the Kandinksi retrospective at the Guggenheim and a walk along the High Line in Chelsea.

We started with drinks at Mayaheul, the tequila bar (it’s rather more like a tequila den, actually) in the East Village owned by master bartender and mixologist Phil Ward.

Who doesn’t like a little tequila before a platter of fried chicken. For my first round I had The Tequlia Gumption (Mescal and reposada tequila with maraschino, orange and bitters):

Our second round:

Then we walked around the corner to Momofuku Noodle Bar. To order the chicken dinner, you need to reserve online about a month ahead of time. It is the only way to get a reservation. A lot of people have complained about how difficult it is, but I’ve been able to get two reservations (one at Ko, one at Noodle Bar) in the past month by logging on on Saturday morning. I think it’s that people aren’t at work, so they’re not at their computers pressing reload, reload, reload exactly at 10 a.m. I’ve also noticed a few cancellations now and then, so it’s worthwhile to check often.

Anyway, on to dinner.

We started with pork buns. We couldn’t help it.

Pork belly, scallions, radishes, chili sauce. Heaven.

And now, the piece de resistance. Two and a half chickens. One half done Korean style, with chili paste and sesame seeds. The other half done Southern style, fried dark with spices:

You get pancakes (like crepes, actually), four sauces, and an amazing bowl of vegetables to mix and match with: radishes, lettuce, herbs, carrots and peppers:

(Excuse the blur.) Dinner:

Nearly done:

We couldn’t move afterwards. It was delicious. I would recommend going with at least six people. We went with four… and look at all the leftovers!

In the morning, we went to Smorga Chef, the cafe at the Scandinavian House for brunch. I had a perfectly delightful Lingonberry Soda.

I’m growing lingonberries at home, so I’m happy to find another use for them besides jam! This was like bubble tea in a way… the berries were clustered at the bottom and occasionally came up through the straw. It was just the right balance of sweet and tart, too.

My husband, who grew up around surrounded by Scandinavians in Minnesota, got the herring platter:

Many different herrings. It was tasty. He was happy with the lefse. I got the gravalax BLT:

It was disappointing. The bread had been pre-grilled, so it was cold. The bacon was also cold. I finally took the sandwich apart and just ate the salmon on one piece of bread. The potato salad alongside was nice, at least.

On our walk up to the Guggenheim, I came across the Cupcake Stop truck. Its Web site (cupcakestop.com) and Twitter account (twitter.com/cupcakestop) tell you where the truck will be. It’s one in the new breed of “fancy” street food vendors, and it was a finalist in the Vendy Awards this September.

I got a peanut butter and jelly mini cupcake.

It was pretty good, I must say. Not the best cupcake I’ve ever had; not the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I’ve ever had. But as far as trying to be both at once: not bad.

The Kandinsky retrospective at the Gugenheim was mobbed. But well worth attending. The audio tour is definitely worth the time and effort. (It’s free.)

After a little rest, we headed out again. With some trepidation, we headed for the parade in the Greenwich Village. Crowds, rain, you know… I just wasn’t sure. I’m so glad we bailed when we did, and headed for a drink at Bar Veloce in Chelsea.

We watched from the comfort of our bar stools, enjoying a rose and a wheat beer, while the skies opened up and sent people in costumes scurrying for cover. I mean, it poured.

We got to see enough of the costumes parading on the sidewalk. I’m sure we missed out on the real deal, but hey, I’ve gone this long without seeing it. What’s another year?

We wandered through the brownstones in Chelsea, many of which were decorated with cob webs and pumpkins —

— until we wound up at Co. (pronounced Company), the pizza place owned by Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery:

We shared a special, a lamb’s shoulder that had been roasted for 12 hours. It was amazing on that Sullivan Street Bakery bread:

Then we shared a margherita:

Look how fluffy and crisp the crust:

And a boscaiola, with tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, onion and chili:

Totally terrific. I am so happy there’s such great pizza everywhere in NYC now. Now can we bring some up north, too? (I know we’ve got a few good places, but …..) For you pizza nerds, here’s a look at the underneath side of the crust:

The next morning, we had a cleansing juice at Josie’s on Third Ave:

Carrot, cabbage, arugula and ginger. It was very tasty. My husband got the eggs benedict.

They were fine, perfectly acceptable. I went for a Greek salad with salmon:

It worked for what I wanted: some greens and some protein. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go to Josie’s, but it’s cute, and if you’re in the area and your dining companions have varying needs, it’s a good place to compromise.

They’re known for organic, dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, just about any kind of special needs anyone might have.

After that, we went for a walk on the High Line.

So beautiful. I love how urban and natural landscape can play so nicely together.

Have you seen garden writer Bill Cary’s blog post, story and video about the High Line? He did it over the summer… the link, here.

After our walk (and a nice while of people watching), we tried for a coffee or a drink or a snack at two new restaurants people have been talking about lately: Tipsy Parson and The Breslin. Our timing was off. Tipsy Parson is only open for dinner at the moment, and we got there around 2 p.m. The Breslin, on the other hand, is only open for lunch, and we got there as it was closing around 4. Curses, foiled again.

We walked back to the East Side and then caught a a supper-time train home. We spent our evening by the fire with a nice comforting bowl of pasta with sausage from Cerillo Fine Foods in the market at Grand Central Terminal. What a fun weekend we had!

And with that, here’s what people have been talking about while I was out gallivanting around!

Frank Pepe’s is open. (Reports welcome.) (CH)
Emily writes about wing night at Tavern at Croton Landing. (NYT)
New Thai in Sleepy Hollow. (WE)
Fried chicken in Westchester? (CH)
First reports on Limoncello in Mamaroneck. (CH)
Rinku loves the croissant at Chiboust in Tarrytown. (CIW)

From an email from Aries Wines & Spirits in White Plains:

In support of Cerebral Palsy, Aries would like to invite you to join us for an international food and wine tasting event. Aries is helping to setup and run A Taste of Westchester, on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 6:30 P.M.

The event will be held at the beautiful Westchester Renaissance Hotel on 80 Red Oak Lane in White Plains, NY. There will be more 20 restaurants featured along with 5 different beverage providers, combining to present you with food and drink from all over the world.

ll the wines personally selected by Aries will be available for ordering at a great discount and Aries will donate a portion of all sales to Cerebral Palsy.

Tickets are $100 per person. To make your reservations or to obtain more information, please feel free to contact Stephanie Russo at 914-937-3800 ext. 411 or Joan Colangelo at 914-937-3800 ext. 215. We hope you will attend and stock up on wines for the holidays in support of this worthy cause.

I exchanged a Q&A with Frank Bruni, the former restaurant critic for the New York Times, and it ran in Monday’s paper, advancing his screening tomorrow of “Moonstruck” at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville. He said he chose “Moonstruck” because the characters reminded him of his own family, and made him realize they’d be good “material.” Indeed they were.

If you haven’t read his book, “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full Time Eater,” sign up for this screening: you’ll get a signed copy. (Heck, if you have the book, sign up anyway.) His memoir is about his struggle with his first love, food, and it’s funny, smart, touching and very, very brave.

Here’s a link to the Q&A.

Here’s a link to the Burns Center for tickets.

I do this occasional series where I focus on ‘one great dish’ from a chef’s menu and ask him to explain how he makes it. Today, Andy Nusser of Tarry Lodge in Port Chester goes over the (very simple) steps for making his beet and goat cheese “caprese” salad.

Here’s the story that appeared in today’s paper, too.

The 411 on Tarry Lodge.

Because of the Yanks-Phillies World Series that starts tonight, lots of media (and the mayors) have been doing cheesesteak-cheesecake wagers. I’m glad that for our challenge, we stuck with what really is truly New York: pizza!

So if you read the article in today’s paper — here a link right here — you’ll know that I’ve thrown down the gauntlet: I’m taking the competition from the ball field to the kitchen, and challenging you all to one-up the Philly Cheesesteak. Think you can do it?

Meanwhile, down at our sister paper in Delaware, just outside of Philly, the readers of the News Journal are trying to make a better pizza. (I know, I know… I pity them, too.) Check out the competition on their food blog, Second Helpings. And here’s the story that food writer Patty Talorico shared with Journal News readers today.

Here’s my try: a soft, buttery, Parker-House style roll with thinly sliced rib-eye with caramelized shallots, gorgonzola and delicate chanterelle mushrooms. Mmmm.

So c’mon guys — let’s beat Philly at it own game! Can you one-up the cheesesteak?

Good afternoon and happy Monday. I’ve been busy trying to pull together the Philly v. New York food article for Wednesday, so I’m just now getting to the blog. Apologies to all — and look for a post soon. I’m hoping for your involvement in the battle between cheesesteaks and pizzas!

Speaking of pizzas, I made a Spanish pizza called “coca” on Saturday. (I twittered the whole process… if you want to see video of me making the dough, check out my twitter feed at twitter.com/small_bites.)

The topping has onions, rosemary, currants and pine nuts, along with oil and vinegar.

The recipe comes from “The New Spanish Table,” by Anya von Bremzen, does this recipes for braised chicken with lemon and saffron:

All that rain on Saturday… I just felt like braising. I’ve got plenty for lunch this week! On Sunday we hit Morgan’s Pubick House in Tappan for a quick pub dinner with the family. I had the chiliburger. Pretty good! And with that, here’s what people have been talking about this weekend:

Westchester magazine is out. A few highlights:
Julia’s review of Crabtree’s Kittle House. Some ups, some downs. It gets a “very good.” (WM)
Frank Pepe’s in Yonkers, with some history of Ricky’s Clam Bar thrown in for good measure. (WM)
BYOB: recommendations and corkage fees. (WM)
Amuse Bouche. (WM)
Rinku goes to Sam’s Italian Restaurant.
Karen goes to Stew’s to meet Aaron Sanchez. (CCbCC)
Sharon gets “lured” by the $15 dinner at Goldfish. (TGL)
Doug has a ton of photos of Sweet Teez, the new candy shop in Larchmont. (HT)
Doug and his family have a so-so experience at American Bounty at the Culinary Institute of America. (HT)
Doug, writing for Westchester mag’s Eater, visits Frankie & Fanucci’s in Hartsdale. (WE)

In the same vein of the Philly v. New York battle that I’m putting together for the food section, my husband and I often have Iron Pizza Chef battles in our own kitchen. We make two pizzas with different toppings and vie for whose came out best. You may remember a battle on the grill I posted about a while back.

Well, this week, my husband brought home some pizza kit from the big box store (he goes to those; I can’t stand them), and so we went for the big battle:

If you follow me on Twitter — it’s Twitter.com/small_bites — you know I was at Melt for lunch yesterday. We got three sandwiches. All were deliciously greasy:

From left to right: Kansas City pastrami with the “bbq”; Smoked brisket with “the mushroom”; and Rosemary pork with the Cuban”.

All that and a bag of chips.

The 411 on Melt.

The thing about Wasabi Grill: I’ve been there before, and the salmon belly is so good it haunts me. So even though I was tempted by the more “lunchy” things, like a grilled tuna sandwich that looked really delicious, I couldn’t not get the salmon belly. I was trapped:

Help me plan the food section. On the chance that the Yanks take one out of the next three and head to the series, we’re planing a Philly v. New York menu.

Think about it. If all goes as planned, on Sunday, Nov. 1, the Eagles play the Giants at 4 and the Phillies play the Yankees at  7…. all in Philadelphia. So what we will be doing here in NY? Watching TV. All day!

So we gotta eat. We’ve got the cheesesteak.

For NY? Pizza? Hot dogs? Other?

I’m thinking of rallying readers to make their own versions of the two — like an Iron Chef competion. So for a cheesesteak, maybe you’ll make it with gorgonzola and shallots instead of onions and provolone!

Or toppings for pizza. As you saw in this piece, my husband and I like to play Iron Pizza Chef. He always does pepperoni and olive. I’ll do just about anything. (On Monday it was a three-cheese pizza — mozz, parm and romano — with sun gold tomatoes, basil and egg, drizzled with olive oil at the end.)

So? First of all, would you play?

The game plan would be to prep everything before the football game, then serve either during half time or between games…. then declare a winner after baseball?

What do y’all think?

It’s fall and my husband keeps buying apples. This easy recipe for a beautiful tart — from David Tanis’ “A Platter of Figs” — was a great way to use them.

I love the recipe for two reasons. One, it looks so fancy but it’s actually really easy to make. And also because the pastry is easy to remember with a ratio: 2-2 and 1/2. Two cups of flour, two sticks of butter and a half a cup of egg-water. Just crack the egg into a measuring cup, stir, and fill the rest with water. David Tanis says the pastry is good for just about anything: savory or sweet. And I believe him.

From an email newsletter:

Ciao Tutti,
With the arrival of cold weather, the falling of leaves and Thanksgiving right around the corner, Zuppa is warming things up!  Our kitchen has been producing some really great dishes lately and I have been adding some awesome cold weather wines.  Check out this packed schedule of things happening between late October & Early November.  Don’t forget to schedule holiday parties early as the dates are filling fast.  We have been having a whole lot of fun at Zuppa all year long and it just keeps getting better.  Check us out on our a blog at www.zupparestaurant.com on Facebook & Twitter.  Look forward to seeing you soon!!!

Randall Restiano

I dropped by Drop By Gourmet during my time on jury duty in New City this month. It was busy, busy, busy. I ordered the egg salad and dill with Spanish olives, pimento and watercress on marble rye bread. The sandwich was a revelation. The bread was soft and fresh. The pimento were sweet but had a tang and the olives brought it all home.

Flying Pig on Lexington is holding a farm-tasting dinner on Wednesday the 28th. All the info, from a press release:

Healthy, local, gourmet food and education come together on Wednesday night, October 28th at the Flying Pig on Lexington in Mount Kisco, New York. The restaurant will be featuring a 12 course tasting prepared by sous chef Adam Strong, with 90 percent of its ingredients sourced from their Cabbage Hill Farm, while providing talks from their farmers about the farm’s products and sustainable practices.

Diners will be able to sample creative platings of Cabbage Hill’s heritage breeds of lamb, chicken, and beef, as well its heralded pork from Large Black Pigs.

Customers can learn about the farm’s aquaponic greenhouse that was featured in Scientific American for its state-of-the-art practices, while dining on the delicious trout, tilapia, bass, and greens that the eco-friendly system produces.

The event is priced at $55 a person ($75 with wine pairings), but space is limited to 75 people.  Make reservations and learn more about the tasting by contacting the restaurant:

The 411 on Flying Pig on Lexington.

The Post Road Ale House, a new American tavern on Hugenot Street in New Rochelle with high ceilings, cherrywood floors and a 25-seat bar, will open Saturday wtih an open house. It will begin serving a regular menu on Sunday.

The owner and chef is Brian MacMenamin, formerly the owner of MacMenamin’s Grill in New Rochelle and the Larchmont Avenue Oyster House. He will be cooking with Javier Benitez, a chef who’s been working with MacMenamin for 10 years.

The menu will have steaks, pastas and fish, and is similar to what was served at MacMenamin’s Grill (which has since become Don Coqui, serving Cuban and Puerto Rican food). All entrees are less than $20. There will be draft beers — some local, such as Captain Lawrence; some craft beers from New England; and standards such as Stella Artois and Guinness.

There are 70 seats in the restaurant, which was formerly knows as The Tilted Kilt. There are also large screen TVs and private sitting areas in the dining room. The tavern is named so because Boston Post Road is known as Huguenot Street in this area of New Rochelle.

Post Road Ale House, 11 Huguenot St., New Rochelle. 914-633-4610.

Altamura, the restaurant that was supposed to open in the former Via Quadronno space in White Plains, is not going to be operated by Louis Cappelli.

A quote from Geoff Thompson, the spokesman:

After a thorough examination of a wide range of options for the space including creating its own new restaurant, Altamura, Cappelli Enterprises has concluded that the best way to proceed is to seek an outside operator to open and operate a new restaurant there. This is a key location, one of the best restaurant opportunities in Westchester, and the company is optimistic about finding a good fit for the site and the city.  Cappelli is currently in contact with a number of restaurateurs and has found that there is strong interest in this strategic corner at the “Crossroads of Westchester.”

Good morning and happy Monday. Even though there wasn’t a bit of snow on the ground, I treated this weekend like we were having a storm in February. The fireplace got a huge workout.

On Friday, I had a friend over and we ate eggplant parmesan by the fire. I got the eggplant at the Piermont market the Sunday before, and it was now-or-never time for cooking. I sliced and salted. Then eggwash and panko mixed with parm and into a mixture of canola and olive oilL:

Layered with leftover tomato sauce, parm and mozz, and baked for 45 minutes:

Saturday I met friends in the city for dinner and drinks. We started with $19 cocktails at the bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel.

I had a sidecar. It was well made. The setting, though, is what you pay for, and it’s absolutely stunning.

Then we went to Bar Artisanal in TriBeCa for dinner.

We shared three of the pizzas. (Duck with egg and foie gras is here):

I had beef tartare:

And a soft egg with piquillo peppers and crostini.

Delicious. Some of my tablemates food. Mussels:

Snails:

The (perfect) fries that came with the roast chicken, and, in the background, the cavatelli:

Skate:

And, this being Terrance Brennan’s restaurant, we had to order cheese:

We had a nightcap at the pub across the street, Nancy Whiskey:

They had a shuffleboard game, which I really wanted to paly, but the line was too long.

I took the last express home. Next day, rain, wind, cold.
So, lunch. Tomato soup and grilled cheese by the fire:

We had already cooked some beans from Rancho Gordo. These are the black calypso, but when we cooked them they turned sort of brown:

We sauteed a new mirepoix in pancetta and sage and added the beans, then added the leftover veal shank from last Sunday’s dinner at The Cookery:

Look how beautiful. It was like a mini cassoulet with veal instead of pork.

So delicious. Thank you Rancho Gordo and thank you Dave DiBari!

And don’t think I let that bone go to waste, either:

Here’s the stock, bubbling away:

And for dessert, we made an apple tart. I love this pie crust recipe (from David Tanis in “A Platter of Figs”) because it’s so easy to remember the ratio: 2-2-1/2. Two cups of flour, two sticks of butter and 1/2 cup of egg-water. (Crack the egg into the measuring cup, stir, then fill with ice water until you get half a cup.)

Just slice the apples and sprinkle with sugar. (I used a little less than 1/4 cup.) When it comes out, brush it with a glaze, either thinned apricot jam or honey, or make an apple one by cooking the cores with simple syrup.

Divine.

And with that, here’s what people have been talking about this weekend:

MH writes about Jon Pratt’s annual duck dinner. (NYT)
MH also visits Le Chateau. It’s OK, but some dishes “failed to come through, possibly because of the restaurant’s habit of serving middle-of-the road dishes to large groups with varied tastes.” (NYT)
Suggestions for Saturday night in Sleepy Hollow or Tarrytown. (CH)
The first report on the new Chat in Scarsdale is good. (CH)
Looking for a great Hudson Valley caterer. (CH)
More on Los Abuelos in Ossining. (CH)
Doug goes to The Cookery, and loves it. (HT)
Miki enjoys her meal at Harvest on Hudson. (SSS)
The Oktoberfest buffet at Madeline’s Petit Paris. (SH)
A wine tasting at Julianna’s. (WE)

I tried to go to Blu Fig for dinner during August, but the wait was too long for a table. Last week, more than two months later, I still almost got turned away for lunch. I just got there in time to get the last available table. Blu Fig is one popular place.

And I can see why. Good food, fast service and reasonable prices.

The pizza was crispy and chewy, the tomato sauce was well balanced and the cheese was creamy. My one complaint: the restaurant is so loud you can barely hear your tablemates.