“I love them — they’re delicious” he told me. “I eat them raw. They’re so sweet… they’re like candy.”

Brian will be preparing them as specials three different ways (but not on the same night) throughout the season, which can go until March, depending on the weather.

So if you head to Ocean House, you might find them simply sauteed wiht pine nuts, pancetta, extra virgin olive oil, lemon and fresh sage; or in a ceviche with lime juice, coconut milk, cilantro, red onion and jalapeno; or sauteed with butter and served over an autumn salad with julienned apple, shaved fennel, baby greens and walnuts with an apple cider vinaigrette.

(The apples and the cider, by the way, will come from Thompson’s Cider Mill, which Brian recently visited after learning that owners Geoff Thompson and Liz Bracken-Thomspon are customers at Ocean House!)

So head over to Ocean House to try one of these — and if you have your heart set on one particular special, call first to see if Brian is offering it that evening.

The 411 on Ocean House.

The 9th “Book & The Cook Series” at Plates Restaurant in Larchmont on Dec. 3rd features “Over the Rainbeau,” the new recipe book and lifestyle memoir of cheesemaker and farmer Lisa Schwartz and her journey from tending a pair of goats to building a multifaceted, sustainable farm, Rainbeau Ridge, in Bedford, NY. Together with food writer Judith Hausman and Lisa’s sister, the photographer Karen Sabath, the book combines tantalizing recipes, aspirational how-to’s and captivating photographs.

Chef-owner Matthew Karp has known Lisa Schwartz for several years.  “Shortly after we opened Plates in 2004, I heard there was a farm in Bedford making cheeses, I had to go see for myself.  We took the kids there on a Monday day off and met Lisa, her animals and experienced her suburban farm first hand”.  Since then, Chef Karp has used her cheeses at PLATES, has taught cooking classes in her teaching kitchen in “the barn”, and now welcomes her book to PLATES.  For the Book and the Cook Event, Chef Karp will feature her Double Decker Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert (recipe below).

The evening will include 4 courses including the award winning cheeses of Rainbeau Ridge Farm, and is $55. per person. Optional biodynamic / organic wine pairing, tax and gratuity will be additional. There will be plenty of time for Q&A and dialogue with the authors, and books will be available for purchase and signing for 20% discount – just in time for the holidays! The evening begins at 7 pm.  For additional information and reservations.

The difference here: a roaring fireplace.

Here’s the tuna tartare we shared. Nice tuna, fresh avocado. A little too much soy, but still a very good dish:

We each got a sandwich. Her chicken and broccoli rabe panino:

My steak sandwich:

Both were very good. The skirt steak inside my sandwich had a nice char and was medium rare as requested. Plenty of onions and mushrooms and some melted Swiss, too. The bread was toasted but airy. Good!

Here’s a look at the fireplace room. See the wood all stacked up next to it?

A very comfortable space, with outdoor dining on the patio, good cocktails (look for the Chat Champage Cocktail to be featured in our upcoming 12 Days of Cocktails series), flat screen TVs and the bar and comfortable ostrich upholstery on the seats. And at lunch, the place was absolutely packed — and almost all the tables were women lunching with friends.

Everyone was saying it’s really welcome in Scarsdale, where there aren’t too many upscale-casual places. Welcome to the neighborhood, then!

The 411 on Chat is coming. Til then:
1 Christie Place, Scarsdale. 914-722-4000, chatamericangrill.com.

The results: Finding new ingredients for Thanksgiving standards. (Linda Lombroso/TJN)

Other stories:
The word on the bird: Tips and tricks for making a delicious turkey. (MCT)
Fairway in Paramus. (Mary Lynn Mitcham/TJN)
Two local woman make sweet potato pie for your T-day table. (Linda Lombroso/TJN)
Flavors of fall: entertaining with warm flavors. (MCT)
Pies and sides to go — plus, restaurants that are open on Thanksgiving Day. (me — with help from Leah Rae, Randi Weiner, Rebecca Baker, Marcela Rojas and Jane Lerner/TJN)

Then my husband and I took a seat at the bar next to James Phanor, the GM of X20 in Yonkers. Then Didier Dumas, the owner of Dider Dumas Patisserie across the street from Cafe Barcel, took the bar stool next to me.

While we were dining, Matt Hudson, the owner of Hudson House of Nyack, came in with his girlfriend and another couple.

All this name-dropping to say two things: I got to try dishes at Joe’s table and bites of all of Didier’s dishes, so I sampled even more than I ordered.

And — when you’ve got that many restaurant/wine/pastry people in the room, you know everyone’s hoping the food holds up. (Especially the chef, Kevin Reilly. More on him and owner Nidia Alexander on this post here.) They needn’t worry at all. Most everything I sampled was terrific.

UPDATE: I stopped by after writing this post and snapped a few photos of the interior:

Look for more photos at the end of the post.

My camera was on the fritz, so please excuse the quality of these iPhone photos. This is the Diver Scallops a la Plancha, Bagna Cauda Broth and Shaved Raw Vegetables:

There are four small, beautifully seared scallops under a gorgeous pile of carrots and swimming in a broth with tons of umami.

Frisee Salad, Cabrales Blue Cheese, Pork Cracklings and Creamy Mustard Dressing:

I tasted Pam’s and my husband’s plates of this. There was more than just frisee — watercress was a big player, too. And while the greens were fresh, there was a bit too much dressing and there was something strange with the dressing, too. Maybe too much walnut oil? Or maybe something else was off balance?

Didier’s Pan Seared Mozzarella Speidini with White Anchovy and Caper Sauce was outrageous:

Little breads that were crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, with melted mozz as a little present inside. Mmm. Like a grilled cheese that’s all grown up.

Quite a bit of camaraderie at the bar, too. Again, apologies for the iPhone photo. Here’s my husband sharing a laugh with James. That window behind them faces east down Main Street and toward the river. As you can see, the whole room has been turned around since the previous incarnation as Change.

Behind them is Joe’s table. (No photo of Joe, sorry.) There is one more table next to him in the front window.

Here’s Didier:

As you can see, the bar seats about 8 or 10.

The light changed at the bar, so these photos are a little better. Here’s the garganelli my husband and I shared as a mid course. Garganelli Pasta, Pork Bolognese, Lime, Cilantro and Sweet Onion. Excellent:

The pasta was creamy and light on the tongue, the pork was so stringy it fell apart when you looked at it, and the vegetables had bite. I didn’t taste much lime… the dish was more meaty than bright. But the pop of the herbs made a difference. One of my favorites all night.

Now is as good a time as any: I also tasted Joe’s Hand Made Gnocchi, Crispy Garlic and Wild Mushrooms in Parmesan Broth, which was a little more dense than I’d hoped. (Now this is one bite, so take it as it’s worth.) But the sauce was rich and satisfying and had plenty of depth of flavor.

I also had a bite of his daughter’s Char Grilled Hanger Steak Frites, with Chimichurri Sauce and Watercress. The char on the meat was thick and crusty, and the inside of the steak was pink nd juicy. Plenty of flavor here, and the fries were terrific: small (but not tiny), crunchy on the outside and puffy on the inside.

Didier’s Chilean Sea Bass a la Plancha, Oven Dried Tomatoes and Chick Peas in a Citrus Broth:

Fish was flaky, crust was brittle. The sauce was like a thick vegetable soup with some texture from the chickpeas.

My husband’s Roasted Chicken with Preserved Lemon, Yukon Gold Potato Cake and Maple Glazed Carrots. Good skin, juicy bird, nice sides, too. (He always gets chicken. What’s with that?)

I chose the Crispy Pork Cakes, Vinegar Slaw, Preserved Lemon Sauce, an appetizer, for my main:

Porky flavor, crisp on top and braised in the middle. These sat on little tufts of slaw, which was very lightly dressed.

A creative way to serve them indeed. I recommend highly. My only question on this is whether you need three as an appetizer. But here’s my bet: I think the restaurant is anticipating people like me who order two apps. If the kitchen makes them substantial enough (and charges enough, too, this was $10), then the restaurant is doing OK financially no matter which part of the menu diners choose. I actually took two of these home. But don’t forget, I was eating bites off plates of everyone else’s, too!

UPDATE: I spoke to chef Kevin Reilly —

—this morning and he’s adding a few specials to the menu. Some of these will be priced very low indeed. For example, tonight’s special board, which will be written on this blackboard —

— and on this mirror in the back of the restaurant —

— will have a crispy bacon dish and a plate of meatballs, each for just $3. He’ll also do occasional entree specials there, too.

Didier’s grilled pineapple dessert:

Just lovely.

My husband’s apple crumble:

Fall in a bowl. Nice ratio (and contrast) of topping to apple.

My bunelos (or doughnuts):

Light, airy and cinnamon-y. Dipped in chocolate? Sinful:

I’m headed past the restaurant as I go to work now, so if they’re open, I will supplement these awful photos with ones taken during the daylight. But here’s looking  toward the back of the restaurant. There’s a beautiful red banquette (sort of like the ones at the Hudson House) and a big mirror on the wall above it:

This is the left (or west) side of the restaurant. The red banquette again, with local art hanging from a picture rail.

A few tables are also in the center of the restaurant. So sorry again for the quality, but I know people are curious about Barcel, so I wanted to get these up as soon as possible.

UPDATE: Here are the photos from this morning:

Open only three days? Yes. But Barcel, with its creative and solid food, friendly service and sleek (but hardly pretentious) look, is already an exciting addition to the Nyack restaurant scene.

Cafe Barcel, 162 Main St., Nyack. 845-535-3133. www.cafebarcel.com

I haven’t had a chance to get there for dinner yet, but I did have brunch across the street at Didier Dumas. So while I was there, I snapped these photos so y’all could see the huge change they made, well, to Change:

They opened up the whole front of the restaurant. The windows open to the street. The bar is on the right side.

Previously: Cafe Barcel to Open Tomorrow in Nyack.

So when we got home in the dark and the rain Saturday night, it was nice to light a fire and cook together with our neighbors. We started with a sip (or two) of Doc’s Draft.

Have you ever had this? It’s from Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery and it is stunning. I’d put it — and the pear cider, too — up against any from Normandy. It’s a nice aperitif, too, because it’s only 5.5 percent alcohol.

We made a very fall dinner. After reading Doug’s post on Brussels Sprouts over on Hungry Travels, I was inspired to make the Brussels Sprouts recipe from the new Momofuku cookbook.

I had already pointed out the Gourmet version of the recipe to Doug, but there’s one thing in the cookbook that wasn’t in the magazine: fried cilantro.

That and the togarashi-spiced Rice Crispies made for a nice texture and depth of flavor. Of course the fish sauce vinaigrette was kickin’-good, too.

It was such a nice dinner and the Brussels played nicely with the sweet of the acorn squash and the maple brine in the pork. We cooked the pork roast according to Peter Kelly’s recipe from last year’s holiday countdown series:

The next morning we — and half of Nyack, it seems — headed to Didier Dumas Patisserie for brunch. It was so gorgeous we couldn’t help but sit outside. My neighbor’s quiche Lorraine:

So good. And the crepes are incredible. This is the sunnyside up one, with spinach and bacon inside.

We also had a ham and cheese and a nutella-banana. Mmmm. But the best thing about eating at Didier Dumas? Dessert, of course:

After a good bit of exercise at Rockland Lake, we settled in for some TV watching and relaxing. I’d had a hankering for potato skins ever since I saw the recipe in Sam Sifton’s column in the Times magazine a few weeks back. So….

Good for you? No. Delicious. You bet.

Only one regret from the weekend (besides spending Saturday inside buying a car): On Friday, I had bunch of honeycrisps about to be not-so-crisp and so threw them in a pan with some sugar and cinnamon. (I was out of lemons so I used a bit of vinegar instead. The applesauce came out great!)

If I’d had time, I would have also made this applesauce coffee cake a friend pointed me to on Martha Stewart. Oh well, next time.

So to recap, a couple great recipes in this post:
Doug’s recipe for Brussels Sprouts.
David Chang’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts recipe, as adapted by Gourmet for Epicurious.com.
Serious Potato Skins by Sam Sifton. (Say that 5 times fast!)
Applesauce coffee cake on Martha Stewart.com.
And the roast pork by Peter Kelly. The link to that one appears to have expired, so I’ll see what I can do about finding that for you later.

Meantime, since I skipped Local Links last week, this is the first I’ve seen the New York Times has changed its restaurant review ratings. What are your thoughts on this?

Last week: Emily says The Tap House in Tuckahoe is “worth it.” (NYT)
This week: MH says Flames in Briarcliff is “worth it.” (NYT)

With that, here’s what people have been talking about this weekend:
Emily goes to Provisions in Pelham. (NYT)
The new Lemon Tree in Dobbs Ferry. (CH)
Rinku visits said Lemon Tree. (CIW)
The new Il Castello in Mamaroneck. (CH)
New cheese shop in Bronxville. (CH)
A new Mexican coming to Hartsdale. (CH)
Sharon goes to Rangoli in New Ro for Diwali. (TGL)
More Indian: Doug heads to Khan’s in Thornwood. (HT)

From a press release:

You’ve read about them in Gourmet, watched them on the Today Show and Good Morning America, and seen their cupcakes adorn the covers of Family Circle and Woman’s Day, now you can see the country’s most innovative cupcake decorators at the Rye Free Reading Room and learn their fun and easy techniques for making fabulous cupcakes.

In the book, you can learn how to:
• raise a big-top circus cupcake tier for a kid’s birthday
• plant candy vegetables on Oreo earth cupcakes for a garden party
• trot out a line of confectionery “pupcakes” for a dog fancier
• serve sausage and pepperoni pizza cupcakes for April Fool’s Day
• bewitch trick-or-treaters with chilly ghost chocolate cupcakes
• create holidays on icing with turkey cupcake place cards, a white cupcake Christmas wreath, and Easter egg cupcakes

Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Neopolitana opened November 2 in Yonkers. It’s the fourth outpost of the original, which opened in 1925 in New Haven. The coal-fired, brick oven pizza is popular the world over, and the clam pie and the original tomato pie are the signature dishes. Click here for the post: First Look: Frank Pepe’s.

A hip new cafe is coming to Nyack. Cafe Barcel, which has taken over the space where Change was, opens tomorrow, serving New American food with Spanish and Latin influences. The renovations were quite serious: owner Nidia Alexander brought some light into the restaurant with a wall of windows that open to the street, dismantled the old tiled bar and moved the new bar (made from Jacobean-stained dark wood), and removed the stone fireplace. The restaurant has dark wood floors and walnut tables. Chef Kevin Reilly, formerly of the Water Club in Manhattan, is preparing such entrees as Roasted Chicken with Preserved Lemon, Yukon Gold Potato Cake and Maple Glazed Carrots — and nothing costs more than $20. Click here for the post: Cafe Barcel to Open in Nyack Saturday.

Soul food is back. The family behind Yvonne’s Southern Cooking will be serving the same fried chicken, ribs, oxtails and other Southern dishes at its new restaurant, The House of Soul in Mount Vernon. They hope to open next Saturday. Click here for the post: House of Soul to Open Nov. 21 in Mount Vernon.

1. Frank Pepe’s, founded in New Haven, Conn., in 1925, inspires rapturous loyalty in legions of fans.
2. The pizza is different from the cracker-thin, Brooklyn-style a lot of us are used to.
3. Tradition is important to the owners — the seven grandchildren of Frank Pepe himself. They do things the same way as always, right down to the rectangular sheet pans they serve the pizza on. Even in this, their fourth outpost, they use the same recipes, the same suppliers and the same ovens — even the castings of the old iron doors.
4. Those pizza ovens, fired with coal, are awe-inspiring.
5. The white clam pie — the signature dish at Pepe’s — is an acquired taste.
6. The original tomato pie — the first pie Pepe’s ever served (and it’s still on the menu) — is not an acquired taste. It is light, delicious and instantly endearing from the first bite.

My first visit, Wednesday, was with two friends. I waited in line with everybody else (about 20 mintues) and ordered three pies, some wine, a pitcher of beer and two salads.

Then I went back yesterday and met Francis Rosselli, one of the seven grandchildren. I was allowed to go behind the counter into the kitchen — and I got some pretty cool photos of the whole pizza-making process. (Those are further down in the post.)

First, the Wednesday visit.

We ordered the white clam, a pepperoni and the vegetable:

But not before waiting 20 minutes outside in a biting wind (the line moved fast):

Once we were inside, it was warm and comfortable.

The kitchen is open to the dining room:

Besides the pizza, the only other dish on the menu is salad:

It is a mighty fine salad, too. Fresh greens, grated cheese, olives, shredded red cabbage and a tart red wine vinaigrette.

But on to the main event. This is the vegetable pie (small), made made with mozzarella, onions, spinach, broccoli, peppers, mushrooms.

Here’s the pepperoni, the large size:

And, in the foreground, the white clam, a medium.

I found the pizza to be chewier than New York style, but in a good way. There are air bubbles in the crust, and the edges are charred and crispy from the intensely hot oven. The tomato sauce is light. The pepperoni is dry-style and spicy: You can tell its cured by someone who knows what he’s doing. And the clam? Well. I liked the clam. But only a little. It took some getting used to. Not because it wasn’t beautifully made with excellent, fresh clams. It was just a new idea to me at first bite. Some people will call me a heretic, I’m sure. But…

After my second visit, I took two pizzas back for my colleagues. An original tomato and a pepperoni/sausage with mozzarella. Even though they rode along in my front seat for 20 minutes,  and I ate them cold back at the office, they were fabulous. The tomato pie is made with just tomato sauce, oregano, garlic and grated cheese. I think because it has fewer ingredients, it’s lighter and crisper. As for the other pie, the combination of pepperoni (spicy and garlicky) and sausage (sweet and anise-y) is heavenly.

I loved those two pies. I’m sorry I didn’t take photos of them. I’ll just have to go back.

So here’s a look at my second visit:

The lunch crowd:

I had a sit-down interview with Francis Rosselli, one of the owners, and my colleague Matthew Brown shot some video. (Look for my story and the video on Wednesday.)

Then I followed a pizza from start to finish. Here is the dough, waiting to become crust:

Francis tells me the dough is made with a very high moisture content. That’s what gives it its chewiness. He reminded me that his grandfather was originally a bread baker, and that the ovens were made for bread. So the pizza crust is more like a flat, thin baguette — rather than a flatbread.

There’s a big marble table in the center of the kitchen. The marble — besides keeping the dough cool — helps get the dough smooth when it’s kneaded.

What pastry chef wouldn’t kill for something like that?!

The pizza peels are 14 feet, so they’ll reach to the back of the oven, which is 14 feet by 14 feet square.

They bring the peel to the center of the kitchen and place the dough on top. Then they build the toppings. This one is half clam, half mozz:

A little oil on the mozz…

Then into the oven:

The ovens are exact replicas to within an inch of the original at Frank Pepe’s in New Haven. CFO Ken Berry tells me they had an old oven boarded up in back of the original location that wasn’t being used anymore. So they went in there with a camera and mirrors and took the thing apart piece by piece, and then put it back together. That’s how they learned how to draw the plans and make the replicas.

See the pizza? Itis  just to the side of the peel.

The grid of spaced bricks in back leads to the flue.

Because Frank Pepe was  a baker, his shop was originally a kitchen, and he delivered the bread. The story goes that he couldn’t read or write, so it was hard for him to keep track of his route. He decided to go takeout only. After that, he started making pizzas.

He wanted to change from a bakery to a restaurant, and so wanted a beer license. But because pizzas were such a newfangeled food, the government in Hartford didn’t believe he wasn’t a bakery.

So he and his wife drove up there with pizzas on their laps. They introduced the officials to the pizza, and they got their license.

Meanwhile, the ovens are still bread ovens. The family even say they “bake” the pizzas, rather than cook. The temperature for the “baking” is 600 degrees:

The iron doors are taken from castings from the original oven:

The restaurant goes through 1 ton of anthracite coal a week, which burns hot and clean:

It goes into the oven through this door:

And burns right in the chamber on the floor of the oven.

The coal burns at about 1,800 degrees:

The flue pulls the heat over the bricks and the pizzas. They cook in 8 to 10 minutes.

Then they pull the pizza out with the peel and land it on a sheet pan lined with parchment:

The reason they use a rectangular pan instead of a round one is that the tables are rectangular and, originally, Frank Pepe’s pizza was meant to be shared among a big family. Just plop it down in the middle and everyone can dig in. (They have made a concession to modern times, and today they stick tiny plates and a few forks and napkins under the parchment.)

The pizza is also cut in a special way (there is a diagram) so there are different sizes, but everyone gets a piece of crust. If Dad wants a big one, he can have it — and it will have a crusty edge. If junior wants a tiny one, well, same thing:

When you have tradition, you stick with it.

Here’s a menu board from the original New Haven location. It’s from the 1930s.

Maybe someday there’ll be a 80-year-old menu board from the Yonkers location, too.

The 411 on Frank Pepe’s coming soon. Until then:

1955 Central Ave., Yonkers. 914-961-8284. pepespizzeria.com

If you remember Change (and before it, Hunter’s), you won’t recognize the place. The tiled bar is gone, and a new bar has been installed to the right when you walk in. The fireplace is gone as well. And those new windows will really open the restaurant up to the outside in summer.

The menu is New American with Spanish and Latin influences — and entrees cost $20 or less. For example, the pepper-crusted rare tuna is $20 and comes with a sweet pepper piperade and salt cod potato puree. The CB Burger is $12 and comes on brioche with Comte cheese with roasted sweet onion and adobo fries.

Kevin Reilly, the chef, was most recently the executive chef at The Water Club in Manhattan. Before that he was the tournant chef at Union Square Café and sous chef and executive chef at Zoe in SoHo. Reilly also was chef de cuisine at The China Grill and executive chef at The Silver Leaf Tavern.

Nidia Alexander, the owner, lives in Grand View. She is of Puerto Rican and Spanish descent and left the corporate world to open the restaurant. There will be a rotating series of exhibits by local artists and photographers on Café Barcel’s walls. (Stewart Lewis, a photographer from Upper Grand View, will be the first to display his art.) Alexander also intends to donate a portion of the restaurant’s art proceeds to the Rockland Family Shelter and other local charities.

The name comes from the Spanish city of Barcelona and the Puerto Rican town of Barceloneta, where Alexander’s family once lived.

Soon, the 411. Til then:
Café Barcel, 162 Main St., Nyack. 845-535-3133. www.cafebarcel.com. It’s open for dinner except on Tuesdays. (Good for those Monday nights when many restaurants in Nyack are closed.)

After the jump, the menu:

CAFÉ BARCEL

APPETIZERS

Spicy Peeky Toe Crab Soup $10
Little Neck Clam Pan Roast with Chorizo, Hominy and Chili Pepper $14
Crispy Pork Cakes, Vinegar Slaw, Preserved Lemon Sauce $9
Pan Seared Mozzarella Speidini with White Anchovy and Caper Sauce $10
Diver Scallops a la Plancha, Bagna Cauda Broth and Shaved Raw Vegetables $15
Yellow Fin Tuna Tartar, Taro Chips and Seasonal Accompaniments $14

GREENS AND PASTAS
Young Market Greens, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, vinaigrette with Nunez de Prado Olive Oil $9
Frisee Salad, Cabrales Blue Cheese, Pork Cracklings and Creamy Mustard Dressing $12
Caesar Salad, Shaved Parmesan and Polenta Croutons $10
Garganelli Pasta, Pork Bolognese, Lime, Cilantro and Sweet Onion $12/ Main $18
Hand Made Gnocchi, Crispy Garlic and Wild Mushrooms in Parmesan Broth $10/ Main $15

ENTREES
CB Burger- Custom Blend, Brioche Roll, Comte Cheese with Roasted Sweet Onion and Adobo Fries $12
Panko Crusted Veal Cutlet, Arugula, Fried Egg and Roasted Garlic Crème Fraiche $16
Chilean Sea Bass a la Plancha, Oven Dried Tomatoes and Chick Peas in a Citrus Broth $19
Roasted Chicken with Preserved Lemon, Yukon Gold Potato Cake and Maple Glazed Carrots $17
Char Grilled Hanger Steak Frites, with Chimichurri Sauce and Watercress $19
Pepper Crusted Rare Tuna, Sweet Pepper Piperade, Salt Cod Potato Puree $20

The restaurant will serve good, old-fashioned Southern dishes such as fried chicken, oxtails, smothered turkey wings and spare ribs. Chef Roy Dailey, who has been with the family for 15 years, will be in the kitchen.

The space, a former Chinese restaurant, has been completely redone. It’s painted rose and gold with chandeliers. There are white tablecloths topped with glass. (Those ribs get messy.)

Parker is the daughter of Yvonne Parker and was a former owner of Yvonne’s Southern Cooking in Pelham. The recipes, which her dad, Lawrence W. Parker, created more than 20 years ago, are the same.

“We’re just keeping his dream alive,” says Parker. The family comes from Alabama and Mississippi. Lawrence was a cook in the Bronx before opening his own business, Empire Foods in Pelham, in 1986. He died in 1994.

The House of Soul will do a buffet dinner on Thursdays, have live entertainment on Saturdays, and there’s a Gospel brunch buffet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.

The 411 coming soon. Til then:

The House of Soul
65 E. Prospect Ave.
Mount Vernon. 914-663-7685.

I went last year and have been saving these photos for you all year long. The church:

Yes, I am a dork:

The inside of the church is stunning. If you get the chance, do check it out:

Next to the sanctuary is the community room. You walk in and the place is filled with food and gifts:

You buy tickets for the different foods here at the door. This is the menu:

A closer look:

The food line wraps around the corner of the room.

Note the “bistro” sign:

A few of the choices. Pirozhki or Russian pies: Pastry filled with meat or cabbage.

Sibirskie Pel’meni: Siberian Meat Dumplings;

Vareniki a Kartofelm: Potato-filled dumplings:

Service with a smile:

Pork Shish-kebab

Everyone gathers at the tables:

Here’s what I tasted. And it was all delicious. The kebab:

Dumplings, stuffed cabbage, slaw, and a stuffed bread:

I can’t wait to go again this year. I hope I’ll see you there!

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday Nov. 21 and 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22.
Holy Virgin Protection Church
51 Prospect St. (corner of Cedar Hill), Nyack. 845-353-1155.

On Thursday November 19 at 6PM Aries Wine & Spirits, 128 west Post Road in White Plains, will be hosting a Beaujolais tasting. Aries will be sampling the first wine of the vintage – George Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2009. This will be accompanied by hor’dourves and appropriate cheeses. 914-582-7021 or 914-946-3382.

First, this Friday, we’ll have an expanded, pull-out dining section in our Weekend section. We’ve got suggestions on where to make holiday reservations at the most beautifully decorated restaurants in the region. Buy the paper on Friday to have these great recommendations.

Perhaps you’ve heard of our holiday cookie swap contest? Well we just got some very cool prizes from Chef Central, which has also agreed to host our event. Submit your cookie recipe at LoHud.com/cookieswap for a chance to swap with other readers and win:

First place: a 5-quart KitchenAid Stand Mixer ($299.99 value)
Second place: a $100 Chef Central Gift Card
Third place: a 9-speed KitchenAid Digital Hand Mixer ($79.99 value)

And finally, there are two great features I’ve been working on for the JN in the coming weeks, including some back-to-basics Thanksgiving recipes for tomorrow’s paper, and, coming in December, a special drink series called the 12 Days of Cocktails.

Thanks for being patient while I put in my time on the print side of things!