Hudson Valley Restaurant Week - Fall 2017 - October 30-November 12

Yes, we’ve been to The Cookery several times before. It was our go-to place to have HVRW dinner with our kids (who live in Manhattan and Long Island), but last time I decided it was just too loud so we tried Harper’s instead (bad move). This time we’re going to Valley (not as convenient but very good and quiet).

I don’t eat pork so the doughnut is out for me. I really love the fresh mozzarella and usually get that (although the cauliflower sounds interesting), and I’ve had the market fish before and it’s been excellent and the photo here looks even better in the past. My wife loves the buttery salty potatoes appetizer and will get the market steak entree. So it’s not like we’ll have a bad meal, I was just thinking of trying someplace different.

Anyway, if you’ve never been you should definitely go. It’s not THAT far.

We had lunch at Saltaire Oyster Bar in Port Chester today. It was our first visit, and I’d say it was pretty good overall. I ordered the salmon entree and was impressed when the server asked how I wanted it cooked. I can’t remember the last time I was asked that and most places look at you like you’re speaking a foreign language when you ask for salmon cooked medium rare (which was how I ordered it here).

I had the salmon poke to start, and my wife had the chopped salad. The poke was very good. Not a huge portion but it was enough. The salad portion also was not huge, but my wife liked it. Interestingly, someone at the table next to us must have complained about the salad, because at one point the manager took the salad away and brought it back, he announced that he had added a bunch of lentils and sunflower seeds, which had been mixed in (and which the customer apparently didn’t think there were enough of).

For entrees, my wife ordered the shrimp provencal linguine and I had the grilled salmon. The shrimp was excellent, 5 large shrimp and a big bowl of pasta. When I got my salmon, i was impressed with the portion size, and it was on a plate of various squashes with a ring of balsamic vinegar around the plate (the menu said it came with Roasted Organic Orzo & Crunchy Vegetables Salad and Pomegranate Aioli, so maybe it was pomegranite – it definitely wasn’t orzo). Unfortunately, the salmon was cooked medium. At most places I would just eat it but I figured that since the server had asked how I wanted it, and this was a seafood place that (in theory) knows how to cook it properly, I decided to send it back. The server came over after a few minutes and I told him it was overcooked. Rather than immediately apologizing and taking it back, he actually went to a terminal to check how it was ordered. Only after verifying that I had indeed ordered it medium-rare did he acknowledge that it was wrong and take it back. I got a new one within 5 minutes and the good news was that it was cooked properly, in fact is was closer to rare but that was fine with me. I thought the portion size was smaller, but in looking at the pictures, they may have been the same (the replacement piece was thicker). The replacement plating wasn’t as nice. For dessert we both got the rum raisin bread pudding since I’d read in an online review that it was very good. I wasn’t really impressed, I didn’t taste any rum, I had barely and raisins, and the caramel swirl on the plate was grainy. I probably should have gotten the vanilla gelato instead.

A couple of things annoyed me. Our table had bread plates but we never got bread. When I asked the server about it, he told me that they don’t usually give out bread at lunch (then why put out bread plates?) Amusingly, those bread plates stayed on the table for the entire meal, even after my wife had used hers for the shrimp tails. And when we got dessert, my wife had a knife and spoon and I had a fork and spoon, with the knife and fork left over from our entrees.

Anyway, for $23 it was a very good value, and the food tasted very good.

Salmon Poke

Saltaire Salad4032×3024 3.32 MB

Chopped Salad

Saltaire Salmon 14032×3024 2.93 MB

Original salmon

Saltaire Salmon 24032×3024 3.05 MB

Replacement salmon

Saltaire Shrimp4032×3024 3.04 MB

Shrimp Provencal Linguine

Saltaire Dessert4032×3024 2.95 MB

Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

I forgot to respond to the Monteverde comment. We were there for HVRW many years ago, it was one of the first restaurant weeks. I remember there were a bunch of Red Hat Society women there. Anyway, I had duck breast which they managed to squeeze onto a small plate, and we were done with our entire 3 course meal in an hour. Funny how I remember stuff like that but it obviously made an impression. Obviously it’s completely new ownership/management now. The chef now is Eric Korn, who is supposedly one of the best wedding caterers around and ran Wolfert’s Roost in Irvington (which I thought was OK). So I was rather surprised when my daughter told me the food wasn’t that great at the wedding.

Dinner last night at at The Cookery. We definitely made the right decision going there instead of Monteverde. As usual, they had specials and all were available on the restaurant week menu – in fact, they basically offer their entire menu for HVRW, something more places should do. My wife always gets the Buttery Salty Potatoes, but they had a Chocolate Chicken Liver Pate that she wanted to try. She was ordering the Market Steak entree, and our server told her that she could substitute the Buttery Salty Potatoes for the Goose Fat Potatoes that came with it for only $2, which was nice. The steak was a 12 ounce sirloin, BTW. I ordered my usual Fresh Mozzarella and Market Fish, which was branzino as mentioned above. The chicken liver pate was excellent, served on cornbread with toasted hazelnuts, but I really didn’t taste any chocolate. The mozzarella was also excellent, although they had posted a photo of it earlier in the day on the Valley Table Instagram feed which looked a lot more like burrata consistency and mine was more solid (which is the way I’d always had it there). The steak and fish were excellent; I think my fish portion was a bit smaller than posted above but iI really liked the red pepper sauce (made me wish they gave you bread instead of charging for it so I could have used it on the remaining sauce) and red pepper and farro on top. I believe the menu sauce something about chili oil – I didn’t taste that, either. The steak came with a romaine salad and a tasty balsamic dressing that was also on the steak.

For dessert, I had been looking forward to the Chocolate Polenta and my wife the Stickabutta Pie, but they had two desserts - a donut and french toast bites. The donut was filled with grape sorbet, and the french toast was crunchy pieces (think crouton) with maple syrup and really tasty ice cream (I think maple, could be wrong). My wife was more of a fan of the donut than I was, I guess with the grape sorbet it was supposed to be a jelly donut. I would have been happier with vanilla or the maple ice cream. The french toast bites were really excellent. The table next to us got the chocolate polenta and I noticed that it had shrunk from its former size (which was pictured on the holder the check came on, so it wasn’t just my imagination).

At the end of the meal, the manager actually stopped by to see if everything was OK (he spoke to other tables as well) I was surprised because I’ve never seen him do that in the past and I felt that they really should pay more attention to their guests).

All in all, it was an excellent meal!

Now for the obligatory photos

Fresh Mozzarella

Chocolate Chicken Liver (special)

Market Fish (Branzino)

Market Steak (Sirloin) with Buttery Salty Potatoes
Donut (special) - I realized after seeing this picture that I should have turned the plate to get a cleaner picture and moved the glass to get rid of the shadow (oh well)

French Toast Bites (special)

I apparently broke the link to the donut photo while editing the post and can no longer edit the post, so here it is again.

Yes, and that is one reason I usually don’t do restaurant week. But now I may just do Cookery next time!!

That sounds really good!

So it turns out that Westchester Magazine was wrong about Juniper. Their entire menu is NOT available! Only a very small number of choices noted by HVRW on their menu page! I would have been seriously upset if I’d gone there – in fact, I would have walked out. This menu, in fact, is the perfect example of a place that doesn’t really want to do restaurant week. I just noticed that the article now only lists 6 places to try, and Juniper was removed! Hope no one who read the original article decided to eat there!

https://www.juniperhoh.com/dinner-menu

Went to 121 Restaurant last night with some friends. It was hike to get there (50 minutes from Yonkers), and while it was nice, I won’t be back. Food was good, just not memorable. They gave a pretzel croissant with honey butter which was the best thing I ate that night, and they only thing I don’t have a picture of. I had the flatbread as my app and it was full of nice and juicy figs. I will replicate this next fall when my figs come in. My friends had the chili and the mussels, which they both liked. For my main, I had the pappardelle. My friend had the same. While mine was full of short rib and root vegetables, hers was not. It was very flavorful and I loved the chunks of vegetables. My other friend had the prosciutto wrapped pork chop. It was very moist and she loved it, but it lacked a starch. A parsnip whip they had on the menu would have went along nicely. For dessert I had the pumpkin cheese cake and they both had the chocolate-toffee brownie sundae. The cheesecake was deliciously light and airy, a great ending. The brownie was a cookie or maybe a blondie, neither of them finished it and there was no chocolate to be had.

Fig Gorgonzola Flatbread

Turkey Chili

Mussels Provencal

Short Rib & Root Vegtable Pappardelle

Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Chop

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Chocolate-Toffee Brownie Sundae

We had lunch at 121 today and other than desserts, we had completely different items than you. There was no bread service at lunch, so we did not get to try the pretzel rolls (and like Saltaire, they had a bread plate on the table). I started with the crisp duck confit on a bed of lentils and root vegetables. The good news is that the duck was a huge portion, a full leg plus a portion of the thigh and the lentils and vegetables were very good. The bad news is that the duck still had some fat, which in theory confit cooking is supposed to get rid of. Also, the duck meat was rather dry, which also shouldn’t happen with confit. Maybe it was when they did whatever they did to crisp it (or maybe they didn;t confit it)? My wife had the bitter greens salad and really enjoyed it. For entrees, my wife had the chicken roulade and said it was excellent. I only got to try the creamed leaks and they were very good. I had the salmon, which was less successful. I asked for it medium rare and they actually did cook it properly (although the bottom was kind of rubbery). However, it was kind of tasteless even though the menu said it was supposed to be soy and maple glazed. For dessert, my wife had the pumpkin cheesecake (which she said was good) and I had the “brownie”. Like you, I was surprised at the sundae, for some reason I was expecting a brownie in a pan with ice cream on top (I guess I missed the word sundae). Anyway, it was definitely a blondie and I had plenty of chocolate chips in mine. I kind of enjoyed it.

I might try them for HVRW again since my wife’s meal did seem to be better prepared than mine. One nice thing is that the lunch portions seemed to be the same as dinners, so for $23 it was a great deal. Since the place is in the middle of nowhere (unless you live nearby I guess) I probably won’t go there other than for RW. I live in Yorktown so it wasn’t nearly as long a ride as it is from Yonkers and at least I got to take scenic local roads.

One non-food complaint… they were mostly empty and seated us in a corner “booth” (actually part of a long seating bench that wrapped around) near the front of the dining room under the open kitchen window, we were seated at 90 degree angles. Then a family with 2 kids came in and they seated them at the table right next to us. To the point that we could hear their entire conversation and could even have participated in it since I was facing them. There were other tables in the room that they could have seated them at.

Bitter Greens Salad

Crispy Duck Confit

Sage & Chestnut Stuffed Chicken Roulade

Soy & Maple Glazed Salmon

Chocolate-Toffee Brownie Sundae

Pumpkin Cheesecake

HA - we go to 121 often and that is the table we ask for. But, I can see if you get a table like that next to you it would be an issue!!! 121 is just 15 minutes for us. We are very well treated since we have been going there since they opened. As soon as we sit at our table the bartender follows with our drinks! I will say, with lots of kids that place can be a bit noisy!, but we do enjoy it there. It kind of feels like a vacation because of the location, etc.

The kids were actually very well behaved. But the mother kept on talking, they had to go get their skis for the season, was so-and-so horseback riding, what does the kid want to eat (the girl was a really picky eater). We were literally on top of them and there were only 3 other tables occupied in the room. I had no problem with it before they were seated, although they could have put us at a table for 4 as they did another 2 that walked in after us (but maybe that is considered the best table for 2, since you said you ask for it).

We like it but if we cant’ sit there they always put us at a 4 top. BTW - James Brown was a waiter there when they first opened. Best waiter I ever had.

So I did not get to post our dinner at Madison Kitchen on Tuesday night. As I’d mentioned earlier, they were offering their normal menu, and you got to order 3 small plates plus a serving of their Bona Bona ice cream (which they sell by the pint and is at Smorgasburg). It was pouring on Tuesday night, and my phone sent me down the Bronx River Parkway and thru Hartsdale and Scarsdale to get there because the Hutch was a disaster. So when we got there after almost an hour, I was rather frazzled and needed an excellent meal to make up for it. Fortunately, they did not disappoint.

The menu has a number of items around $8-9, but we focused on the more expensive ones because of the RW pricing to get the best value. So my daughter and I got the tuna (normally $18), my wife and daughter got the skirt steak (normally $14). I also got the lamb chops ($15) and duck tostadas ($12). My wife also had the sliders ($12) and eggplant meatballs and my daughter got the truffled gnocchi (both less expensive dishes). Anyway, all of the food was excellent. The tuna was artistically presented on a long plate with rice, soy sauce, wasabi and ginger. Someone at the table next to us also ordered it and did not order the RW menu and it seemed to be the same size portion. The lamb chops were great, I received 3 of them and although I hadn’t been asked how I wanted them cooked, they were medium rare. They came with a tasty mushroom sauce. The duck tostadas were interesting and tasted good, but the portion seemed smaller than the picture I saw online. My wife said the sliders were excellent and both my wife and daughter said that the steak was good although I think it paled in comparison to the other stuff. Finally, the eggplant meatballs were quite good, it almost had a meat-like texture but was breaded and tasted like eggplant parm.

The server had offered to pace out delivery of the different dishes, but my daughter had all 3 of hers while I was still waiting for my second dish, and we had to get the server to find the missing eggplant meatballs when everything else had arrived. A nearby table seemed to get stuff much faster. I guess that is the danger of ordering everything at once at a tapas-like place.

For dessert, I had the cookie dough and brownie ice cream. It was good, cookie dough and brownie pieces in a vanilla ice cream based, but I tasted some ice in it. I probably should have done something more interesting like the nutella. My wife and daughter had the rainbow cookie flavor and both of them loved it.

Anyway, this was one of the better values and meals of RW. We had been told that if someone at the table wanted to participate in HVRW, everyone had to and I didn’t understand why until I saw the people at the table next to us spend 15 minutes trying to decide whether to get it or not. If just one person could order it, they could get the expensive items and then the other person could order cheap stuff and they could share everything. I could see going back (in better weather) and ordering the less expensive items and having an excellent meal as well (while the tuna was excellent, I’m not sure that I’d pay $18 for it, but that’s just me).

And now for the photos :).

Tuna

Tuna (differnet view)

Lamb chops

Duck Tostadas

Steak

Eggplant Meatballs

Sliders

Cookie Dough Brownie Ice Cream|

Rainbow Cookie Ice Cream

We’ll see James at Valley tomorrow night, I’ll have to mention that we ate at 121. Then we’re trying Clock Tower Grill on Sunday. I’m guardedly optimistic about that one. I’ve thought about eating them at HVRW for a few years now. We ate there many years ago when I had a Groupon-like offer for them. But I recall that I only had the half chicken because it was cheap and was disappointed in it. But online reviews are pretty good, and the duck entree looks very good. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

BTW what do you usually order at 121? It seemed like the duck confit was maybe something beyond their capabilities and I should have stuck with something simpler. However, my wife’s chicken roulade was pretty good, and it wasn’t all that simple.

I finished the salmon for lunch today and did taste some maple, so maybe it was in the sauce on the plate that was mixed with the quinoa.

Please say hi from Gwenn and Frank!!!

Lately I’m big on pizza! And I devour the crescents with the honey butter. DH loves the tuna app, also the sesame shrimp. We do a lot of specials too. I know he likes the hangar steak and the scallops. Lots of times he does a few apps.

We ate at Valley on Saturday night and Clock Tower Grill on Sunday. While Valley did not thrill me as much as in past years (no duck breast), we had an excellent meal. The thing that amazes me about that place is that even though we only eat there for restaurant week, they welcome me like I’m a regular (both GM James as well as the waiter). James even remembered that my daughter had run the marathon last year and asked if she ran again this year! I actually felt guilty about not eating there more often last night, maybe we’ll try to get there at regular price so I can get the duck. Portions were smaller than last year, but we didn’t go hungry. The deserts were amazing, both the flourless chocolate cake and the “Candied Apple”, a deconstructed dessert. Both were as good as anything we had during HVRW. I will try to post photos tomorrow.

As for Clock Tower Grill, it was just OK. It’s like a place that has high aspirations and just doesn’t have the skills to deliver on it. The duck entree, which I’ve wanted to try for a while now, was OK. The popovers was OK, not nearly as good as the ones served at Neiman Marcus’ restaurant. I ordered a glass of hard apple cranberry cider and they served it in a glass full of ice (not in a bottle with a glass of ice). I had the apple crumb pie for dessert and it was OK, but needed something like ice cream. Interestingly, the couple at the table next to us had ice cream on theirs. I’m not sure if they asked for it and agreed to pay extra for it, or they knew someone. I ended up taking home most of my portion and will eat it with ice cream. Bottom line is I’m glad we tried it, if only because we’ve considered going there for HVRW multiple times and decided not to go each time. Now at least I can say I’ve “been there, done that” and look elsewhere next time/

James has a way of making you feel very special. That’s why he is so good at his job. We have only been twice (but know James from various other places) but the waiter also made us feel like an old friend when we went.