07/28/11

In Memoriam: Chef Gwenael Goulet

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Gwenael Goulet, chef/owner of Buffet de la Gare in Hastings-on-Hudson. Goulet, who died Tuesday, July 19, after a long battle with cancer, is survived by his wife, Annie; son, Gwendal; and daughter, Stephanie.

Buffet de la Gare was opened by the Goulets in 1980, and quickly earned loyal fans and critical acclaim, garnering four stars in Westchester Magazine, an “Excellent” in the New York Times, and high scores in the Zagat survey. Since its debut, Buffet de la Gare has been a Westchester mainstay for excellent brasserie fare served with incomparable warmth by the Goulet...

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07/25/11

Pop-Up Thai in Pelham and Shake Shack Hits Westport!

Nisa Lee Café: Specializing in M.A.D. Thai

Nisa Lee of Nisa Lee’s Café in Pelham.

To the prudent eyes of bankers, accountants, and their ilk, first-time restaurant owners share a distinct form of insanity. Though not yet identified in the DSM, this illness compels its sufferers to sacrifice their life savings in high-overhead businesses that endeavor to sell perishable...

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07/18/11

Wood-Roasted Menu Selections at Bedford Post, Do-Good Dining at Crabtree’s Kittle House, and Killer Deviled Eggs

On Fire: Bedford Post Inn

Ask many chefs, and they’ll get misty about outdoor cooking—but they’re not dreaming of the way most suburbanites do it, over E-Z click propane jets. The romance for chefs lies in the primal satisfaction of tending a wood fire, and adding rustic, nature-evoking flavors to food cooked in its heat.

Chef Jeremy McMillan has a sweet deal going at Bedford Post’s patio. He’s spending the summer outdoors, manning an elegant stone kitchen inspired by Asador Etxebarri. This is the iconic Basque restaurant that does all of its...

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07/11/11

Blogger Boggled by Beer Math, Lose Your Head on Bastille Day, and Wood-Grilled Figs

Growler Math

Here’s a story handed down three generations in my family. One of my grandmothers, an immigrant from Leeds, spent her dotage in our giant family brownstone in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. Every night, she would send one of her grandchildren down to the corner bar with a pail and a few coins for beer. She (or they—in her defense, she might have had help) drank a pail of locally brewed beer every night, but when takeout tap beer disappeared, my grandmother stopped drinking. Why? My grandmother insisted that beer in bottles and cans didn’t taste “fresh.”

Cue...

Posted at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

07/01/11

Polpettina Rolls into Eastchester, Get Classy with Wine Education at Bedford Post, and Look Out: There’s a New Cupcake in Town

Polpettina

Polpettina Math: Bacon and egg fries + cheap growler of Captain Lawrence = happy

When I read Alan Richman’s latest in GQ (you know, the article that claims New York restaurants are creatively bankrupt, the one that awards the US food city crown to the...

Posted at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0