Bon Anniversaire: La Panetière

RER 8.4.16

Opened in 1985 by Jacques Loupiac, La Panetière is celebrating its 31^st Anniversary this year. The French restaurant has been serving Rye, New York, from a handsome house built in the 1800’s for thirty-one years, and their reputation for modern French cuisine remains stalwart.

 Entering La Panetière is like arriving at a retreat in Provence, complete with foliage clinging to the face of the 19^th century home, the charming colorful Provençal décor filled with folklore, and a delicious twist on classic French cuisine. The restaurant is intimate and romantic, cozy like a lovely cottage; however, the food is refined and elegant while the team is knowledgeable about the dishes and wine. There is a focus on the highest quality seasonal ingredients and authenticity inspired by the southeastern region of France.

To commemorate the anniversary, Loupiac and his team put together a veritable birthday party including a special six-course prix fixe dinner with a wine pairing option and an accordionist playing tableside. La Panetière regularly offers both a lunch and dinner prix fixe, but this menu was especially created and presented between August 2^nd and 4^th to celebrate its anniversary.

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The first course comprised of a ring of thinly sliced scallops dancing around a bite of briny sturgeon caviar in a pleasant pool of bittersweet grapefruit aspic. Fresh tomatoes and cleansing celery dotted the scallop carpaccio completing the fresh and clean flavors.

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A petit Hudson Valley foie gras flan was the second course of the special anniversary menu. It was both savory and creamy, complex without pretension. The flan was light as air grounded in earthy simmered mushrooms.

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The sizzling casserole of Maine lobster achieved a lovely balance, with raw almonds adding crunch and bite to the buttery succulence of the lobster tail peeled from its shell at the table. The green beans remained fresh and lively, bringing even more brightness to the aromatic third course.

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Veal filet mignon medallions rounded off the savory courses combining fragrances and malleable textures. The meat was tender and buttery, the curry was like a soft hum, and the vegetables were soft but not lost in the hearty quinoa.

The fifth course, a sweet course, piled summer fresh cherries in Greek Yogurt with a tingling mimosa jelly and Kirshwasser cappuccino. The summery dessert was refreshing, light, and not too sweet, but it was also decadent and layered with unexpected flavors.  

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To end, a caranoix cake, a mix of pecan nougat and caramel with nutella mousse, appealed to luxury. The expertly layered chocolaty dessert was decadent but not too heavy or overwhelming despite a variety of textures.

La Panetière offers an escape to the south of France in the middle of Rye using delectable food, superb service, and a warm atmosphere, all reminiscent of Provence. Here’s to more years of excellence! Joyeux Anniversaire!

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8.16.16

HONESTY is the policy: Rosemary and Vine

RER 7.7.16

When asked about Rye, New York, Tania Rahal, the co-owner of Rosemary and Vine, revealed that the people are honest and straightforward. She mentioned that they are direct and generous at the same time, not afraid to compassionately share their opinions.

The Rosemary and Vine restaurant fits right in. Transparency is very important to the restaurant’s team and mission. Wholesome, fresh, seasonal, organic, and local ingredients are key to the vegetarian Mediterranean-inspired menu. The open kitchen is also paramount to the concept of the table service eatery, allowing guests to see food preparation and indirectly involving them in the process. With that, Rosemary and Vine’s food tastes honest.  Including a mix of family recipes and dishes cultivated by Consulting Chef Erica Wides, summer is on the menu.

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Honesty begins with the starters, a blend of classic and fresh. Start with a cooling and textured gazpacho blanco, complete with a vibrant soft green color, a result of luscious cucumber, grapes, and deep roasted almonds.  Try a smoky babaganoush topped with sweet-tart pomegranate seeds that add a crunch to the sinful eggplant spread. The homemade hummus, a family recipe, is bright and smooth, earthy and meaty, perfect with crisp pita points. An avocado crostini is complex and hums with tangy feta, sweet peas, a layered charmoula, and moments of mint. 

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Rosemary and Vine’s summer flatbreads exude color and bright flavors that combine to be satiating and familiar. The Sarah similar to, but steps above, run-of-the-mill pizza, the Ella smooth with thick ricotta, spicy baby arugula, but accompanied by a crunch from buttery roasted pine nuts, the Yasmine with lemon notes and creamy hummus and fatoush greens. Each one demonstrates discernable fresh seasonal ingredients.

Owners Berj Yeretzian and Tania Rahal

Salads come in all colors, too— textured with lentils or quinoa; colored with cucumbers, tomatoes, or kale; made fresh with sumac dressing or apple cider vinaigrette. 

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Entrees are an amalgamation of a vegetarian paradise and Mediterranean flare that is far from intimidating, but still includes the aromas and flavors of another world. The saffron- scented Moroccan tagine attracts regulars because of its robust warm spices with hints of sweetness supported by delicate butternut squash and zucchini and hearty chickpeas served on couscous.  A truffled summer garden fettuccini is perfect for the scalding summer temperatures, as it remains fresh with earthy grilled asparagus and fatty pine nuts, while the radicchio adds a bitterness balanced by the bursting sweet summer corn. The thick flakes of Sartori Parmesan binds the pasta dish together; its salt brings out the sensuous truffle butter. Other entrees include Turkish braised eggplant ragout, family recipe falafel, five-cheese mushroom lasagna, potato kibbeh, and a Provençal frittata.

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No summer meal is complete without dessert. Abborio rice pudding is laced with spicy cinnamon, bourbon vanilla beans, and the distinct flavor of almond milk, just sweet enough, while the dark chocolate pudding speaks to mature decadence.  The warm chocolate cake is a dessert in between, still luxurious with cocoa powder and 70% dark Valrhona chocolate, but made playful with sweetened strawberries and light whipped cream.

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The restaurant offers a mission-based curated beverage list, including sustainable, small batch production Mediterranean wines; delicate and refined wine cocktails; select draft and bottled beers; coffee by Coffee Labs, a small-batch, local independent roaster in Tarrytown, NY; hot chocolate by Valrhona; and organic teas by Serendipitea.

Rosemary and Vine came together through the vision of owners Berj Yeretzian and Tania Rahal, to bring a taste of their native home to their new home in Rye, New York, culminating in a beer and wine bar offering delicious Mediterranean, vegetarian fare. The eatery has transformed through the sincerity of its clientele, but its constant has remained: honest food.

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7.19.16

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everything has its reason: the FINCH

RER 4.9.15

Stepping into The Finch is kind of like walking into your own kitchen, only it’s cooler. The lines are cleaner, the painted white brick is brighter—it’s just better.

And then passing the very open bar and the even more open kitchen, you step through a doorway, and you are transported to somewhere else. Wherever it is, it’s just as cool, just not as clean. This dining room has a formula, just as the front space does, it’s just not the same equation. Its exposed brick brings Brooklyn in and the classic furniture ties it to the front.

You sit down, and you want to explore. Your eyes wander, catching the mortar between the bricks, the different textures on display, the changing light coming in, and the many shades of green of plants. It’s intimate back here too, but it feels airy and open, almost outdoors.

The different spaces echo the streamlined menu and beautiful dishes; it’s apparent each is created, tested and perfected, but here too, there’s a formula. Everything’s there for a reason, even if you don’t want to believe it—like that unfinished back wall. Ingredients seem a little haphazard and unconnected at first, but you want to try everything, you want to see how it all works out.

And somehow, it does.

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Your appetizer is split gracefully into two large shallow dishes, one for each of you. Its arrangement is artful, crafted like sculpture, elements hidden and exposed. The sweet beets are roasted and red, soft and perfect, while the toasted traviso is bitter and smoky, cooled by creamy salted burrata. A savory brittle made with pine nuts crunches and plays to the sweet strengths of the beets and the mature savory moments of the traviso, while all unites with the mild and sensuous cheese. 

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Pork two ways makes for a whimsical dish, imaginative and sensible, hearty and delicate. A crunchy pork croquette, perfect and stringy, rests on a bed of soft cabbage and sunchokes studded with large pearls of mustard seeds. Every element melds to combat the delicious fattiness of the fried item, while a smooth apple puree marries pink centered slices of pork. There is no redundancy and yet a brilliant continuity is achieved.

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Your scallop entrée is a sexy surf and turf, bringing together sea and land seamlessly. The dish is a texture playground, where multiple feelings are playing tug of war. Stalemate. The soft, succulent scallops counter the rubbery, meaty snails that, too, have its own tenderness. There is heat and wonder written in slinky slender mushrooms and kernels of chewy Einkorn. Green things and grains bring in earthy tones and brilliant color, but you can swim in the richness and the decadence without getting lost…

Each bite and memory is meticulously constructed, precise and crafted, but also delectable and indulgent. You almost forget where you are and that your kitchen is nowhere as cool.

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4.9.15

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