My Rye

Let Them Eat Cake Because They Cannot Afford the Bagels or Pizza

Bagels are now for the upper crust.

And a slice of heaven now goes for an additional $0.25, a 12.5% bump.

Robert Guerrieri Jr., owner of Rye's Upper Crust Bagel Company, posted a letter in his store this month about the skyrocketing price of flour and warning customers they have no choice but to raise bagel prices. Bagels now go for $1.00.

Over at Sal's Pizza, the cost of a venerable slice has been jacked 12.5% to $2.25.

Look for Rye kids to petition for a CPI adjustment to their allowance.

Oh My Omakase: Sushi Nanase Delicately Crushes Competition

Put yourselves in the good hands of Yoshimichi Takeda, formerly of Masa and Nobu in Manhattan, and order the omakase at Sushi Nanase in White Plains.

You'll think you just bought a one-way ticket to Tokyo because 1. the place is an incredible culinary taste bud carnival of the freshest fish and most inventive Japanese cuisine and 2. it costs about as much a one-way ticket to Tokyo.

On Mamaroneck Avenue, the joint is tiny and plain looking from the outside. Make certain to secure reservations and arrive on time, as there are reports of Mr. Takeda having "adverse reactions" when customers don't follow these rules and disrespect the toro..

The Zagat review scores the food a 28 of 30 and reports:

"The chef-owner at this “tiny” “no-frills” Japanese “inn” in White Plains may strike some as “fussy”, but come here for “nothing else” but “exquisite” sushi “delicately” prepared with “special touches” and you’ll be in “heaven”; many find it “exorbitantly overpriced” with a $30 minimum per person, but keep in mind “your dinner was in Japan 18 hours earlier”, so if “it feels like you’re paying to fly in your meals, you are!”"

A New York Times review from 2006 is equally flowing with praise:

"...I recommend putting yourself in Mr. Takeda's hands. It is in taste combinations and presentation that his talents are best illustrated.

A recent omakase (chef's choice) dinner started with a beautiful orange Japanese persimmon, its sweet meat carved out, mixed with tofu, then placed back in the shell and served with a spoon that resembled a twig. Next came a series of tastes that transitioned our palates to smokier, huskier flavors: chestnuts; tiny clams; okra, sliced in half with pearls of salmon roe and caviar on top; a slice of yam; and a conch, sticking out of its shell.

There were oysters, those extraordinary scallops, broiled cod and king crab in vinegar. Finally, long, lovely plates of sushi arrived -- salmon, tuna, fluke, shrimp and more. Each piece had just the right amount of rice, with little surprise spoonfuls of wasabi packed between the rice and the fish. Small bursts of flavor and color sat on top of each piece, from various roes and truffles to gold leaf. The meal ended with a light, refreshing ginger peach sorbet and sweet, sticky bean paste with lime zest. We felt as if we had been taken on a wonderful journey without ever leaving our seats."

Sushi Nanase, 522 Mamaroneck Avenue (DeKalb Ave.), White Plains, Telephone 914-285-5351.

La Panetière of Rye Lauded in The New York Times

Rye's La Panetière restaurant on Milton Road pulled an "Excellent" review from the Westchester section of this past Sunday's New York Times. Even the regional section of the Times is stingy with its best rating, so La Panetière owner Jacques Loupiac should be pleased with yet another rave review:

"In this area of noisy restaurants, La Panetière offers an oasis: a hushed dining room with well-spaced tables at which diners can have and hear their own conversation. Then there’s the food: most of it carefully crafted, delicious and presented with, well, panache."

The Times review reports the lavish French restaurant has toned down the heft of its French fare including use of small plates and the acknowledgment of various America ingredients. It reports the crowd ranges from dating couples (he must like you) to seniors (he still likes you).

La Panetière already rates a "27" of 30 food rating from Zagat.com, with only one restaurant in Westchester pulling a 28 for food (Sushi Nanase in White Plains) and six others pulling the same rating. The Zagat review is no less flowery:

"“When you can’t get to Paris”, a “remarkable meal” awaits at this Rye “grandmother of elegant French restaurants” that’s “beautifully furnished” to resemble a Provençal country inn; owner Jacques Loupiac “oversees every detail”, from the staff that “caters to every whim” to the “superb” fare and “voluminous” wine list; N.B. jacket required."

If you like her: La Panetière 530 Milton Road (at Oakland Beach Avenue), 967-8140,  http://www.lapanetiere.com/

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Mexican Ice Pops

Sometimes you just walk into a new place and you know. You know you have hit pay dirt. That's how we felt the other night when we wandered in to Palenteria Fernandez, a Mexican ice pop and ice cream store in downtown Portchester.

The Mexican ice pops come in milk and regular styles in a panoply of flavors. They resemble Froze Fruit brand popsicles but are homemade. This colorful store also has homemade ice cream and we say, after careful consideration and without trepidation, Rye's own Longford's and Cold Stone have some very serious competition.

Spend a warm September evening at Palenteria Fernandez, 33 North Main Street, 939-3694.

Sal's Pizza to Open Gelato Bar This Saturday

It has arrived. If you were lucky enough to stroll into Sal's Pizza in Mamaroneck for a "slice of heaven" this evening, you were also treated to a sample of gelato from their new gelato and Italian ice bar next door.

The gelato bar formally opens this Saturday, August 11th at 12 noon. There will be balloon animals and face painting for kids from 12 :30pm - 3:00pm.

Sal's Pizza to Add Gelato Bar and Italian Ices

Anyone who lives in Rye and knows pizza knows Sal's Pizza in Mamaroneck (if you think Pizza 2000 is good, this writer just changed your life). Sal's patrons also have enduring admiration for the faux gray brick and orange laminate interior and the gruff (read: authentic) attitude of the counter staff.

With the constant being no change at all for twenty plus years, Sal's fans will be surprised to know the venerable pizza joint is opening a gelato and Italian ice bar next door in "a couple weeks". A quick look through the window shows tiled floors, glass display cases and wooden counters. If the gelato tastes as good as the pizza we won't mind the fancy digs. But faux gray brick and orange laminate would have been fine with us.

$192,000 of Ice Cream

Rye's Mario Gabelli is known to pay himself a cool $40 million a year in compensation, but what about the super cool ice cream impresario Dionisio? Don't know this bell ringing, truck driving, ice cream serving cash machine? Then I guess your kids don't play Rye youth soccer at the recreation fields at Midland on Saturdays.

By 9:30am and lasting all day long, there is a line in front of this caloric cash machine, with Dionisio pulling down cool cash for a panoply of various creams--Choco Taco to Screwballs to Jumbo Jetstars to Giant Sandwiches (not so giant) and the venerable Chocolate Eclair--from adults and children alike.

How much cool cash? Let's annualize Dionisio's creamy cash swirl and maybe you'll drop that midtown hedge fund commute:

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20 transactions/hour at $5/per (look at the line, skeptics...) = $100

8 hours = $800

1 week (working 5 days) = $4,000

1 month = $16,000

Leave 4 weeks vacation, and our ice cream king is cooling off with an all cash, have truck will travel, super cool $192,000 business.

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Bring Cash, Tums and an Empty Stomach to La Manda's

Celebrating its 50th year, La Manda's is a mecca for Italian food that will make you happy--chicken scarparo, the La Manda mixed salad, scungilli salad with lemon & oil, spaghetti or linguini with white clam sauce--the list goes on and it is all superior.

Bring your spouse, your date, your kids, your friends--this is a comfortable, homey, local White Plains joint. The portions are gigantic and so are the pieces of garlic in just about every dish you order (you'll be enjoying your meal for two days unless you take proper precautions).

Zagat's provides the following comments:

This “crowded local favorite” in White Plains “may be one of the best dives ever” given its “no-frills” “Arthur Avenue”–style Italian “home cooking” (“chicken scarpariello”, “pork chops with vinegar peppers”, “thin-crust pizza”, etc.) that’s “to die for”; yes, the “run-down” decor’s way “out-of-date”, but “loyal patrons” don’t notice because there’s a good reason it’s “been around forever”; P.S. “bring cash.”

La Manda's

251 Tarrytown Road, White Plains

(914) 684-9228

Harry's Burrito's - for Takeout and Family Friendly Dining

Rye refugees from Manhattan's Upper West Side will remember Harry's Burritos on Columbus and 71st. Harry's is also a takeout drive away at 94 Chatsworth Avenue in downtown Larchmont. The place is also family friendly with crayons and neon necklaces for kids with a kid's menu that should please.

The BBQ chicken and the bay burrito are both favorites in our house. Prices are fair with the exception of the extortionist prices for that extra dollop of guacamole on the side. If the idea of ordering from Pizza 2000 for second time this week is getting you down, take a drive down to Harry's.

Phone # is 914-833-2222.

Crazy Greek Food in Mt. Kisco Too

Update on Crazy Good Greek Food: Lefteris has a second, newer location in Mt. Kisco on the main drag- 190 East Main Street. It's about the same distance from Rye as the their original Tarrytown location, the food quality is the same (incredibly good and inexpensive too) and the location has more seating than the original location. Go early--both locations are known for long lines (it is worth the wait). Enjoy.