Haven (formerly Frodo's)

My advice, in an April review, to the owner of Cafe of Love was to cultivate a clientèle that longs to eat there over the cohort who longs to be there. Stephen, a friend of ours, asked if there are restaurants in Westchester that do what I suggested. The criteria became to find restaurants that have longevity based on their food, pricing, and pleasant atmosphere. Food and atmosphere are subjective, but price and longevity are quantifiable. To qualify for this review a restaurant had to have been in business for three years to demonstrate an ability to consistently draw customers through varying economies and food trends. Further, the most expensive entree on the regular menu could not exceed thirty dollars. The hunt was on.

A family friend recently recommended Haven. We made our reservation and went out tonight to begin proving my thesis that a restaurant can attract a strong customer base, not with a gimmicky no reservations policy and a bar that secretly wants to be a nightclub, but with inspiring food at reasonable prices.

Chrissie and I never bothered to investigate this restaurant when it was Frodo's. The moniker was off putting for us and suggested a theme restaurant to me. It appears, if reports of the food being the same are true, that I would have been incorrect.

The dining room is long and narrow with a bench reaching down the length of one wall. Tables for two are set, but can be brought together to accommodate larger parties. The design scheme blends rustic and upscale to create a very pleasing room. My only complaint is that the tables are too close for this type of dining. When we arrived at six thirty this was not an issue. As our entrees were served and eight o'clock approached, the room was nearly at capacity and proximity was more of a problem. By the time we left, I felt intimately acquainted with the party to my left.

For appetizers, Chrissie ordered the macaroni and cheese and I had mussels. Chrissie's mac and cheese was baked to a nice crust and served with truffle oil. It was a very nice dish and she was able to take a nice portion home to enjoy tomorrow. My mussels were also very generously portioned. The preparation of the day was with corn and bacon. The mussels were perfectly cooked. So far, in both of our opinions, Haven was performing flawlessly. To add to this performance, between courses the kitchen sent out a complimentary taste of their goat cheese dumplings that Chrissie had been deciding between when we ordered.

We were both very hungry last night and we both wanted to see how the chef dealt with meat. Chrissie ordered the rack of lamb. She raved about it, saying it was incredibly tender and juicy, and that the preparation allowed the flavor of the lamb to shine in the dish. Her only comlpaint with her meal was her burnt polenta.

I had the grilled filet. It was less successful than Chrissie's lamb. The meat itself had a very supple mouthfeel, but the char was too thick and black, ruining some bites. Curiously, the chef chose to pre-slice the steak. I think it is because he serves the meat over a frittata and wants to create a sense of presentation. I would have preferred the frittata, which was just ok, on the side and my steak whole so I could cut slices to a thickness of my choice. In his defense, the meat was clearly rested before he cut.

We both got the important sense that this is kitchen that puts out consistent food. I believe the burnt char on my steak is probably as bad as it gets, and considering the meat was still cooked to my order, the mistake wasn't that big a deal.

The desserts on paper weren't as inspiring as the rest of the menu. Chrissie and I had coffee and split a piece of peanut butter pie just to add conclusion to the meal.

High Points-

• The soup, flatbread pizza, mussels, and ravioli are offered as daily preparations
  
• The menu is varied, but not so large to suggest the kitchen has it can't handle
  
• Pricing remains reasonable, despite popularity
• Mussels and meats all cooked perfectly (temp & texture)
  

Low Points-

• Tables are too close
• Chef either didn't notice or sent out a steak with a burnt crust and a burnt side
• Sides left room for improvement
  
• Chrissie's coffee was cold (she was afraid to ask for a new cup for fear of caffeine)

Will we go back? We will definitely go back. Haven perfectly fits the bill of a neighborhood restaurant that strives for excellence in the kitchen. While I believe our main courses, for what they were, could have been a few dollars cheaper, I did not feel cheated in any way. Haven is an excellent counterpoint to the Cafe of Love. I must say that Cafe of Love puts out a menu that is clearly a notch above Haven's, but I left Cafe of Love feeling troubled by their missteps. I left Haven thinking the chef probably had a flare up on the grill and that the waitress let Chrissie's coffee sit too long while she made my espresso. I think the pretensions of the restaurants explains the difference in my attitude.

Next time we go I anticipate trying either the fish or the daily ravioli.

Haven is located at:
472 Bedford Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570

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QuickBites- May

Quick Bites is a new section where I will write about restaurants that we go to all the time or restaurants that, for some reason, I am not writing up in a full review. This month we went back to Encore, had the $99 special at Morton's, and ate at Tandoori.

Encore

Encore has unveiled their summer menu. I was very excited to see a whole red snapper. Mine could have cooked for a moment more, but I'm sure by now they've worked the kinks out. We were there for the inaugural service of the new menu. Next time we are there I will certainly try the snapper again and I'm sure it will be perfect. Encore's kitchen is incredibly consistent.

Morton's

Morton's tempted our curiosity with a surf and turf dinner for two for $99. I'm usually disappointed by steak houses because I find them to be a pretentious, culinarily boring, and a poor value. The $99 special was enough to get me to try again. The deal included salad, a seafood side, a starch and a vegetable to share, a single cut filet, and a dessert.

The asparagus were incredibly overcooked, the baked potato was fine, as it should be for those prices, and the steaks were over done. My scallop side was also over cooked. Chrissie didn't love the flavor of her crab cake, but she was impressed by the quantity and ratio of crab meat. Chrissie did really enjoy her molten chocolate cake.

Add tax, cocktails, and a bottle of wine and the $99 deal topped out over $200. Great job on their part getting us in. The truly disappointing part of the dinner was that we wanted to like it. The deal runs through the end of June and we love steak. We both wondered if they sent out less than perfect cooking because we were ordering the bargain special.

High points of the night included a sommelier who was pleasant and informative and a waitress who clearly deserved her tip. A low point in staffing was a maitre de who I found condescending.

If you like Morton's, the deal is good. If you, like us, aren't into chain steak houses, I'd be careful not to get drawn in by the promise of an affordable steak house dinner.

Tandoori

Last night my aunt and uncle took us to Tandoori in Port Chester. I don't feel that qualified to rate Indian food, but of the Westchester Indian restaurants, I find Tandoori to be one of the most comfortable and consistent. Since I'm not talking about the food I'll critique the staff, which was superb.

The waiters make it their business to know my families drink orders and to remember that my uncle doesn't like to order until he's had his second drink. The one mistake of the evening, when they brought my appetizer out late, was remedied, with no prompting, with another bottle of Taj Mahal beer and coffee and ice cream after dinner.

Please comment on the food if you know Indian and this restaurant.

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Antipasti

Chrissie wanted to go and I didn't. Chrissie needed to complete her Westchester wine bar trifecta. I would have been happy going back to Mima if what she wanted was a restaurant that caters to wine drinkers. Chrissie's opinion is infinitely more important than mine when making reservations so we called for an early Saturday reservation because I'd read that the dining room packs up very quickly at the prime seating hour.

I'd been apprehensive to go to Antipasti because I've seen both very positive and very negative reviews about their food. It appeared to me that Antipasti was going to be a love it or hate establishment.

We arrived early for our six thirty reservation and were greeted by a flock of valets to park our car. Antipasti is located on the business end of North Broadway in White Plains, making the valet parking a necessity. Necessity aside, it is still convenient and a nice touch.

Entering the restaurant you are greeted by a design scheme that is very metropolitan. Red accent lights illuminate an exciting bar. On the opposite side is an antipasto bar with its variety of dishes on display. A short stairway to the dining room rises next to a small glass room with hanging cured meats and cheeses on display. Chrissie commented that it would not have looked out of place in Manhattan. I replied that this is the changing face of a White Plains. Not only is White Plains the cosmopolitan city center of Westchester, it is where I was raised and I find the transformation over the last fifteen years incredible.

We were greeted by a hostess who told us they were setting our table and invited us to sit at the bar. There was no one setting our table. She was clearly directing us to the bar in order to get us to start drinking. If only she had known that is what we intended to do she could have asked us if we'd like to begin our evening at the bar instead of employing upsell subterfuge.

The bar and the bartender were easily highlights of the evening. He not only mixed a nice martini, but he went through the entire performance of icing the glass and filling it with cold water in preparation for the cocktail. Chrissie's excellent glass of Californian house Chardonay was served in a quartino decanter. The bartender poured small servings into her glass and attentively refreshed when needed. We made sure to pay our tab at the bar to ensure he got his fair portion of the tip.

The dining room was very large. We were seated at a four top close to the entrance and more than one other couple noted the size upon entering. We weren't sure if we were going to order in our regular progression or vary it up and have a meal of small plates. We wound up going an entirely different route than either of us expected. I had an appetizer, Chrissie had two antipasto dishes, and we both ordered pasta, something that rarely occurs when we are out to eat. I think we were both frightened by the prices of the regular entrees. The menu only had two dishes under thirty dollars. The pasta decision was our way of testing the waters.

I began my meal with the ragu of grilled polpo and manila clams. The pasta and the broth were outstanding. The polpo was acceptable. The octopus was almost at the correct texture, but didn't add much to the dish. My suggestion, if cooking it properly is too difficult for the kitchen, is to leave it out of the dish. As a sixteen dollar appetizer, almost the cost of a full entree, I want my pulpo to be the highlight of a dish, not a curiosity for the uninitiated or a price inflater for the menu. That said, the rest of the dish was very successful and I enjoyed the textures and flavors of everything else in the dish very much.

Chrissie's small antipasto dishes arrived in the traditional fashion before my appetizer. She ordered the fried rice balls and the bruschetta del giorno. Chrissie raved about the bruschetta and how fresh the flavors were. I agreed. We both found the rice balls to be very bland. The tomato sauce they were served with did little to enhance the flavor and was the only component that could be tasted when employed.

Overall, we were so far enjoying the food. More impressive to me was how efficient and attentive the waitstaff was. I ordered a bottle of Malbec from the by the glass section of the wine menu. When the maitre de/sommelier came to open it he said, "I see you've ordered a bottle of our Malbec." When I answered that you've got love Argentina right now for wine value he made me feel informed rather than cheap.

I liked the wine list. It has many choices by the glass, covers the globe, and hits price points, with a varied selection, between thirty and three hundred. Our Malbec was tasty, affordable, and went nicely with what we were eating.

For pasta entrees I ordered the saffron mafalda and Chrissie had the egg garganelli. The pastas were both executed very nicely. Chrissie really liked the seasoning on her dish, which means others might find it a little salty. My dish was very earthy and lacked the vibrant flavor profiles of my appetizer. It was still tasty, but it did not inspire plate cleaning. The slow cooked duck in my pasta dish could have been any meat, but I still enjoyed it.

The portions were the perfect size for eating, but small for pasta dishes that break the twenty dollar price point. I would have liked to have some to take home.

For dessert we employed the maitre de again to help us select three chesses. He wanted to help, but I don't think he knew the cheeses well because he came armed with a prewritten selection instead of taking us through the various cheeses on the menu. I don't fault him for that at all. At least he had the foresight to ask someone for advice before coming to the table. We'd told him when he opened our wine that we'd be asking for his help with cheese at the end of our meal.

High points-

• Service that matches the price point. The waitstaff was ever present, but never in the annoying way where they come by every few minutes asking how everything is. If something needed to be done, it was done.
  
• Ultra modern bar makes you feel like you've left the suburbs for a moment.
• The menu offers a tremendous amount of dining flexibility
• Ingredients all tasted very fresh
• Wine list offers a nice mix of affordable wines for those who don't want to spend one hundred dollars on a bottle

Low Points-

• Pricing that matches the upscale flavor of the new downtown White Plains

Will we go back? I doubt we will return to Antipasti. It isn't that anything was bad. It is more that the value ratio was off. While I wasn't offended leaving my two hundred dollars at the table, I felt it could have been better spent somewhere else. If you like modern takes on traditional Italian cooking, you are into trying new wines, and you feel at home in a swanky establishment, then Antipasti might be a great choice for a night out. We at A Man Has to Eat don't subscribe to those criteria strongly enough to go back.

Antipasti is located at:
1 North Broadway
White Plains, New York 10601

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