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Food Blog: Town House
Town House’s heirloom carrots, one of many stand-out dishes
For local food obsessives like me, this is a big deal. With Blue Hill- and Momofuku-trained (and New Rochelle-raised) chef Chris dos Reis at the helm, the new Town House on Main Street is serving some of the most inspired and inventive cuisine in our city. Judging by a recent visit, your only challenge will be narrowing down choices from a uniformly excellent menu.
Catie and I sampled sweet/crunchy/spicy kimchi tempura green beans, a pillowy pan con tomate, deeply-flavored squid in its own ink, a bracingly fresh radish salad, silky sea bass in a green garlic sauce, and perfectly roasted, amazingly bright heirloom carrots. (You can see I am running out of adjectives.) Another stand-out, which Catie foolishly refused to try, was fried pigs ears in a yuzu sweet and sour sauce — a bit like orange beef, but better, much better. There’s also a secret-ish off-menu burger, which could vie for best in the region. The cocktail menu is equally appealing, with the drunken koala a table favorite. A crazy good flan and squash (yes) donut rounded out our meal, along with some sort of smoky-lemony amaro of which I could happily have had three, but grudgingly stopped at one. You can see I am a fan, and am looking forward to returning to try everything else.
Town House is located in a charming and fully renovated building that housed Speckled Door years ago, but has been mostly vacant since. The owners have ambitious plans to use upper floors for event space, cultural and artistic displays, even podcasts. All-in-all, a really terrific addition to New Rochelle’s downtown.
Town House is open for dinner Thursday through Sunday. Business has been brisk, so make a reservation. Run, don’t walk.
Giving Thanks at the Doyle Center
A pleasure to join colleagues from City Hall at the Hugh Doyle Senior Center, where we teamed up this week to serve a special Thanksgiving lunch. Enjoy the holiday!
New Ro Thanksgiving Parade This Saturday
Enjoy a great hometown tradition this Saturday, as New Rochelle comes together for our 58th Annual Thanksgiving Parade. The fun kicks off at 10:00am at the corner of North Avenue and Eastchester Road, with the parade route proceeding along North through our downtown. Before the parade, fuel up with pancakes in the House 4 cafeteria at New Rochelle High School. Big thanks, as always, to the Chamber of Commerce and New Rochelle’s Parks & Rec team for their great organizational work. See you on Saturday!
Holiday Lights in New Ro
Our new holiday lights at Library Green and at City Hall are really beautiful. A festive start to the season, and definitely worth a visit after sundown.
Calcification. Parity. Cultural Backlash.
The best explanation I have seen of the current political era from the always excellent @ezraklein. Summary: “The parties are so different that even seismic events don’t change many Americans minds. The parties are so closely matched that even minuscule shifts in the electoral winds can blow the country onto a wildly different course. And even in a time of profound economic dislocation, American politics has become . . . about whether the cultural changes of the past 50 years delight or dismay you.”
I am relieved by the outcome of the midterms, but the conditions Klein describes aren’t going to disappear any time soon. Add three other factors — the anti-majoritarian flaws of our Constitution, the polarizing effects of social media, and the growing right-wing flirtation with authoritarianism — and you have a prescription for ongoing political turmoil, with enormous risks for liberal democracy, and no end in sight.
Food Tour of Union Avenue
An epic food tour of Union Avenue in New Rochelle’s West End, led by our own Council Member Martha Lopez and Lohud food writer Jeanne Muchnick. Sure to whet your appetite for some of Westchester’s most authentic and delicious cuisine. I blogged about my own food tour through the neighborhood a few years ago, but Martha and Jeanne seem to have topped me.
Veterans Day Ceremony on Friday
Join us this Friday at 11:00am at Faneuil Park (at Huguenot and East Main), as New Rochelle honors America’s veterans. In the event of bad weather, the ceremony will be moved indoors to City Hall. Thank you to the Veterans Advisory Committee for organizing our community’s observance.
Bramson vs. Astorino (2022 Edition)
Nine years ago, Rob Astorino and I were locked in a heated contest for County Executive, during which we got along personally, but disagreed on pretty much everything. Last week, Iona University hosted the two of us for a pre-election debate/conversation, and we picked up right where we left off. The threats to our democracy are real and urgent . . . and need to be called out in the clearest, strongest terms. Please watch, share, and VOTE.
Biden Rallies for Hochul in Westchester
A big, fired-up crowd welcomed President Biden to Westchester this evening as he rallied at Sarah Lawrence College for Governor Hochul and the Democratic ticket. Two days left. Make your plan to vote.
Axe Throwing Comes to New Ro
Preparing to throw (and miss)
So, axe throwing is a thing . . . really . . . for fun (which it is!) And it’s also the latest attraction at New Roc, with the opening of Bananas’ Axe Cabana. At the ribbon-cutting, for which we used scissors and not any other implement, my own personal axe throwing skills proved very poor. Lots of misses. Conversely, and perhaps not surprisingly, our Fire Commissioner Andy Sandor was a dab hand, hitting the bullseye over and over. If things fall apart, and we find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian war of all-against-all, I’m staying close to Andy.