KEVIN: Aimee and I were chosen to review 3 restaurants for lohud.com Small Bites blog during Hudson Valley Restaurant week. This is the first of three we visited. We arrived at the restaurant around 12:30pm. It has a plenty of parking in the lot just outside of the establishment. The decor outside is not too remarkable. Upon entering, it has the feel of an old Italian bistro, with checkered tablecloths and tables that are placed close together creates an intimate atmosphere. Our waitress, Dani, greeted us and seated us. The place was empty….but it was very early and it was Sunday. She poured water for us and gave us the menu that was made especially for Restaurant Week.
For my appetizer (or Antipasti, as the Italians call it), I chose Pasta e fagioli,a soup made with cannellini beans, pancetta, tomato, rosemary, ditalini pasta, extra virgin olive oil, and baby arugula. I have never had Pasta Fagioli before. The soup reminded me of a dish my grandmother used to make when I was young using smoked pork and cannellini beans. I am not a big soup fan, but it was a delightful dish.
It has a real depth of flavor that made me want to finish the whole bowl. I had Ravioli al Manzo, a Chianti braised beef ravioli, garlic, grape tomatoes, cannellini beans, and white wine.
The ravioli was amazing! The filling had great texture and very flavorful. I didn’t realize until my food was in front of me that the main dish had Cannellini beans. No worries, I love cannellini beans! The ravioli was the star of the party anyway. I had Tiramisu for dessert. It was very good! Creamy, not soggy like others I have tried. What a perfect, sweet end to an amazing lunch.
I hope to visit this restaurant again.
AIMEE: We found Don Tommaso’s Bistro Italiano, tucked away into a colorful little group of buildings off of Underhill Avenue in Yorktown. As Kevin said, it being an early Sunday afternoon the restaurant was empty, which was fine, it made for a more intimate atmosphere for the both of us. The tables were pretty close together, so if the place had been packed, there would have likely been a lot of noise and loud conversation. The décor was old world Italian with dark woods, checkered table cloths and quirky Italian music playing in the background. Our waitress was attentive. She gave us the HVRW 2012 lunch menu:
She let us mull the menu over while she went to get our bread basket.
Then she busied herself setting up tables (for a party coming in around 2pm, we overheard). The bread was warm and crusty, very good. We both wondered if it was fresh made. It certainly tasted it. When the waitress returned, Kevin ordered first, as always (I like to order last, I don’t know why, just a preference I guess). When it was my turn, I ordered the beet salad (Barbabietole) for my antipasti and the Gnocchi alla Norma for the Secondi. I’ve only ever had gnocchi once before and I remembered not liking it much. I wanted to push my limits a bit during this experience with Restaurant Week. If you know me at all, then you know I really need to expand my horizons when it comes to many things, food being one of them. So my taste buds were about to be blessed with at least 2 new flavors. The beet salad, I will admit, I was a little afraid of trying. The actual menu description of the Barbabietole was Roasted beets, baby arugula, lemon vinaigrette, pistachio, ricotta salata. It was visually appealing with deep purple-red beets against the verdant leafy greens. The dish was really vibrant both in color and flavor. I think it needed a bit more texture for my personal palate, but I enjoyed it regardless.
I tasted Kevin’s Pasta Fragioli. I have had it before, though I don’t really recall where. Probably something my mother or my grandmother made at one time or another. The soup was very tasty and I even dipped some crusty bread in there for good measure.
I don’t know if it was on purpose or if she was just busy elsewhere in the restaurant, but our waitress gave us a good resting period between each course, which was appreciated. This was quite a large salad! I didn’t finish it because I wanted to save room for my main course. Soon she removed our antipasti plates and came back with the Secondi.
Well there it is, pretty as a picture! Gnocchi alla Norma, which consisted of home made potato gnocchi, eggplant, pomodoro, pesto, and grated ricotta salata. I cannot explain how tasty and rich this sauce was! Now, I’m very partial to my mother’s sauce, she uses pork and meat to broaden the flavors of her gravy. But this sauce was almost like a paste. I’ve never had tomato jam, but this is what I imagine tomato jam to taste like. It was full of small chunks of tender eggplant and the ricotta salata was the perfect accompaniment. I think what I’ve discovered about myself is that I have a texture issue. I thought the gnocchi was okay and I managed to eat some of it, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it by any means. I think it was too soft for me. I needed a bit more of a crunch – I was expecting something a bit firmer when I ordered the dish. Kevin tried some of the gnocchi and really liked it. No matter what my personal texture issues deny my palate, I know it wasn’t the chef’s fault that I didn’t eat this dish in it’s entirety!
Moving right along, our waitress cleared our plates and we ordered dessert. Our choices were Gelato (Chocolate, Vanilla, or Hazelnut), Sorbet (Lemon or orange), tiramisu or cannoli. Kevin choose the tiramisu and I, forever being a lover of anything lemon, chose the sorbet.
Kevin & I discussed it and we give the atmosphere at Don Tommaso’s Bistro Italiano a 7, it was charming but there was nothing terribly remarkable about it. The food, we proudly give an 8.5!
If you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, we do recommend you stop in for a bite at Don Tommaso’s: http://www.dontommasos.com/
xoxo
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