Dining preview: Casual, neighborhood restaurants are on tap this fall(1)
Jumbo Shrimp with Walnuts at Baumgart's, which opened recently in Nyack. / Peter Carr/The Journal News
For new restaurants this fall, you won't have to look much further than your own backyard. Neighborhood restaurants are popping up everywhere — and they aren't leaving much room for the destination gourmet scenes of years past.
Take Baumgart's. The long-delayed new restaurant in Nyack has a family-style history: it started as a soda fountain in Englewood, N.J., in the late 1940s.
Nemea Greek Taverna in Mamaroneck has its cuisine rooted in family, too: It's run by the sons of the owners of Niko's Greek Taverna in White Plains. And the owners of Bosphorus, a new Mediterranean restaurant in Hartsdale, had a family-oriented neighborhood scene in mind when they opened. "That's why we're here," says co-owner Alex Goldansky.
To be fair, these new restaurants are not only about highchairs and kids' menus. Sofrito, a sleek-looking Puerto Rican lounge, has opened in White Plains. Buddha and Impulse Hibachi, Asian emporiums with hibachi tables, have opened to crowds in Rye Brook and White Plains.
While they're definitely adult, they have accommodations for families. And that makes these new places appeal to even more diners.
"It's not the economy to open a restaurant unless it's an affordable restaurant," says Joe Printz, who is planning to open a small- plates wine bar in Sparkill sometime next year. "It has to be a regular kind of place."
That's just what the owners of Baumgart's are aiming for. The restaurant, now owned by the Wu and Wang families, evolved to serving Chinese food — their native cuisine. But it has that neighborhood, family feel.
"We're not trying to pretend to be a super-fancy or chi-chi Asian place," says Irene Wu, the assistant manager. "It's just a good family restaurant with good Chinese food."
Inside, we have a look at a few new places to try this fall.
Westchester
Bosphorus: Kebabs, kofte and schwarma, along with salads, whole fish and other healthy dishes, served in a colorful, comfortable setting with wood tables and a small bar in downtown Hartsdale. Partners Alex Goldansky and Necdet Kasimoglu have restaurant experience in spades: Goldansky owned a restaurant called Four Rooms in Moscow; Kasimoglu worked for 12 years at Turquoise in Larchmont. $$. Mediterranean. 215 E. Hartsdale Ave., Hartsdale. 914-722-2000, bosrest.com.
