On Thursday our little group headed to the Red Hat Bistro in Irvington for a really late breakfast. Ok, ok, it wasn’t breakfast, it was dinner. I hope our loyal fans won’t revolt over the fact that the WBC broke with habit. But it was Restaurant Week and we wanted to do something special, so we spruced ourselves up and dined like we were upwardly-mobile Westchesterites.
Red Hat on the River
1 Bridge Street
Irvington, NY 10533(Map It!)
(914) 591-5888
Attendees: Shelley, Alan, Reid, Jeffrey, Sylvia, Pat
The Red Hat Bistro in Irvington is right on the Hudson River. So close, in fact, that a couple of hundred feet away from the restaurant there was a group of men fishing in the river. They were there when we arrived and they were still there two and a half hours later. After you read this review, you should go down to the Hudson in Irvington and see it they’re still there.
Several of us arrived a bit earlier, so we were seated at the bar while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. The Western sunlight streaming through the large full-length windows lining the front of the restaurant illuminated the entire place, making us feel close to the outdoors.When our entire group was accounted for, we were seated at a round table in the middle of the main-level dining space (there’s also a loft dining area), so that all the other patrons could have the benefit of watching the Westchester Breakfast Club eat dinner. (In the words of Ron Burgundy, we’re kind of a big deal.) I’m glad we were on the main level and not the loft level, because from our table we had a clear view of the Hudson and the setting sun through the windows. As the sun disappeared into the Palisades across the river, the cozy, romantic lighting in the restaurant took over.
So here’s how Restaurant Week works: for $28 you get an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. It’s a great deal, considering that at Red Hat the usual dinner entrees alone start at $23. We got to select from a 1-page special Restaurant Week menu featuring about 4 different appetizers, 5 entrees, and 4 desserts. I chose the Red Hat salad as my appetizer, the hanger steak frites as my entree, and the charmingly-named “Something Chocolate” for dessert.
After we ordered our meals we were each presented with a dinner roll. When I cut mine in half I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was soft, not hard and flaky like you would find at some other restaurants. The butter came served in small white bowls. The butter was just the right temperature and glided onto the bread effortlessly.
The salad was lovely–mixed lettuce accompanied by pieces of shaved parmesan cheese, red pepper, crostini-like croutons, and topped with a drizzling of a delicious lemon-garlic caesar dressing. Considering it was a Caesar, the dressing was quite subtle. In fact, when I was first presented with my salad I thought for a moment that the servers had made an error and given me Reid’s salad without dressing. A bite revealed that the salad did, in fact, have dressing, which was used sparingly and effectively.
Classic Grilled Hanger Steak Frites
You can order the steak with either a bearnaise sauce or a red wine shallot jus. I went for the jus. The dish comes with frites (that’s fries for you non-French speakers) and haricots verts (green beans). I ordered the steak medium-well. It was only in looking at Red Hat’s menu online the next day that I saw the small note that this dish is recommended served rare to medium rare. Truthfully, though, even had I know that recommendation at dinner, I probably would have still ordered it the way I did. I can’t bring myself to eat bloody meat. The down side was that my steak was considerably chewy–not unpalatable, but chewier than I’d expected. I enjoyed the red-wine shallot jus that the dish was served with. I appreciated the fact that the meat wasn’t drenched with the sauce, and the shallots were contained in a neat little pile in the center of the dish. The shallots added a nice sweetness to the dish and I felt they provided a nice complement to the richness of the beef. Had I had a choice, though, I think I would have preferred a different cut of beef to the hangar steak. The frites were thin, crispy, and delicate, if I may use the word “delicate” to describe French fries. But the distribution of salt on my fries was uneven. I had some fries that didn’t taste salted at all and others that came close to burning my tongue. Ketchup was served in the same type of small, white bowl that the butter came in. I didn’t have any of my haricots verts.
Something Chocolate was something delicious. The richness of the flourless chocolate cake was tempered by a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side, although the ice cream was not especially flavorfull. Unlike Sylvia, I did taste the caramel sauce on top of the cake. There was also a slight mint flavor in my dessert that puzzled me. I wondered if the mint leaves that had been perched atop the ice cream had been sitting there for a bit too long. The dessert was a bit dense, but no more so than can be expected from flourless bitersweet chocolate cake.
The service was wonderful–attentive, informative, and friendly. The crowd seemed to include a mix of all ages, from young professionals all the way up. And even though Red Hat is a more upscale restaurant, we felt quite comfortable, not at all out of place, and we were treated with the same courtesy as non-Restaurant Week patrons.
Overall, I had a very pleasant experience at Red Hat. Despite the amount of food I ate, I didn’t feel uncomfortably full at the end of dinner, which I think is an indication of the good quality of the meal. When it gets warmer, I’d be interested in returning either to dine outside for lunch (the regular lunch menu offers several burgers that sound quite delicious) or to visit their rooftop terrace in the evening after work. This was a perfect choice for the WBC’s first official dinner.
The Red Hat Bistro is a great place to go for dinner. The restaurant has a nice bar area where you can sit and relax while you wait for the rest of your party. The biggest thing I love about the restaurant was the location and view of the Hudson River. The scenery of the Hudson River during sunset was a sight to behold.
Pan-Roasted Amish Farm Chicken
The starter I chose was the House-Made Rillettes. The classic french duck and pork blend tasted quite delicious. The main course that I chose was the Pan-Roasted Natural Amish Farm Chicken. I was quite delighted to find that they served both white and dark meat pieces, since I prefer dark meat. The savory mushroom bread pudding tasted delicious and complemented the chicken very well. The dessert I chose was Something Chocolate. The chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream is a good match.
The Red Hat would be a great place to go for a nice family dinner or a date. I mean, who doesn’t like watching big boats float by during the night while munching on yummy food? The food is great and the service is nice, definitely a place I would come back to.
I once had the pleasure of having brunch on the top floor of the Parker Meridian Hotel on 57th Street in Manhattan. Norma’s (the restaurant) has floor to ceiling windows from which you can see the entirety of Central Park. Whether the Red Hat Bistro, sitting directly on the waterfront in downtown Irvington, has better views than that, I’m not sure, but the two are certainly close. My only complaint is that the sunset over the Hudson, followed by the slow and steady appearance of the twinkling lights of the Palisades, distracted from the stimulating, discourse regarding, my use, of, comm,as,. (Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Shelley.)
As for the meal, it was firmly in the category of “good, but not great.” Like the rest of my fellow Clubbers, I ordered off of the restaurant week ($28 prix fixe) menu. I had some difficulty choosing an appetizer, as the rillettes had pork in them, and I’ve never been a fan of goat cheese. So, I got the salad without dressing. It was what you’d expect from a good restaurant: the lettuce was crisp, and the slices of parmesan were just sharp enough to last through the cheese-less bites of the salad, but no longer. The slightly cooked red peppers had a pleasant sweetness, though they were slightly mushier than I’d prefer.
For my main course, I ordered the hangar steak frites, medium-rare, with haricots verts. The steak was tasty enough, but it was fairly chewy for something so lightly cooked, and the red shallot jus was sticky sweet; I gave up on it after two bites. The frites were nice and crispy, but otherwise unremarkable, and the haricots verts were, well, green beans. Again, I didn’t dislike the meal, but were I to come back, I would definitely get the mussels. Those were quite delicious, but I’ll leave it to Sylvia (or is it Sheila?) to describe them, as she was the only Clubber with the foresight to order them.
Something Chocolate
My desert was something chocolate. What thing chocolate you ask? Something chocolate. What thing? Something chocolate. But seriously folks, “something chocolate” is what the Red Hat calls its flourless chocolate cake, which comes with a caramel sauce, vanilla bean ice cream, and three raspberries and mint leaves as a garnish. It was tasty, but a little dry and chewy. The vanilla bean ice cream, which was was good but not remarkable, helped with the former problem, but not the latter. Still, looking around the table, I did not regret my choice, and would get it again were I to return.
All things considered, I give the restaurant a thumbs up. Had my total bill, which included both hot and cold tea and tip, exceeded $40, I might not feel so positive about it. But considering that the view alone was twenty bucks, I’d say I got more than my money’s worth.
The Verdict: As the official legal adviser to the WBC, it is my opinion that the benefits of Red Hat exceed the potential liabilities.
The weather turned out to be beautiful on Thursday. All weather reports from the day before said there was going to be rain for the night of our first Westchester Breakfast Club dinner. Yet, as we drove over the train tracks in Irvington to the Red Hat Bistro and laid our eyes on the water of the Hudson, we could see that the weathermen were wrong. It was so clear, we could actually see Rockland from the water front!
We had all agreed to dress a little better than normal, so photos were apparently in order. Out came the camera, but it was quickly holstered as Shelley parked her car. We then proceeded to search for the main entrance to the restaurant. The surroundings looked like an old factory site, and Red Hat is installed in what seemed to be the old warehouse; it has red brick walls with old factory-style windows. This gave the establishment a nice feel to it. We were excited.
We waited at the bar for the rest of our party to arrive. Once they were there, we all moseyed over to our table, which was centered in the main floor dining room. It was only a few steps away, but it was a nice walk. Menus were dealt out like cards. The first and bigger menu was the regular menu. We didn’t even look at it. The second was the smaller restaurant week menu. The choices were plenty and all sounded great. I had to settle on the Goat Cheese Salad for the appetizer, the Fluke for the meal, and the Brioche Bread Pudding for dessert.
I am I fan of cheeses. I was introduced to eating various cheeses in college and then I couldn’t stop. This goat cheese that lay atop a small salad was delicious. It was soft and slightly salty. It was baked slightly to form a crust, which added a layer of texture. The whole thing blended well with the small salad underneath, which was lightly tossed with vinegar and oil. It was not overpowering, but it did have a flavor that made you take notice.
After some light conversation, which was probably loud and inappropriate at times, the main meal came out. The fluke was pan seared with salt and pepper and probably other seasonings. It was served with a side of green beans and seasoned new potatoes. I wish I had fries like the other meals, but I can’t always get what I want. But if I try sometimes, I get what I need, and Shelley allowed me to sample some of her fries. The fish was well cooked and the potatoes were filling. The green beans were drenched in butter. I would have liked them to not be.
Coconut Milk Brioche Bread Pudding
Dessert for me consisted of two trapezoids of Brioche bread pudding in coconut milk. Between them was a mango sorbet. I think there was a mango puree underneath, but it could have just been melted mango sorbet. This was my favorite part of my meal. I love mango. I really love mango. And I’ve always enjoyed bread pudding.
All in all, the meal was great. The atmosphere was very nice and the company was good. Restaurant Week allows regular shmoes to eat at fancy restaurants usually reserved for the upper class. Another thing I’ve discussed with other people enjoying the Restaurant Week is the service. Some places apparently treat customers poorly either because they can and have the name so that people will keep coming back, or it’s because they realize you’re ordering off the Restaurant Week menu. Shame on those places treating Restaurant Week patrons poorly. My experience, however, both at the Red Hat Bistro and at 42, was good and I praise both establishments for welcoming everyone to try their food.
The Westchester Breakfast Club took part in the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (HVRW) event and visited the Red Hat Bistro located right on the Hudson River in Irvington, NY. We changed out of our usual breakfast clothes and got all fancied up for dinner. I must say, we clean up nice!
We had reservations at 6:30 and before heading in, we took in some of the gorgeous views of the Hudson. When we finally entered the restaurant, the staff noted our arrival and kindly pointed us towards the bar as we waited for a few stragglers. The bar was a nice horseshoe shaped bar located in an area under the second floor dining area. The ceilings above the bar were low, giving a very cozy feel. I didn’t have any, but the beer selection looked very tempting. They had Captain Lawrence, a great local brew from Pleasantville, but only the IPA, which is not my favorite (IPAs are a touch strong for a lightweight like myself). They also had a few Belgian beers that looked really interesting. As the last remaining member filtered in, a hostess immediately came by and seated us. Usually when the last member arrives, one of us has to find the hostess to let her know, but they were pretty good and were able to figure it out. One point for Red Hat!
The table we were seated at was the center table of the dining area on the first floor. It was a large open area with floor-to-ceiling windows and magnificent views of the Hudson River, only a stones throw away. Ours was a circular table, and even though it looked small, we all fit around quite comfortably.
Goat Cheese Beignet
I started with the crispy goat cheese beignet on top of a very nice salad that consisted of roasted beets, smoked applewood bacon, greens, and a shallot-caraway vinaigrette. The goat cheese was very good. Not over poweringly goaty, but it complemented the salad very well without making me feel like I just ate a glob of cheese. There wasn’t a lot of the smoked applewood bacon, which was wise. Each piece was incredibly flavorful, so too much would have overpowered the salad.
For my main course, I was in between Moules Frites Aux le Halles, which were Prince Edward Island mussels steamed with garlic, white wine, and shallots and served with frites, or the Pan Roasted Natural Amish Farm Chicken. I really wanted fries and chicken, but then that prompted a comment about going to KFC instead. So I chose the mussels (you can’t get that at KFC!). When the dish arrived, it was covered with a metal cover, and when it was finally unveiled, a huge steaming pile of the most delicious (and good sized) mussels beckoned. It was glorious. It also came with a huge portion of frites which were served in a paper cone with its own stand (like frites should be served). The soup (or liquid? I don’t know what the proper name is) was fragrant and I kind of wished I had some huge chunks of bread to mop it all up. The servers even kept changing my shell discard dish periodically to keep it from overfilling. I was going for a structure, but I guess that would have been messy. The mussels themselves were excellent. The meat was tender and not chewy, and full of flavor. You could taste what they were steamed in, which in some restaurants, is not the case. Sometimes I shy away from shellfish like clams and oysters because I find them too briny, gritty, and chewy. But this was not the case with these mussels. They were good quality, and a good size. Not so tiny you feel like you’re pecking, but the sizes of these made it a meal. There were so many mussels, that I barely put a dent into my frites. And I love frites, so to have so much of them left says a lot about the mussels. The frites that I did have were excellent. Well fried, not greasy, but very well crisped, and thin, but still with a soft inside.
Mussels and Fries
For dessert I had the Something Chocolate, a flourless, Valhrona bittersweet chocolate ganache cake with a salted caramel sauce and a vanilla bean ice cream. The last time I had flourless cake, I found it too sweet and too dense for my liking, but I’ve heard good things about this one, so I thought I’d give it a try. It was so yummy. I was pleased. It was dense, but not overly so. The chocolate was excellent. Rich flavor, but not too sweet. And paired with the ice cream, it was almost like a fancy brownie a la mode, except more cake-like and delicious. I didn’t taste much of the caramel sauce, but i saw it. I think the chocolate just overwhelmed it a bit. The ice cream wasn’t anything different, although I think Breyers vanilla ice cream has more vanilla flavor. Nonetheless, it was ice cream, and still good. I also had a decaf cappuccino. I love it when it comes with a stick of rock sugar. I find they sweeten up the drink perfectly without that last sip filled with whatever sugar didn’t melt. Plus I find it so much more classy than ripping up packets of sugar to dump in. The cappuccino was very good, very smooth, and had lots of foam that stuck around till the very end.
Cappuccino
Besides the food, the rest of the experience complemented the food well. Our waitress was great and efficient, and non-intrusive. We took our time eating and in between each course there was a good break. Conversation was lively and there was no obvious rush for us to leave. The place, with the high ceilings, can get loud, but not in the “I need to scream to be heard” kind of way. Lots of ambient noise, but you can still hear people across the table with ease.
The Czar says: It was an absolutely wonderful dinner. The food was excellent, the ambiance and environment was unique, the service was fabulous, and the company made it the best. A great place for a special occasion or a treat without the uptight pretentious feeling. I am contemplating going back to check out the rooftop terrace over the summer. I seriously haven’t laughed so hard in a long, long time. Thanks guys!
What I Had: Hangar Steak, Duck and Pork Rillettes, Apple Clafouti with Vanilla Ice Cream, Cappucino
What It Cost: $32 plus tax and tip
Worth It: Yes with reservations
The Rating: 4/5
The Details:
Let’s get this out of the way first; The Red Hat Bistro is beautiful. Located right on the Hudson River, the restaurant takes full advantage of its picturesque setting, with huge, beautiful windows that, when we arrived at 6:30, offered wonderful views of the setting sun over the river. In warmer weather, it appears to offer not only outdoor seating, but also rooftop seating, which I imagine to be a simply gorgeous experience on a warm spring evening (and an ideal date setting). Even though the cold forced us to sit inside on the ground floor, the beauty of the setting and of the restaurant as a whole remained apparent.
The best part of the meal was the appetizer; the rillettes–a triangular meat conglomerate (mmm sounds delicious) with the consistency of pate –were outstanding, and the piece of goat cheese beignet I stole from Sylvia was crispy and wonderful. The steak looked beautiful, but really had nothing to distinguish it from any other moderately priced steak I’ve ever had. The fries were perfectly fried but unseasoned and hardly revelatory. The best part of the entree was the haricots verts (green beans, for the Francophobes out there), which were sumptuous perhaps because they were absolutely drenched in butter.
Apple Clafouti
For dessert, I was the only one at the table besides Jeffrey to deviate from the chocolate cake. I had the Apple Clafouti, which is essentially a custardy pastry. It was served warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream perched on top. Again, it was adequate, but not outstanding. The cappucino was served with a rock candy stirrer, but was just a little too luke warm for my taste.
If there’s one overall impression the restaurant left me with, it’s that it plays it safe. The cooking is competent, but unambitious. The seasoning is tepid. I didn’t see a single item on the menu I haven’t seen done better elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong, the food was significantly better than, say, the Patio, to which I gave 3.5 stars in a previous review. Red Hat is of course more than half a star better than the Patio. But when you’re paying 40 dollars all told for your dinner, you grade on a different scale.
The Verdict: For the price, Red Hat Bistro offered fine, but not great food in a beautiful setting. I recommend it as an experience. But I’d probably advise you to try something other than the Hangar Steak.