Westchester Breakfast Club

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337 South Riverside Avenue
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520-2924
(914) 862-0873 (map)

Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:, :jump_to_Pat:, :jump_to_Shelley:, :jump_to_Reid:

:a_Sylvia:

Back into the swing of things we go!

For whatever reason, this weekend I felt like we needed to go to Croton for breakfast. We had to have breakfast on Saturday since I was volunteering for the Toughman Triathlon all day Sunday. So, who serves breakfast on a Saturday in Croton that we haven’t been to yet? Anton’s, that’s who!

The space is lit very well, and is bright and cheery, which made me happy after the dreary days and endless rain we had been getting for the past week. The breakfast menu had the basic breakfast offerings: eggs, omelets, French toast, pancakes and such. It seemed familiar, perhaps because it’s owned by the same people who own the Patio!

I ended up with the Grecian wrap (spinach, tomato, feta, and egg in a wrap) and a short stack of banana walnut pancakes (couldn’t resist) and a cup of coffee to wash it all down. Coffee automatically came with what was either whole milk or half and half (I didn’t bother trying to figure it out, whatever it was, straight into the coffee it went). I usually would investigate the contents of the creamer presented and request skim milk, but after a couple of weeks in the Pacific Northwest, where only half and half goes in coffee, I forgot that back in New York I can be fussy. (Seriously, on the coffee counters there, even in Starbucks, there is only one carafe, half and half. Here on the east coast there is non-fat, 2%, whole, soy, and half and half…it gets crowded on that counter.)

I quite enjoyed the wrap. It was a little watery, mostly because of the spinach, but it didn’t fall apart. I couldn’t tell at first if the spinach was the frozen or fresh variety, but if I had to bet, I’d say frozen. The feta cheese was distributed well and gave the wrap a nice saltiness to it without going overboard. The homefries that came with the wrap were portioned to my liking, and looked nice and crisp. Jeff ate mine. The pancakes were huge, and a short stack consisted of two. The bananas were sliced and sprinkled over the pancakes while it was on the griddle. It was good, a little gummy, but good enough for me to finish the whole thing on top of my wrap.

One thing I do have to note, Anton’s bakes muffins on site. How do I know? In the midst of our meal, I watched a person (I assume the owner) come out of the kitchen with a muffin tin full of fresh, hot muffins and place it on a small table near the door. The smell of the muffins that wafted over to the table was faint, but I’m like a highly trained detection dog when it comes to the smell of anything freshly baked with cinnamon in it.

The czar says: I’d go back to Anton’s for a leisurely breakfast with a friend. It’s a great diner alternative. The offerings are generic, but everyone can find something they would like.

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:a_Pat:

What I Had: Blueberry pancakes

What It Cost: A fair price that I can’t remember since I’m writing this well after the fact

Worth It?: Probably

The Rating: I don’t remember well enough, let’s just say 3/5

The Details: Readers, in the six days since I ate at Anton’s, I’ve moved halfway across the country. I hardly remember a thing about it. Frankly, I’m lucky I remember my own name after this whirlwind week that saw me start a new job, drive 1,200 miles, see a gazillion apartments, and walk out of two car dealerships unwilling to be ripped off. As I recall, the pancakes and bacon were totally fine, but the syrup was not authentic maple.

On a personal note (not that anything on this blog isn’t a personal note) my move to the Twin cities obviously means I will no longer be a regular member of the WBC (though I will continue to supply real maple syrup advocacy, untimely reviews, and too many parentheticals from time to time). What I’ve valued most about the WBC was that it gave me an excuse to spend weekend mornings with some of the most wonderful friends a guy could ever want. That’ll stick with me longer than the best maple syrup ever could (but man, the Clinton Street Baking Company was awesome).

The Bottom Line: Friends > pancakes.

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:a_Shelley:

I surprised myself this morning. In what is surely a WBC first, I not only arrived first at Anton’s in Croton, but I arrived early. Very early. 15 minutes early. Which only serves to prove what we’ve long suspected: the closer you live to an establishment, the later you’ll show up. Live farther away, and you’ll arrive punctually.

So, as I waited for my Ossining friends to arrive (Ossining being a mere 5 minutes from Croton), I had time to soak in the atmosphere at Anton’s. And start writing this review (I don’t usually travel with my laptop, but today was an exception). Anton’s is large and airy, with ample breathing room between tables. The color scheme is a soothing beige/terra cotta color. From my table, I had a lovely view out the front glass doors of the Lukoil across the street. That is until a man with his two sons sat in the table by the glass doors, thus partially obstructing my Lukoil view. Oh well, the best things in life can’t last forever.

My companions finally arrived at 10:02. Two minutes late. And I mocked everyone because while I got a “real” menu (laminated, bound), they just got stapled paper menus. Ha! (I guess I really shouldn’t mock my friends.)

I have to say, this was a very extensive breakfast menu. Five full pages of delectable breakfast items. In addition to a list of traditional omelets, there’s a selection of gourmet omelettes. The solid breakfast offerings were explained when we realized that Anton’s is owned by someone affiliated with The Patio in Briarcliff, which has always been a reliable breakfast destination for the WBC. I’m a little fuzzy on the details, whether the owner of Anton’s is still currently the owner of the Patio or if he used to be the owner of the Patio. WBC readers, if you know the answer, let me know!

This morning I settled on a Spanish omelette (potatoes, onions, and chorizo sausage). I also splurged and ordered some waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for the table to share. When my omelette arrived, it looked a bit more like a frittata than an omelette. It was a perfect circle and completely filled my plate, and the ingredients were completely cooked inside, not a stray piece of chorizo or potato was to be seen sticking out of the omritta (or omelitta, or fromelette, or frittelette. What’s your favorite combination of the words “omelette” and “frittata”?) My side of wheat toast came pre-buttered. Restaurants: it’s better to serve toast to customers dry and let them butter (or not butter) to their own satisfaction. Oh well. I had expected my omelette to come with homefries, but it didn’t, perhaps because there were already potatoes contained within the omelette. I’m not really sure, I didn’t press the issue because the waffles would provide plenty of calories; no need for homefries. The waffles were not served as I would have expected them. Instead of waffles smothered in strawberries and whipped cream (maybe I’ve been influenced by IHOP commercials), we were brought two plates: one with plain waffles, and another plate with strawberries and what was a pretty puny dollup of whipped cream. So puny, in fact, that I asked our waiter to bring us more whipped cream. There simply wasn’t enough to go around the table. The small bowl of whipped cream that the waiter brought was much better.

Overall everything was tasty, fresh, well-cooked, and very reasonably priced. Nothing earth shattering, but at the end of the meal I was satisfied. Anton’s provides a good variety of breakfast meals sure to satisfy any hungry breakfaster in the Croton area.

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:a_Reid:

The Case: Anton’s Cafe v. The Westchester Breakfast Club

The Venue: On top of the high hill in Croton.

The Facts: Towards the end of our breakfast, a man came over to our table to talk to Pat. Apparently, the man recognized Pat from the man’s days as owner of the Patio, an establishment in Briarcliff which we’ve written about in these pages. It made me understand that the similarities between the Patio and Anton’s were not accidental. I ordered a bacon and egg on a roll, and a short stack of blueberry pancakes. They were solid, if unspectacular.

The Verdict: Not a bad change of pace, but it’s not doing anything the Patio doesn’t.

 

 

 

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