Westchester Breakfast Club

:a_Top:

 

19 Main Street

Tarrytown NY 10591

(914) 703-6511 (Map)

 

Don’t be fooled by the name or the red and white striped awning; Mint Premium Foods in Tarrytown is not a candy shop. Instead, it’s a gourmet food shop / restaurant. Since relocating to a larger space on Main Street, its offerings have been expanded. A big chalkboard outside that says “Now serving breakfast and dinner” was all the WBC needed to see to convince us to give Mint’s breakfast a try.

Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:, :jump_to_Jeff:, :jump_to_Shelley:

A note from the breakfast czar: The day after this breakfast took place, a realization dawned on me that we had severely undertipped for our breakfast.  I had a feeling something was not right, but did not recognize what it was until I sat down to recount the course of the breakfast. We split the bill, two of us gave cash and asked the waiter to put the rest on the third person’s credit card. But we neglected to tell him that we had included tip money in the cash portion of our payment. It was a snafu. I felt terrible, and was really unsure how to rectify the situation (Drop off an envelope of cash?  Try again? Lunch with makeup tip?).  Mint is a place I do really enjoy going to for lunch and the renovated interior is really very charming.  I sincerely apologize for our miscalculated tip.  I am not the brightest bulb in the bunch, and this is one of the occasions that serves as a prime example.

:a_Sylvia:

Anyone familiar with Tarrytown will remember Mint as that corner store with the red and white striped awning that was bursting at the seams with all kinds of foodie knick knacks and a sample of the honey covered pecans along with a warm hello from the proprietor.  It was always a treat to go inside and order up a little lunch.  The turkey, apple, and brie sandwich was always divine, and the lentil soup, just plain awesome.  I have always heard great things about their rotisserie chicken, but alas, too much food for a single girl like me.

Since my membership at the Tarrytown YMCA was terminated, my visits to Tarrytown have diminished to the occasional stop in for coffee.  And even coffee visits have become less frequent due to my lack of running on weekends.

Then just last Friday as I finished up a run in the nearby Rockefeller Preserve, I made a serendipitous trip out to Tarrytown to pick up a hot beverage and to see what Tarrytown has been up to these days.

So, imagine my delightful surprise to see that Mint now occupies a storefront across the street from its original corner location!  I was even more excited when I saw the sign out front proclaiming that they also now serve breakfast and dinner!

The new space is charming, with a few small tables and one large community table in the center of the dining room in the back.  I love the idea of a community table.  Communal dining is becoming increasingly popular, much to my delight.  Le Pain Quotidian does it.  Chinese restaurants do it a lot, especially during busy dim sum times.  I’ve done it in Hong Kong, and London.  The things you hear from the conversations of the diners next to you are always a lot of fun.

My expectations were now set pretty high.  Lovely space, great vibe, the food and service has to follow suit right?

This is where it starts to falter.  Maybe it was because they have only been open a month, and are therefore very new to the game of sit down dining.  I really hope so, because I really want them to figure it out so I can come back in six months to a radically different experience.

A few pointers, Mint:

Have a printed menu for diners to peruse on their own.  Having our waiter read to us from his crumpled handwritten menu was frustrating.  First, it can be hard to hear him depending on where he is, and where you are sitting.  I cannot remember everything he says, so basically I have to decide if I want the thing with the goat cheese or the waffles because that was all I could remember.

A printed menu would also have prices listed.  Let me be the person to decide if an omelette is worth $13.95 or if I should have the waffles at whatever price they were.  I shouldn’t have to find out how much I am shelling out at the end of the meal.

The place was not busting at the seams.  I understand there was only one waiter working all the tables, but his rushed behavior made me feel unsettled.  Plus his rushing also left a lot of water puddles on the table from rapid water pouring into the glasses, and coffee cups with spilled coffee stains all over the sides of the cups.  Mind you, the cups were filled not even half way.

The omelette I received, while it was good, was not what I expected at all.  It was good, but not very substantial.  It felt minimalistic.  I did, however, really enjoy the potato, carrot, and beet combination and salad that came with it.  I just wish there were more of it, and that it was mentioned on the menu. (Did he mention it?  I can’t remember)

Being the WBC we had to have dessert.  Jeff and I shared a piece of Baklava.  This baklava cost a whopping $6.50.  Yes, $6.50 for a triangle of baklava.  I can get four squares which would equate to two of these triangles for $4.50 at the Turkish Cuisine Westchester in White Plains, and I enjoy theirs a lot.

The funny thing is, I had sat there and defended Mint and all the quirks to my fellow WBC-ers.  The space is really nice, perfect for a meal with friends or even a date.  They are new to the block, so they were probably still settling in and getting used to everything.  The food is fresh and I would say, pretty good.

Then came the bill, and that did not leave a good parting impression.

The czar says:  I will go back, but mostly only for lunch, and for the time being, to-go.  Not a bad place to have a nice leisurely lunch by oneself (or with a friend), eventually (hopefully).

:back_to_Top:

 

:a_Jeff:

There used to be this small shop in Tarrytown, right on the Main Street.  They sold foreign cheeses and really delicious sandwiches among other various hard to find, or even know about, items.  One item I always loved were the candied pecans.  The store owner would offer samples to anyone who would venture into his shop.  The actual shop itself was small and difficult to maneuver around in, which added to its charm.  I loved going in and just looking around.  I’d order a sandwich every once in a while, which was always delicious.

Then they decided to move across the street.

Across the street, Mint got a larger location.  A much larger location.  There’s more than enough room for its original shoppe, as well as a seating area so that you can sit down for some breakfast or lunch.  The tables are nice.  There’s a really big one in the middle and a bunch of smaller ones around the perimeter.  The decor is actually rather nice.  The service leaves much to be desired.  The morning we visited, there were only two people working the entire seating area.  Mint should really consider hiring another waiter or at least a dedicated bus boy, especially on weekends.  The other issue that was the fact that the menu was dictated.  This wouldn’t be an issue if your server knew the information off the top of his head off.  The establishment should invest in a printer.  Nothing fancy.  Just something that can print out a few menus and maybe one for the door.

Food-wise, the food tasted good.  The coffee was good, I guess.  I only got one cup.  There were no refills; again, the lack of personnel may have attributed to this.  Then comes my biggest gripe.  The price.  My meal came out to almost 20 dollars.  For what?  The omelette I  had was small and thin, albeit good.  It wasn’t 14 dollars good.  And again, the coffee service wasn’t worth whatever I paid for it.

All in all, Mint is probably still a good novelty food items store.  They do have a wide variety of hard-to-find cheeses.  I’d avoid the dining room, at least until they can get their routine together and hopefully drop the prices to match what they’re serving.

:back_to_Top:

:a_Shelley:
I really wanted to love Mint’s breakfast. Mint has been a much-raved about establishment in Tarrytown for years, but somehow I’d never paid it a visit (neither at its old small location nor its new larger space). It’s received wonderful reviews, both in print and by word of mouth. I will say that before even stepping inside, I was charmed already by the red and white striped awning above the front door. Inside was a perfect mix between a gourmet food shop and an open, airy, comfortable restaurant. The first thing you spot upon entering is a counter filled with intriguing-looking cheeses. We walked past the main counter and waited to be seated. There are a number of small tables for two people. As we were a party of three, we were led to the long communal table toward the back. There was a group of people at one end, so we sat at the other end.

If I were to base this review on atmosphere alone, then I’d have nothing but great things to say about Mint.

But…

Here’s my first point of contention. There are no set menus for breakfast (at least not yet, who knows if there will be down the road). So, the waiter came over and just read us a handwritten list of the day’s choices (Belgian waffles, two types of Spanish omelettes, and a regular omelette for which you could pick your own offerings, and a couple of soup selections). This may strike some as charming; however, since there are no set menus, the prices of the breakfast choices remain a mystery (at least until you get your bill; more on that later). Now, there was one chalkboard near the front of the dining area which mentioned an omelette and the waffles, but again, no prices. If Mint is not going to have regular set breakfast menus, then I would stronlgy recommend that they hang a larger chalkboard on one of the walls in the dining area, prominently located, that would list all of the meal offerings for a particular day along with the prices.

I chose a regular omelette with cheddar, peppers, and ham. Unfortunately, this omelette fell way short of my expectations. I wouldn’t even call it an omelette so much as egg pizza. I say this because instead of a fluffy omelette with the ingredients enveloped in the middle, what was on my plate was a thin, flat layer of egg with all of the ingredients smushed on the top, like a pizza. Take a look for yourself. I can’t even call it a fritatta because even fritattas have more bulk to them, are more substantial.  I was disappointed. There was too much cheese, so the flavor of cheddar overwhelmed the other ingredients. There was a very small portion of mixed greens as well as a beet/potato medly on the side of the plate. I wasn’t a fan of the potato/beet mix. The potatoes had been mixed with the beets, dying them red and making it hard to visually distinguish the potatoes from the beets.

Finally, what disappointed me about this omelette was the price. It cost $13.95. Way too steep for what it was. An unsatisfactory meal at a reasonable price is one thing; that can be tolerated. But an unsatisfactory meal at an unreasonably, unnecessarily elevated price? That’s inexcusable. As a point of reference, I was thinking back on the various omelettes I’ve had over the years, and I kept going back to Le Grainne Cafe as my favorite. That was a true omelette, hearty, fluffy, with the ingredients well distributed and folded in; it came with a generous portion of mixed greens and a generous portion of potatoes. And how much did that extraordinary omelette at Le Grainne Cafe cost? Only $10. And remember that Le Grainne is in Manhattan. And the omelette still cost only $10. (You can revisit our Le Grainne experience here: http://www.westchesterbreakfastclub.com/blog/2011/09/17/le-grainne-cafe/.)

Dessert at Mint was also inexcusably expensive. I got a napoleon, which was $6.50. It was tasty, but it wasn’t extraordinary. It was a completely average and pedestrian napoleon, and it was in no way worth $6.50.

So, despite the nice atmosphere and big cheeses, and despite the fact that everyone else in the world and their mother seems to love Mint, there’s no way I can recommend going there for breakfast given the disappointing quality of the food that I got and the inexcusably high prices for said food. No way around it, Mint is overcharging. Now, I’ve heard great things about the fresh rotisserie chickens and the sandwiches. And maybe, just maybe, it’s the case that Mint should stick to the things that it does best, the foods it has gained popularity for over the years, instead of branching out to a meal (breakfast) that just may not be its forte.

My first experience at Mint has soured me. I won’t say I’ll never go back, but because of the inflated prices (in a time when for many people every penny counts) and my disappointing breakfast, I’m not in a hurry to return.

:back_to_Top: