Mint: Exotic Flavors Close to Home

I’ve got Mint on my mind – and not the weed that seems to have taken over my garden. I’m talking about Mint Premium Foods, the cheese and gourmet shop, now restaurant, on Main Street in Tarrytown. I had been to an event catered by Mint at the Jacob Burns Film Center and from the hordes around the tables I could tell they were serving something special -- so when I heard that Mint had moved and expanded I was eager to check it out.

Mint is now located in a large loft-like space on Main Street that has been refurbished to look more like Soho than Westchester. With a pressed tin ceiling, rich wood floors and a communal table, the space is immediately inviting.

Upfront you’ll find the walls lined with shelves of delicacies for sale and large refrigerator cases filled with tempting cheese, salads and charcuterie. Further back there’s ample space for dining at handcrafted tables that are made from poplar trees from the nearby Rockefeller estate.

The inspiration behind Mint comes from owner Hassan Jarane who hails from Morocco and serves up dishes influenced by his home

A selection of Mint appetizers

Throughout the meal, the waiter treated us to little extras like olives, dried vanilla-infused cherries and a selection of cheeses and charcuterie.

But Mint offers more than small bites – their full dinner menu provided many tempting options. To start, there are mussels in saffron beer broth or the Mint Salad with romaine, tomatoes, olives, feta and house vinaigrette. We also thought the roasted beets with goat cheese and jumbo lump crabmeat sale with baby arugula and corn sounded good too!

For the main course there’s Moroccan chicken over a bed of orzo, baby back ribs with polenta and cole slaw, duck confit with caramelized apple and roasted beets, warm tuna nicoise on mixed greens with a fried egg and caviar, swordfish with a jerk sauce over potato gratin and sautéed spinach and more. We tried the evening’s special, which was sea bass encrusted in potatoes as well as the Jambalaya rice with chicken, Andouille sausage and crab and both were memorable.

Cheese and Charcuterie

Sadly we only got to taste a little of what’s on the menu at Mint, and that’s why we’ll be going back soon.

Visit them yourself and let us know what you tried.

Mint Premium Foods
19 Main Street
Tarrytown, NY
914-703-6511
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 10 p for lunch and dinner

Jambalaya with Andouille sausage, crab and chicken

Potato encrusted sea bass