Battle of the Burgers
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The rebirth of downtown White Plains has spurred a burger war – with three burger joints now open within walking distance of each other. Scarsdale High School senior Daniel Jureller set out to sample them all and to determine who had the tastiest burger.
Here is what he learned: We began our expedition at Cheeburger Cheeburger on Mamaroneck Avenue. We were instantly seated in the 1950’s-styled restaurant, with pressed tin walls, neon lights and jukeboxes. If the atmosphere is not enough to keep you busy while you wait for your order, try the batch of trivia cards you’ll find on the table. I ordered the original cheeseburger with French fries and an Oreo milkshake. The burger was grilled to perfection and tasty, and made for a perfect meal when coupled with the golden brown French fries topped with original seasoning. I also enjoyed the Oreo milkshake, which I selected from a choice of 74 different flavors of ice cream! For bigger eaters, Cheeburger offers a one-pound burger challenge –eat one of these giant stuffed hamburgers and you can earn yourself a place on the restaurant’s “wall of fame”. You can customize your cheeburger, chicken sandwich, or grilled cheese sandwich with special toppings – there are over 50 from which to choose -- including lettuce, A1 Steak Sauce, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, artichoke hearts and pepperoni. And for those who prefer salad, Cheeburger has a full salad bar where many of these same toppings are available as well. Prices are reasonable and the overall experience was great.
My next stop was The Westchester Burger Company on Westchester Avenue. Parking was tricky but we found a spot in the lot behind the restaurant and were told it’s also okay to park at Stop & Shop next door. With a bit of a fancier touch, The Westchester Burger is a step up from your average burger place. Don’t be put off by the tight seating – the sacrifice in ambience is justified by the food. After looking at the menu, I decided to order the “Entourage”, a hamburger sandwiched between two grilled cheese buns. Although it was a lot to take down, it was pretty good, and came with a side of small shoestring fries. Though we were stuffed after the burgers, we couldn’t resist the Cinnabon sundae for dessert that we ate all too quickly. Overall the service at Westchester Burger was good, prices were higher than Cheeburger, Cheeburger but well worth it.
The last stop was Five Guys on Main Street, recently opened next to Citi Center. Five Guys functions a little differently than your average burger spot. Upon entering the store, customers wait in line to order from a menu that is more limited than those at the other two restaurants. I ordered a burger with lettuce, tomato, and onions and a side of Cajun fries. After you place your order and pay, you have to try and find a seat – which can be a challenge because the place is busy. When your food is ready, they call your number and it’s self serve. If you decide to eat there rather than take out your food there are free boxes of peanuts to eat while you wait. Although the burgers are not as large as Cheeburgers or the Westchester Burger Company, they are densely packed and filling. The food was good, but probably not good for you as I could see the grease from the burgers and the fries seeping through the brown bag. Five Guys is good for a fast meal and the process is simple. I would go back just to have another order of the Cajun fries.
Who had the tastiest burger? For taste, service, atmosphere, and pricing, my favorite burger spot hands down is Cheeburger Cheeburger. Try it for a fun, casual lunch or a reasonably priced dinner with friends or family.
Cheeburger Cheeburger
84 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
(914) 437-7537
Westchester Burger Company
106 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
(914) 358-9399
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
240 Main Street
White Plains, NY 10601
(914) 422-3483
Contributor Daniel Jureller is a senior at Scarsdale High School, headed to Lafayette College in the fall. He is looking forward to studying English and education.
Chocolate Louboutin's and Cocoa Roaches for Valentine's Day
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When Scarsdale chocolatier Sabrina Berkowitz got an email from the Bronx Zoo asking her to make chocolate roaches for Valentine's Day she thought it was a joke. But when she called back the zoo, she found out that they meant business. They explained that last year thousands of hopeless romantics named real live Madagascar hissing cockroaches after their favorite loved ones, “ex,” or mother-in-law. This year, they were offering the naming opportunity again but also selling “cocoa-roaches,” -- genuine artisanal 100 percent solid dark chocolate likenesses of a Madagascar hissing cockroaches, which are the world’s largest member of the roach family. Berkowitz was asked to create the chocolate roaches for the Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation Society.
She set to work creating a mold and painting the sample roach. The Society loved her design and contracted with her to move forward. Now as Valentine’s Day nears, Berkowitz and her roaches have become an overnight sensation. On February 7, the roaches were featured on “Live! with Kelly” and Berkowitz was also interviewed by Amy Eddings on WNYC radio. To date, over 50 articles have been published about this very unique Valentine’s gift.
Berkowitz started her career as a computer programmer – but after taking a Chocolate course at the French Culinary Institute she realized she had found her passion. Within two months of completing this course, she quit her job and started the Chocolate Box NYC in 2008.
She uses all of her own recipes and creates them with specific people in mind.
For instance, the Chai Spice gives a nod to her Indian background and the Hookup, consisting of fresh vanilla bean and rose petals was created for a friend who arranges her “late night clubbing dates with her husband.” The fudge is made from a recipe that dates back to grandmother.
The chocolate she makes contains no preservatives or artificial ingredients. Though prices remain reasonable, Berkowitz uses the same chocolate as some of the most well known chocolatiers in New York, plus fresh ingredients and purees imported from France. Each item is handmade and Berkowtiz does it all, from packaging to delivering to marketing and cleanup.
Berkowitz creates an entire line of chocolate, perfect for Valentine’s gifts. Check out her chocolate boxes, chocolate munchies and elegant line of chocolate shoes at: https://thechocolateboxnyc.com/ . To order, contact her at: Sabrina@thechocolateboxnyc.com or by phone at 646-413-3999.
Cedar Street Grill, Andy's Pure Food and The Candlelight Inn
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Scarsdale10583 readers are eating around the county and forwarding their comments and photos to the site. Here is where you were last week! Andy’s Pure Food, offering healthy fare and juice cleanses is now open in the Golden Horseshoe Shopping Center in Scarsdale. This is the second location for Andy’s which also runs a restaurant on Purchase Street in Rye. Scarsdale10583 intern Caroline Rodman stopped in to check out Andy’s and here is what she found:
Conveniently located, this restaurant is perfect for a grab and go meal that is not only delicious, but also nutritious! All of the food my friend, Matthew Kayle, and I tasted was extremely healthy, but at the same time had very strong flavors. The veggie burger made with the grain, quinoa, tomato, onion, cheese and sunflower sprouts was really tasty. There is a wide assortment of salad ingredients to mix and match, including pea pods, bok choy, broccoli, leeks, cabbage, kale, slaw and more. Also available are variety of soups. They have butternut squash soup, carrot ginger soup, cauliflower soup, and many more, all at just $4.95. Each meal comes with a free Poland Spring water bottle, but it’s tempting to forego it, since they offer so many creative drinks. Coconut water, fresh right out of a coconut, along with various fresh juices, and smoothies are available. Because there are so many appealing options, it was nice to have a
Has anyone tried the juice cleanse? If so, let us know how it went. Email your experience to scarsdalecomments@gmail.com or post a comment below.
Andy’s Pure Food
1096 Wilmot Road
Scarsdale, NY 10580
(914) 967-2332
Scarsdale’s Michelle Levine drove to the other side of the county to try Cedar Street Grill in Dobbs Ferry. She says, “The river towns have many small, affordable neighborhood restaurants with above average food; Harpers, Tarry Tavern and Bridge View Tavern to name a few.” She is hoping a few will open on our side of the county as well.
She started her meal with a spiced butternut squash soup with toasted pecans and a splash of Vermont maple syrup, which was perfect on a chilly winter night. This was followed by an above average Caesar salad with spicy smoked paprika croutons. A lovely bread basket with warmed breads and an herb dip was also brought to the table.
For entrees, she would recommend the Cedar Street burger with Wisconsin cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions and horseradish aioli.
The half roasted free-range chicken with roasted shallots and wild mushroom pan sauce arrived with crispy skin and very flavorful, delicious sauce. An order of mac and cheese with bacon was requested as a substitute to the fingerling potatoes and she reports that the mac and cheese was “decadent.”
Overall, Levine called Cedar Street Grill, “comfort food at its best …with excellent service, a cozy atmosphere and good music.”
But, she added. “Why can't we have one of these here?”
Cedar Street Grill/23 Cedar Street
914-674-0706
http://www.cedarstreetgrillny.com/
Last, Scarsdale native Andrew Steinthal runs a leading restaurant review site that covers Manhattan and the five boroughs and occasionally Westchester. If you’re looking for a place to eat, check out Immaculate Infatuation for honest, tell-it-like-it-is, no fluff reviews. The site features new finds and old standards and let’s you sort your list by everything imaginable – from neighborhood and cuisine type to other criteria like, “date night”, “people watching”, “laughing at Euros in crazy outfits”, and “wasting your time and money.” The site itself is so entertaining that you really don’t need to bother to go out to eat.
This week, Steinthal returned to the ‘Dale to post a review of The Candlelight Inn where his “romance with eating began.”
Check out the review of Candlelight and spend some time exploring Immaculate Infatuation for more great dining spots in our area.
Welcome Kyo Sushi
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Scarsdale and the surrounding towns are well known for their Asian food, given the area’s high Japanese, Chinese and Korean populations. Let’s face it: much of it is really good. So, I had very high expectations when I went to review Kyo Sushi (pronounced “kee-yo”) in nearby Hartsdale on East Hartsdale Avenue very close to Central Park Avenue. To review the restaurant, I brought along one of my friends and on another occasion, my husband. On both visits, Kyo Sushi surpassed our expectations on many levels. It is a restaurant that you want to frequent, tell your friends about, and do everything you can to help it thrive. Don’t be put off by the parking situation (there is no parking in front of the restaurant and no back lot). There is, however, metered parking across the street and on Wilson Street. Once inside the cozy restaurant, we were greeted by brothers Darryl and Derek Wu, who manage the front of the house and their father, who runs the kitchen. To ensure the freshest fish, the family goes every day to Japanese fish markets in Queens and hand picks only the best.
For starters, Kyo Sushi has several notable salads including the salmon skin salad (shredded lettuce, cucumber topped with crispy salmon skin and tobiko [flying fish roe]) that are worth ordering. Skip the miso soup (unremarkable) and try the spicy tofu soup, which features tofu and seaweed in a house special spicy broth. Worth ordering are the gyoza (pan fried dumplings stuffed with ground vegetables and pork), which were lightly pan fried, crunchy and delicious, according to my husband. (He really wanted to order another plate of them he liked them so much, but I told him no.) I really enjoyed the gluten-free version of the sweet potato roll that Darryl prepared for me using boiled sweet potato instead of the tempura preparation.
Kyo Sushi runs a bento box lunch special from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm that includes favorites such as curry chicken, tonkatsu (breaded and deep fried pork 
cutlet), salmon teriyaki and unagi don (eel). On the lighter side, the restaurant runs a sushi roll lunch special: 2 rolls @ $7.95 and 3 rolls @ $10.95, which is a good value. Knowing the challenge customers face eating gluten free at Japanese restaurants, Kyo Sushi stocks gluten-free soy sauce and seaweed and soon will be carrying a gluten-free tempura batter, allowing them to make most menu items gluten free. Brown rice is always available. Kyo Sushi has a long list of signature rolls including the tiger roll (crabmeat, avocado, tobiko inside and shrimp tempura outside with a spicy mayo sauce) and just in time for Valentine’s Day, the valentine roll (heart shaped roll served with crab salad and avocado inside, tuna on top). According to Darryl, the tiger roll is the restaurant’s most popular. My friend ordered it and not only was it a true work of art (we wanted to take a picture), it was delicious. On another visit, my husband tried the inferno roll (smoked salmon, shrimp, crabmeat, apple, tempura crumbs and tobiko topped with their spicy sweet sauce) and would have finished the whole plate had I not encouraged him to take some home for the next day. The beef teriyaki, which is both marinated and broiled in teriyaki sauce, was flavorful, but needed some vegetables to round out the plate. The Kyo fried rice was delicious and well seasoned, with large pieces of chicken, shrimp and vegetables. Be forewarned: portions are large and you’ll want to share. Next time and diet permitting we plan to try the cheesecake tempura and the Japanese ice cream (ginger sound intriguing) and sample the various sakes offerings.
As an aside, Kyo Sushi provides Japanese lunches for Greenacres Elementary School in Scarsdale and as a good neighbor, participates in fundraising events to give back to the community. Follow Kyo Sushi on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kyotown) for specials and promotions. For busy commuters, Kyo Sushi will deliver your order curbside, so no need to park your car. Kyo Sushi 17 East Hartsdale Avenue Hartsdale, NY 10530 (914) 682-6688. Free delivery (min $15) Kyosushitown.com . Beer and wine license. Metered parking across the street and on Wilson.
Fine Thai in Tuckahoe
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When I told a friend I was going to a new Thai place in Tuckahoe her eyes lit up. “Can we join you,” she asked? She called back to say her son decided to come along and then another couple chimed in. Suddenly our group of three had grown into a party of eight. While Thai food was popular here years ago, it's now often called Asian Fusion - - and when eating at one of the many local Pan Asian spots, you never know if you’ll be eating sushi, Chinese or tempura. However, Aries Fine Thai Cuisine in Tuckahoe is all-Thai – like the Thai food you remember from the good old days.
It wasn’t easy to find Aries – it’s tucked under the bridge near the station in Tuckahoe, and due to a closed street, we parked on the east side of the tracks and traversed the bridge to get there. The restaurant is spacious, featuring huge fish tanks filled with colorful tropical fish. The decor looks retro and the bar is dark for now as Aries has no liquor license. It’s BYOB – but as there’s no corkage fee, it turns out to be a good deal for customers.
The menu is expansive and luckily our large table of eight afforded us the chance to sample a good deal of their selections.
The appetizer list is appetizing indeed. Unable to select which items to order, we practically ordered them all. Notable were the golden curry puffs, which were filled with chicken, potatoes, and onion spiced with curry as well as the crispy Thai calamari, fried rings of calamari served with a spicy mayonnaise dipping sauce. My favorite was the steamed Thai dumplings, which were minced chicken, shallots, and peanuts wrapped in a steamed rice noodle. We also shared the summer rolls, Aries version of crispy Thai “spring rolls” packed with carrots, lettuce, mint, and basil, accompanied by tamarind sauce. Don’t forget the soup. The Tom Ka Kai or coconut soup with chicken, and lemon grass comes in a bowl that is big enough to share and was steamy and flavorful.
No Thai meal is complete without pad Thai, and Aries version comes with a choice of vegetable, pork, chicken, beef or shrimp. These soft noodles, stir fried with egg, bean curd, bean sprouts and peanuts was enough for dinner itself.
Another dish that featured coconut milk was the Massaman curry with chicken, sweet onions and potatoes, served boiling in it own little hot pot. The curry can be made as a mild or as hot as you like – and this one is good comfort food for a cold night.
From the special menu, we opted for the grilled whole fish, served with scallions, ginger, soy, rice and vegetables. If you don’t mind looking at the head and the tail, go for the red snapper, which was moist and tasty. Someone at the table even ordered frogs legs with spicy basil – don’t ask me how it was because frogs are not my thing!
The waiter also insisted that we try the sticky rice pictured here. And as if that wasn’t enough, we sampled two desserts, a fried ice cream with raspberry sauce that was quickly devoured as well as sticky rice with sweet mango, Aries version of rice pudding.
The service was fast and the staff is eager to please. Given the amount of food we consumed, prices seemed very reasonable. Let the waiter
know that you read about them on Scarsdale10583 and they are sure to give you a warm welcome.
Aries Fine Thai Cuisine
90 Yonkers AvenueTuckahoe, NY 10707
www.ariesfinethaicuisine.com
914-771-8200
