ODO: The Cuisine of Abruzzo in Tuckahoe
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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When I ventured south this weekend and found an inviting storefront restaurant in Tuckahoe I wondered why I hadn’t heard about it earlier. Was it new? Apparently it had opened three years ago and escaped my notice. Well better late than never! We were pleased to find friendly service, the freshest ingredients and home cooking at ODO, an innovative and young offering to the dining scene in lower Westchester.
We booked a table at 6:45 on a Saturday and felt lucky to score one of the last tables for the earlier dinner seating. The restaurant is not large but in addition to tables has ample seating at the bar, where many were enjoying their meals.
Our helpful, informed and welcoming server arrived speedily with our menus and provided a road map to ordering off the staged menu.
But first, drinks! There’s a nice variety of Italian red and white wines along with “bubbly “Frizzantes” and “Birras.” You can order the wine by the glass or by the bottle and they are happy to let you taste first. We considered Trebbiano and Gavi from the “Bianco” list and also noted the Montelpuciano Riserva, Nero D’Avola and a Super Tuscan from the “Rossos,” Also on the menu are 10 original cocktails that were really tempting.
The menu is divided into “Sputino” (light snacks), Starters, Pastas and Mains. Our waiter strongly recommended the Scarpetta, telling us it was house baked focaccia accompanied by a dipping sauce made with cream, butter, garlic, shallots, anchovies, capers and white wine. He claimed it pretty much starts the meal at every table. It was a good tip, and it proved hard not to fill up on the warm, crusty bread before the dinner arrived.
From the list of salads, we ordered the Bodega Salad, which is thinly sliced iceberg lettuce mixed with finely sliced prosciutto cotto and pecorino cheese in a creamy dressing. We recommend you split the generous portion with your companions.
There are five pasta selections on the menu and there were a bunch of specials as well. We had a hard time deciding between the Ragu Abruzzese, which is pasta in a tomato sauce with lamb, beef and pork and the Timballo, a lasagna made with crepes rather than pasta sheets. This weekend there were a variety of gnocchi preparations and we went for a house made gnocchi with tomato sauce and parmesan.
From the main courses, the Pollo Di Casa was a sumptuous roast chicken, again served with a white sauce and there was a cod special served over sauteed vegetables that looked delicious as well.
What came through in every dish was the fresh preparation in the open kitchen we could see behind the bar – and the artisanal ingredients.
The open floor plan, high ceilings and candlelight made it feel like you had stopped by a good friend’s place for dinner and we will be visiting again soon.
ODO
72 Main Street
Tuckahoe, NY
914-222-9248
Open:
Tuesday - Thursday 5 PM - 10 PM
Friday - Saturday 5 PM - 11 PM
Sunday 2 PM - 7 PM
Check them out on Instagram and book your table on Resy.
Halloween Splendor at SHS
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As the sun rose over Brewster Road, a parade of leprechauns, smurfs, superheroes, palace guards, Super Mario Brothers, ballerinas, Marge Simpsons, monkeys, Teletubbies, Orphan Annies and the cast of Breaking Bad emerged from the parking lot. What was the reason for these character’s visits to the school?
Halloween of course. It was the annual Halloween breakfast for the senior class of 2025 on October 31, 2024 and it looked like everyone, including the staff, was in on the fun.
There were large groups of colorful crayons, cops, detectives, farmers and wizards along with groups of individual characters dressed as the characters of Alice in Wonderland and other popular stories and shows.
The spectacular warm weather was the perfect backdrop for the resplendent display.
Check out these photos of the Class of 2025 on parade.
And see the staff too:
And if you don’t see yours, send it to us at scarsdalecomments@gmail.com to include in our gallery.
Announcing the Winners of the 2024 Halloween Window Painting Contest
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Grand Prize Victoria Gong
This in from the Scarsdale Recreation Department: Here's the list of the winners of the Halloween Window Painting contest that took place on a beautiful fall Sunday on October 20, 2024. This year there were 310 entrants, almost even with 315 last year. While everyone had fun here are a few works that received extra notice:
2024 Halloween Window Painting Award Winners
The grand prize went to Grand Prize went to Victoria Gong in the 7th and 8th Grade Individual Catergory. See her work at top.
3rd Grade Individual
Camila Schiavinato
1st Place - Camila Schiavinato
2nd Place - Rebecca Stone
3rd Place - Valentina Matwey
Most Comical - Quinn Gianiny Honorable Mention - Beatriz Simmons
3rd Grade Pairs
1st Place - Skylar Bass, Jordan Kollenscher
2nd Place - Supeng Li, Maiyi Li
3rd Place – Emma Anderstein, Ruby Waldman
Most Comical - Sloane Barrow, Eliza Strauss
Honorable Mention - Samantha Shedroff, Willa Dobres, Thea Scarpelli, Laila Kingfield
4th Grade Individual
1st Place - Leila Capossela
2nd Place - Lucia Con
3rd Place - Heidi Gochev
Most Comical - Sadie Young
Honorable Mention - Pia Martinez de Alba Cristiani, Mary Nietupski, Christopher Andriopoulos, Zane Ahmed
4th Grade Pairs
Skylar Bass, Jordan Kollenscher
1st Place - Freya Sontag, Sylvie Kosson
2nd Place - David Yu, Marcelo Mayta-Sebastion
3rd Place - Daphne Stein, Allison Willig
Most Comical - Avery Feldman, Natalie Bates
Honorable Mentions - Penelope Homan, Violet Kaplan/ Ashlyn Che, Alta Mistry/ Simran Dhiman, Olivia Matrullo/ Madeylyn Simmons, Milania Amicucci
5th and 6th Grade Individual
1st Place - Giovana Bardella
2nd Place - Valentina Quiroz
3rd Place - Elena Streche
Most Comical - Jacob Reiber
Honorable Mentions - Teddy Wang, Irene Etlinger, Beatriz Gonzales, Evelyn Goldberg, Katherine Liu
5th and 6th Grade Pairs
Leila Capossela
1st Place - Alexandra Phillibert, Kayla Chin
2nd Place - Maggie Grandefeld, Ava Rollend
3rd Place - Teddy Eisenberg, Jonah Bloomgarden
Most Comical - Shelby Dubin, Jenna Hirsch
Honorable Mentions - Brooke Biondi, Madeline Rosen/ Abigail Daniel, Isabella Artacho/ Lucy Dobres, Camryn Galeon/ Scarlett Group, Liv Bass/ Adele Wang, Amelia Bolz
7th and 8th Grade Individual
1st Place - Aaron Pan
2nd Place - Yunong Lin
3rd Place - Irena Mao
Most Comical- Devon Green
Honorable Mention - Claire Zhang, Jessica Li, Yun Fan Jin, Natalia Gutierrez
7th and 8th Grade Pairs
1st Place - Sibel Kopelman, Ella Yang
2nd Place - Rowan Baer, Gabi Silva
3rd Place - Jessica Sternberg, Ruthie Klein
Most Comical - Luca Streche, Dillon Soler
Honorable Mention - Samantha Willig, Eva Benn/ Emma Helman, Caroline Alam
9th and 10th Grade Individual
Freya Sontag, Sylvie Kosson
1st Place - Michelle Peng
2nd Place - Noa Avni
Most Comical - Eden Rieber
9th and 10th Grade Pairs
1st Place - YiLin Jiang, Lillian Xiao
Most Comical - Rachel Lucek, Sarah Mayer
Giovana Bardella
Alexandra Phillibert, Kayla Chin
Aaron Pan
Sibel Kopelman, Ella Yang
Michelle Peng
YiLin Jiang, Lillian Xiao
An Intimate Conversation with Best-Selling Author Chris Whitaker at Scarsdale Library
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Chris Whitaker and Amy Einhorn at Scarsdale LibraryOn October 9th, Scarsdale Adult School hosted an unforgettable evening with New York Times best-selling author Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark, drawing over 75 captivated attendees to the Scarsdale Public Library. In an intimate and heartfelt conversation with his longtime editor, Amy Einhorn, Whitaker revealed the personal stories and experiences that fuel his storytelling. The warm and genuine rapport between author and editor made for a fascinating captivating discussion, offering insights into the collaborative magic they share, the creative process, the depth of research involved, and the life experiences that shape Whitaker's work. With humor, honesty, and vulnerability, Whitaker provided attendees not only a masterclass in writing but also a profound reflection on the life experiences that have shaped his literary voice.
Scarsdale Adult School Executive Director Jill Serling. Chris Whitaker, Pam Fuehrer Scarsdale Resident and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Scarsdale Adult School
Breakfast at La Casa Bronxville
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Breakfast TacosHeading to a Mexican restaurant for breakfast is something new, cool, fun and delicious to try and La Casa Bronxville have recently launched weekend breakfast offering a mouth-watering selection of Mexican breakfast dishes and more traditional options.
Let’s start with the coffee! Don’t expect Starbucks: you are coming to a contemporary Mexican restaurant that does things their way - and whatever they do is done very well. La Casa makes a traditional Latin Cafe Con Leche and it’s fantastic. The selection of a full flavored Cuban bean is smart and the proportions of coffee to hot milk was spot on, creating a bold, strong, yet creamy and satisfying Cafe Con Leche. We also ordered freshly squeezed orange juice and this too was exactly right. The juice was super fresh, with a gentle sweetness and no sharpness at all.
Cafe con Leche
La Casa’s breakfast menu has oodles of options. Choose from an abundant selection of egg dishes - including Huevos Divorciados and Huevos Rancheros, Breakfast Tacos, an overflowing Breakfast Burrito (which has become an instant hit) as well as pancakes, bacon, sausage and the sides you’d usually expect.
Have you heard of Chilaquiles? They are sublime. Warmed, crunchy tortilla strips - made from house made tortillas - are tossed in a light sauce, then topped with a fried egg plus any add-on you choose. Chorizo is traditional and La Casa makes their own so that’s what we went for. Amazing.
We loved the La Casa Omelette. It’s light, fluffy, and generously overflowing with our selection of add-ins. Another stand out item: home fries! They are fantastic. Bite-size chunks of potato, crisped all over for a delicious crunch, and tender-soft on the inside. Served piping hot in a bowl, they are utterly irresistible, even when you think you are full to bursting. The house-made granola at La Casa is baked, crunchy clusters of grains and nuts, the freshest berries piled on a tart creamy plain yogurt.
Breakfast BurritoEvery dish we tried at La Casa breakfast was cooked to perfection, utterly delicious, and beautifully presented. There is something for everyone - even if the Mexican breakfast dishes don’t appeal. Owner Spencer Pingel, and Chef Viktor “Erik” Lopez are focused and meticulous about sourcing and serving the freshest ingredients in all of their dishes especially when everything on the menu is made from scratch. It shouldn’t be a surprise - voted Westchester Magazine’s 2024 Best Mexican Restaurant they know what they are doing!
Stop by this weekend for breakfast. The party goes all day on Saturdays and Sundays - with Brunch following on from 11.30 - 4pm, then followed by dinner at 4pm.
La Casa Bronxville
Breakfast is served Saturdays and Sundays 9am - 11.30am
www.lacasabronxvile.com
7 Pondfield Road, Bronxville, NY 10708
914-222-9016
Instagram: @lacasabronxville
Steak and Eggs
Granola
