Dining along the Hudson

Jeremy Wayne

They say you can’t be all things to all people, but RiverMarket Bar & Kitchen comes close – first, for its location, by the Hudson, with a view of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and great sunsets, just steps from Tarrytown’s RiverWalk Park. But it’s not just about its situation. This large, sprawling restaurant – check out its impressive 200-yearold maple chevron-patterned floor and its locally reclaimed cypress mushroom wood ceiling – has a real sense of place, with a strong sense of locale in the food, too. The restaurant supports local farmers and producers, with eggs, butter, cheese, bacon and charcuterie all sourced from the area. It’s an eatery where “farm-to-table” is more than just a catchphrase.

The menu is vast, from soup, sandwiches and much more at lunchtime, leading into a dinner menu as long as your arm. RiverMarket is known for its wood-fired pizzas and calzones, made using premium soft wheat flour type “00,” of which the restaurant is rightly proud. (Think a firm, thin base with soft, puffed edges.) Housemade pastas feature, too, as well as fish and shellfish and some interesting, meaty entrées. The chicken burger – made from Hemlock Hill Farm pasture-raised chicken – is surprisingly moist, and special mention should be made of the main-course salad, comprising duck leg, duck breast and salami, haricot verts, almonds and crumbled blue cheese – a really striking, original dish. There’s an excellent biodynamic wine list, too, strong on France and Italy.

Add to all this an on-site fresh market and wine and spirit shop and you have, not just a restaurant, but an entire outing. On the minus side, RiverMarket only takes reservations for parties of six or more, service can be a little patchy and the acoustics, especially on weekends, can be challenging. On the plus side, though, are those unbelievable sunsets and a modern American menu that, while offering plenty of standard dishes, veers successfully away from the safe, tried and tested. And if owing to sheer size alone RiverMarket can sometimes feel a little bit “production-line,” at least it is a well-oiled machine.

No matter how well you know the river and the River Towns, there’s something rather thrilling about Half Moon in Dobbs Ferry, where you get a real “pinchme” sense of wonder at being so close to the water. Indeed, out on the deck, you’re so close to it, you’re practically in it.

Opened 10 years ago in a thrusting, cathedral-like wooden building by the experienced people behind Harvest-on-Hudson and Harvest on Fort Pond (in Montauk), Half Moon is to a large extent perhaps the most sophisticated of the trio and has proved a keeper. With its raw bar and “Montauk” menu, this is primarily a place for fish and shellfish, including calamari, clams, oysters and lobster prepared a variety of ways –plus a whole lot of shrimp, which comes as a cocktail, grilled or in tacos. The restaurant also does well with pinxtos, those tasty little snacks from Spain’s Basque Country.

From the non-fish/shellfish entrées, I would single out the roast rack of lamb with stewed tomatoes and tzatziki and another first-class duck dish, a classic French confit de canard with lentils and poached apples, the duck skin crisp with meltingly tender thigh and leg meat.

There is so much to love about Half Moon. And if it doesn’t quite refute the axiom that great views and great food are mutually exclusive, it comes very close.

With its anchors, fishing nets and pictures of lighthouses, Hudson Anchor, the charming Sleepy Hollow restaurant set over three floors, certainly gives off a New England, maritime vibe, which is to say more ocean than river – but let’s not split hairs over bodies of water. Five years after opening, it has established a loyal following – not least for its Thursday trivia nights – with locals and yet others coming from farther afield for classic chowder, coconut shrimp, a fine lobster roll and good quality burger. (Anchors aweigh: There’s even an anchor branded on top of the popular anchor burger.)

Hudson Anchor makes a reasonable stab at paella – a Spaniard might disagree, on the grounds of the lack of true saffron flavor, but it will pass muster for most of us – and the fish and chips, sent out as an enormous portion big enough for two, are top-notch. And although I’m not personally a fan of truffle fries – the classic French fry in all its purity is the fry for me – for those who like a touch of truffle, these are the best thing, friends tell me, since the sliced potato.

The restaurant’s two decks, with Hudson River and bridge views, are dreamy spots and the bartenders, incidentally, are known to mix particularly good drinks. If

I’m ever going to order an expresso martini, it will likely be here, as an after dinner digestivo on a warm spring or summer evening, sipping my cocktail but also drinking in the view – the mighty Hudson, a starry night and the romance of it all.

For more, visit rivermarketbarkitchen.com, halfmoonhudson.com, hudsonanchorseafood.com.