There must be something in the water in Westchester County's tiny town of Hastings-on-Hudson that fosters culinary inspiration. Last year, Buffet de la Gare, a romantic, Old-World French restaurant earned an "Excellent" from The New York Times. Now, Juniper has entered the Hastings scene, recently garnering its own acclaim from the NYT with a seal of "Don't Miss."
Although J and I had heard that Juniper was booked solid following the NYT write-up, he ventured that the rains blanketing the town would work in our favor of dropping in. Fortunately for us, he was correct, and we sat right down for our brunch visit.
Although the restaurant's business may be booming, its decor asks you to have a seat and peruse a book (Molecular Gastronomy, anyone?). The color palette of light blue, white and dark brown and use of dark-stained wood further lend to the cozy and homey feel.
J's mother ordered the French Toast with pears, toasted almonds, wildflower honey and creme fraiche--one of their most popular brunch dishes ($9.00). The french toast was hearty but not overwhelmingly filling, and the pears and almonds worked together perfectly to lend a lovely sweetness and interesting texture to every bite. After one bite, all three of us understood why everyone raves about Juniper's french toast.
J ordered the Buttermilk Pancakes with caramelized bananas and pecans and whipped butter ($9.00). With its delightfully sweet and crunchy bananas and thick but fluffy hotcakes, this dish felt more like a dessert than the most important meal of the day--although I suppose that the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive...especially when the meal/dessert in question is this delicious.
Whenever I head to brunch and am faced with the question "Breakfast or lunch?" I inevitably choose lunch. Perhaps it's because if I am at brunch, it means I've waited that much longer to eat my first meal...In any case, I ordered the Burger with Gruyere, mustard aioli, griddled onion and roasted tomato on a country roll ($8.00) with a side of French Fries ($3.00), which was easily the best burger I've eaten in some time--most likely because of the tasty combination of the Gruyere married with the mustard aioli. The fries were also top notch, crunchy with the perfect amount of seasoning.
For the invalid Adam, we ordered a Slow-roasted Pork Sandwich with shaved fennel, pickled red onion and salsa verde to-go ($8.00). After he yelled at J for stealing a bite, I opted out of sampling it myself but, based on the two boys' reactions, this was one tasty sammich.
In LA, food of this caliber would easily be $4-5 more expensive per dish but shhhh! Don't tell Chef Alex Sze that. I think the people of Hastings-on-Hudson like things at this charming restaurant just the way they are.
Juniper
575 Warburton Ave.
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
(914) 478-2542
I'd always go savory myself! Never been a huge fan of a sweet breakfast, along with any fried desserts :)
ReplyDeletei'm heading to NY in october.. i'll def check this place out! i loooove me some pork sandwich!
ReplyDeleteBrunch inevitably ends up being a second meal of the day for me because I can never wait till 11 or later to eat my first meal of the day! So most of the time I end up eating two breakfasts! Not such a bad thing in my mind... ;)
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