Excellent restaurant Ibiza Chappaqua NY

Westchester a county just north of NYC has quite a few decent restaurants, one stellar (Blue Hill) and a lot of dreck. Pretty surprising given this is a really affluent area with a million plus population. So glad to see another restaurant making a splash.

Ibiza is a Spanish restaurant that offers some extraordinary food, tapas and great desserts. Ignacio the owner is warm and lovable, and incredibly proud of what he has created. We put ourselves in his hands with both wine and food, and had one of the best meals I have had in some time.

What made the food particularly interesting was that he mixed textures, flavors and made unexpected pairings. When you are that adventurous, there is bound to be a couple of failures. The foie gras hazelnut lost texture and was overwhelmed by the hazelnuts. And the gazpacho had way too much sherry vinegar.

I am not sure why I am dwelling on problem dishes when there was so much to love. An excellent tuna and sesame starter, a simple white anchovy toast (we ordered a second) a small potent catfish fritter, molten with creamy fish. A paella with octopus was superb, but my favorite dish was the oxtail rice with scallops. Unexpected and amazing. Finally pork cheeks in a wine sauce was tender and homey and absolutely delicious.

The desserts were also special. The best, a creme brûlée flan was brilliant, and despite the fact we were stuffed, we kept reaching for more. The wines kept coming, all very good, and I am afraid I lost my notes, and forgotten what they were. Standouts were a 2015 Albariño and a 2004 Rioja.

Thanks for posting this. We’ve heard about it but haven’t been yet. I’m moving it to the top of the list!

Thanks Mark, new to the area and trying to figure what’s what around here. I’ve been to Kittle House a couple times and Mimo Vinoteca that I liked. Been trying to get to Ocean House which is in my town. A couple places on with River views are beautiful but the food is not. I miss my Troquet in Boston a lot. The thing I do actually like is BYO w/corkage is seemingly a given. I’ll have to check out Ibiza.

“Your Troquet” in Boston misses you, too! I was there maybe 6 weeks ago and Chris lamented your departure from the area. We had a great time, as always. Hope you are enjoying your new environs.

Kittle House has its ups and downs. Wine list of course is incredible still.
Been to Troquet twice and liked it. Still nothing like anything here in Westchester

It is a truism here,the better the view, the worse the food.

Peter you should try the Cookery in Dobbs Ferry

Mark-Thanks.
I brought the family to Ibiza last night. The owner was great as was the food.
Brought a couple bottles and shared with him and got a bottle off the list which is beyond reasonable and almost reminded me of a very scaled down version of Troquet.
I will be back there.

Thanks Merrill- I do miss Boston on so many levels and the move has been a challenge to say the least but hopefully will continue to settle in and take more advantage of this beautiful area.
The wine scene seems good and abundant corkage doesn’t hurt

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Just thought I would post this here. I’m moving with my soon-to-be wife (wedding postponed to July bc of Covid) to Chappaqua from Manhattan in mid-February. I’ve heard about the Kittle House and will be making a stop in a couple of weekends so I’m excited to try it. Along with the KH, are there other restaurants you recommend in the area? I’m a fairly new wine-lover (started to buy and get more serious about it 2 years ago) so would love to hear if there are wine-dinners or tasting events in the area I should be aware of. Would love to meet others and share wine in the area!
RF

Monday night is BYO - no fee corkage.

Looks like they are closed on Mondays now…

My wife’s sister got married at the Kittle House in September when Covid wasn’t as bad. Gorgeous spot. Good food. However, they did get me good at the bar. I like tequila too. I ordered Casa Dragones which is about $300btl and typically shots are $60-$75. Granted it was a hefty pour, but the tab was well north of $100 for the shot. Not so much mad at the price, but she could have told me before she poured it and I would have “settled” for the 1942.

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The bar menu is different than the restaurant menu. You can still enjoy a delicious meal while saving a few bucks.

Thanks, Dan. Didn’t realize that they have a restaurant and bar area. Thanks for the insight!

The bar area is casual, but you can basically have the same menu as the restaurant. In winter, there is a glorious stone fireplace. As for the list, outside of Bern’s, it may be the best in the country, but prices now are correct as opposed to low.

The food varies. We used to go once a month for lunch for the wines. Sometimes the food was solid, sometimes less so. Ended up going for just the burger or skate (the best dish on the menu). One friend joked about BYOF, but he was being unkind.

To answer your other questions, we like the Pub in Pleasantville, Tramonto on route 9a in Hawthorne, the cookery in Dobbs Ferry, and a hole in the wall Dominican place in Sleepy Hollow called Ambras. There is a good Chinese restaurant specializing in Dim Sum called Aberdeen in White Plains. Excellent protocols for COVID, so still order from them. MP Taverna in Irvington has a celebrity chef, who actually cooks there.

And of course, Ibiza.

Their other restaurant in Danbury just closed due to Covid

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This is super helpful! Thank you, Mark. Really appreciate it. I will definitely make an effort to order from all of these places, since I don’t have to go back to the office in Manhattan until at least September for now.

Do you know if people ever get together (or used to) for wine tastings or wine dinners in the area? Would love to eventually meet others or share some wines when things are a bit better!

I live in Hastings on Hudson and used to try and organize wine gatherings quite frequently in the Westchester area. Most people I know in the old days preferred to go to the city (they either worked there and it was more convenient to go after work or the restaurants were just better). When restaurant gatherings and BYOs are possible again, would love to revisit it up in this part of the world again! There is a very strong and vibrant wine loving community up here and in CT for sure!

We used to do dinners, but less so, even before COVID. Dan Posner at Grapes had some really interesting dinners, so you may want to get on to his list.

There are wine groups, but the ones I am familiar with are closed with long waiting lists I am afraid. They also tend to focus on old world French wines, usually with good bottle age on them. Flicking through your posts, I think your taste tends to be more California.

I forgot in my list of restaurants, Stone Barns. It is located near a church in Pocantico, with Chagall and Matisse windows. The restaurant still has good COVID protocols, so might be worth checking out.

There’s a Westchester Foodies page on Facebook. Lots of Westchester County restaurant info, some of which is good. [wink.gif]

And speaking of wine dinners, every year on Fat Tuesday (not this year), 20 of us head to an offline at Di Fara’s pizza in Brooklyn. It’s $50 all in for some of the best pizza in the NY metro area. You can read about this in the offline forum. I think we’re up to 7 or 8 dinners. I also coordinate a Flyertalk wine dinner in June and January at North Square in Greenwich Village. Several Berserkers have attended this dinner. There are some high end bottles on the table. Most of my travel friends enjoy this, just not on a Berserker level. Still, half of the attendees bring a bottle worth drinking (in my opinion Mark Golodetz). [wink.gif]