Table Talk With Jeremy Wayne: A red-letter lunch at Red Hat

Irvington Metro North railroad station is one of those dinky stations that looks like it belongs in a child’s train set. Stand on either track, look north and you will see a perfect curve, the railway lines bordered on either side right by woodland, its leaves a riot of color just now. 

Two hundred yards west of the tracks, in the boiler-room of the former Lord and Burnham factory on the Irvington waterfront, sits Red Hat on the River. A restaurant which always found the perfect ground between “casual” and smart, which is a difficult thing to do, Red Hat is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023, although it has been under new ownership since last year. I wondered if, and if so, how, it might have changed. 

Bottom line: it hasn’t – which is all to the good. Inside, you’ll find a well-proportioned main dining room where the tables are set with white linen and the atmosphere is clubby but unstuffy. Outside, the restaurant’s wide expanse of terrace faces the Hudson directly, an exceptionally lovely panorama, even by Hudson standards, a stunner of a view. On a clear day you can see what feels like forever, kiddy-toy cars moving like ants in a line along the Gov Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. Even on a recent fall day, a day so warm that a heat haze sat over the horizon, we could still make out the Manhattan skyline, 30 miles to the south. 

When we couldn’t make up our minds about which table to sit at, our smiling host’s patience knew no bounds. (“I’m Jewish,” said one of our party, “so I need to change tables at least two times before I’m happy.” “Oh, that’s nothing,” said another. “I’m Indian, for me it’s at least three.”) 

Seated – finally – we considered the menu which nodded in several directions. First, to the restaurant’s beginnings – original owners Mary Beth Dooley and Jim Parker wanted to create a French bistro-style restaurant, and succeeded in doing so. This still pertains in items like pâté de campagne (coarse and rustic-y,) tuna niçoise, frisée aux lardons and steak frites. Nonna’s meatballs introduce an Italian element, while Moroccan chicken adds a North African one. Spicy tuna tostada with a crisp blue corn tortilla and lime-marinated Atlantic cod ceviche, served with avocado, jalapeno and cilantro, had us somewhere in Central or South America. These were all dishes we tried and thoroughly enjoyed, along with a dozen local Blue Point oysters and a near-perfect crab cake – rich, dense, with just a suggestion of exterior crispness. And let’s hear it for that Red Hat’s excellent endive and goats cheese salad while we’re at it – really fresh leaves, candied walnuts, crumbled cheese, a classic starter which always seems to transcend the seasons. 

Desserts are chocolate-themed, which is fine in my book. One in our party raved about his affogato, although (dare I say) I thought the scoop of ice cream, over which the espresso was poured, seemed a little on the small side. Perhaps I’m just greedy. Another perfect dessert, although not advertised as one, was the espresso martini, a beautifully balanced, really well-made cocktail, served ice cold and guaranteed to send you on your way with a spring in your step. 

Red Hat’s weekend brunch menu is one of the most popular in the region and should be booked well ahead. (And do note that outdoor tables, at a huge premium on outdoor-table-kind-of-days, cannot be guaranteed.) 

If the short wine list comprises mainly French and Italian bottles, the beers are all-American, most of them brewed within a 50-mile radius of Irvington. They are served ice cold in gloriously frosted glasses. Red Hat also offers an extraordinary number of Scotch, Bourbon and Rye whiskeys, along with a short but inventive cocktail list. Imagine enjoying an “Italy on the River” – Engine organic gin, fennel, fig and lemon – while watching a Hudson river sunset. Bliss, right? 

Lastly, a shout-out to Jayden, our server, who was a joy, putting up with endless amounts of mind-changing, indecision and general annoyingness on our part. They say the customer is never wrong. I’ve a feeling we were, but Jayden took it all in good spirit. Indeed hosts, servers and runners all seem to work in tandem, all of them smiling, which certainly makes for happy customers. 

That, we certainly were.  

Go to redhatontheriver.com