It used to be that you just passed through a train station on your way to work, maybe slowing to grab a coffee and newspaper. Today, more and more you can sit down and enjoy a glass of wine and a three-course meal.
It”™s a growing trend along the tracks of the Metro-North Railroad through the Hudson Valley.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sees all that empty space in the historic structures as potential rental property.
“Restaurants make a good addition,” said Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the MTA. “They make good use of the space as long as it”™s feasible for the infrastructure of the location.”
Restaurants also encourage passengers to “linger” and spend time and money in a given location, he said. “We gain financially, which is what we”™re seeking in the end.”
At the Poughkeepsie train station, which underwent $40 million in renovations, the MTA is looking to entice a restaurateur to set up shop in a 2,500-square-foot section of the cavernous waiting room. The railroad is also offering up 900 square feet outside and another 100 square feet in the enclosed overpass. The MTA is seeking $60,000 in annual rent for the waiting room and overpass sites.
In addition to Poughkeepsie, the MTA is seeking tenants at stations in Port Chester, Peekskill, Ossining and Tarrytown.
The MTA doesn”™t own all of the station sites along its rail lines. Some towns own the property, such as New Castle, which owns the Chappaqua train station.
Town Administrator Penelle Paderewski said New Castle had been exploring options to expand the stationӪs food service to include morning and evening options. Last month, the town received a number of inquiries and two formal bids for the space. The town receives $1,400 a month in rent from current occupant Caf̩ Le Track.
Four years ago and one station stop to the north, Carla Gambescia took a chance on Mount Kisco where she opened her Italian-influenced Via Vanti! Today she is bidding to takeover the Chappaqua stop.
Although Gambescia would not disclose any costs associated with her proposal, the Chappaqua resident explained why she”™s anxious for the opportunity.
“I love train stations for functional practical reasons and for experiential reasons,” she said. “Obviously the location offers tremendous visibility and you have built-in awareness for a good percentage of the community.”
She said she understands the value of the location to the community as well. The Chappaqua station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. Because Mount Kisco station is on the registry as well, Gambescia is familiar with the rules associated with operating in a historic building.
As owner of the 2,000-square-foot Via Vanti!, Gambescia said she”™s learned how to appeal to a very specific clientele.
“What I”™ve learned is that you can”™t take your commuters for granted. Even though you have this sense of immediate awareness, commuters are more interested in getting to their car than stopping to smell the garlic.”
ThatӪs something Vanessa Kalle is learning about. She is co-owner of Station Caf̩ & Grille in Hawthorne, which celebrates its first anniversary March 12. KalleӪs partner and brother, Jerry Petraglia Jr., opened the restaurant after two and half years of negotiating with the town of Mount Pleasant, which owns the property.
Kalle, who lives in Thornwood, said her brother wanted to branch out and explore the trend of railway eateries.
“He also owns a construction company and he”™s there full time,” she said. “We determined someone had to be here full time and so I joined in January.”
She came with food service experience having owned and operated Scoops, an ice cream shop in West Harrison, for seven years.
Still, Kalle thought it was important to do her own research. She looked at restaurants in Grand Central Terminal as well as train stops in the river towns, which she said “seemed to have more of a café feel.”
She and her brother came up with a diner setting and began offering a diverse menu, including breakfast sandwiches and omelets, as well as lunch and dinner items like burgers, paninis and chili.
Kalle said breakfast is their most popular meal and brings in roughly 75 percent of their revenue. The family is still trying to figure out what works best. She said dinner, which is the least popular time of day, may be phased out.
The 900-square-foot Station Caf̩ & Grille has three employees, not including the ownersӪ father, Jerry Petraglia Sr., who helps out at the restaurant and offers advice to his kids.
“It”™s a difficult process starting a restaurant,” Petraglia Sr. said. “We tried to do the upscale thing, but it”™s not this community. This is more family-oriented. It”™s different from places like Scarsdale.”
Chappaqua has discriminating tastes, Gambescia said. If her bid is accepted she”™s proposing a healthy Italian-influenced menu, including turkey meatballs.
“What we”™re proposing in Chappaqua is something called fine grazing” something akin to fine dining, Gambescia said. She said she would post the menu online so commuters could pick up their orders when they get off the train.
Gambescia hopes this commuter-friendly approach coupled with the success of her Mount Kisco restaurant will appeal to officials in New Castle who will review the bids. As of now, the board is not scheduled to meet about the submitted proposals for a new restaurant.
KalleӪs Station Caf̩ & Grille hopes to find the success thatӪs already come to Via Vanti! To help lure even more patrons from the surrounding community, Kalle said they will offer frozen yogurt and ice cream this spring. She said theyӪre hopeful that the subtle change will help make the restaurant an eating destination.
“It”™s only been a year so we”™re still finding the best ways to serve the community.”
