Chef Chris dos Reis has only ever cooked at Michelin restaurants. That is a claim of sorts, although it mightn”™t be especially noteworthy were it not that when this New Rochelle-born chef and Culinary Institute of America alumnus opened his first restaurant ”“ in his native New Rochelle ”“ in September, his self-professed pedigree only served to set a very high bar.
Town House occupies a restored, historic three-story building in the center of New Rochelle”™s Arts & Culture district. On the ground floor is the restaurant itself, where a long bar runs the length of a narrow room. Light and cheerful by day, the room can feel a little dark and soulless at night, the menu more easily read by the flashlight on your cellphone than by the dim ceiling globe lights or the tea candles somewhat optimistically placed on the white marble tabletops. But read on, because there is plenty besides high wattage to lighten and brighten an evening here.
In a thoughtfully crafted menu, dos Reis plays with the cuisine of his family”™s native Portugal, buying directly from local Westchester County farms and producers he knows and trusts to create what he terms “American brasserie fare.” But labels be damned. Take his whipped cod croquettes for instance, where the dried cod is shredded and combined with beaten egg, then quickly fried in hot oil, no more than a pinch of salt and a dash of nutmeg for seasoning. It”™s hardly American, but it is a riff on a Portuguese classic, and it is beautifully done. Likewise, sardines, which are flown in fresh from Portugal each week and preserved on the premises. Dos Reis spreads these beauties on toast with sweet roasted peppers, which have themselves been marinated in the same preserving oil. Served with cultured butter, this is a rich, full-flavored umami explosion in the mouth.
You should know he is superb with his breads, too, straying across the Iberian Peninsula to Spain, for a not-quite-classic pan con tomate, that wonderful Catalan bite of toast rubbed with garlic and olive oil, smooshed with fat, ripe tomatoes and liberally prinked with salt. Served here ”“ with jamón Ibérico as a modest add-on ”“ this pan is another mouthful of sunshine and joy. And there”™s more bread still ”“ terrific sourdough, which he serves with his refined, smooth chicken liver mousse.
The list of entrées, by contrast, is short and to the point. Fish lovers need look no further than sea bass, an elegant tranche of fish prepared with green garlic and served with comforting buttered cabbage and rooty parsnip ”“ as deliciously seasonal as it is self-evidently well-sourced. Pastured duck breast, with mushrooms and huckleberries is another main course that might have been created specifically to showcase the season. And in a “retro” steak au poivre, indulgent clotted cream and a port reduction produce the rich demi-glace, the meat brought to the table already sliced (as is the modern way). Not exactly typical American fare, either, although that claim is irrefutably upheld in a jazzy Town House burger, with Hudson Valley bacon and tangy clothbound cheddar.
Wine is a subject close to dos ReisӪ heart and while not all his dishes reference Iberia, sensibly in my view he restricts his short list to California, Spain and Portugal. At his suggestion we sampled a white from Portuguese winemaker Serradinha, highly acidic at first but quickly opening up in the glass to offer some complexity. The red Casteḷo, also from Serradinha, meanwhile, was all berries and aged balsamic, the perfect wine to go with that duck and its accompanying huckleberries. (His 93-year old grandfather, dos Reis told us, still works as a grower and produces some of the grapes used in these very wines.)
There are some excellent draft beers to choose from, too, although not from Iberia but Queens and Brooklyn. Behind the bar, Town House”™s bartender spent 16 years at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, so in addition to the wines the cocktail list is both fun and rather sophisticated, a sherry cobbler for instance mixing two styles of sherry with apple-y Calvados to dramatic effect.
As the restaurant grows, there are plans for its upper floors, including a Portuguese tasca serving petiscos (a Portuguese wine bar with tapas-like snacks) and an event space. Dos Reis and Town House owner Tim Middleton also envisage it as an arts and culture hub. “We want Town House to be a place where everyone in town can find a reason to come and share our house,” says Middelton. And as the redevelopment of downtown New Rochelle continues ”“ the restaurant is the beneficiary of a generous grant from the New York State Main Street Project ”“ with great food and wine at its core, those plans seem likely to become a reality.
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