Joseph D”™Angelo and Gino Gabriel worked together more than 10 years ago as the first chefs in Mario Batali”™s Manhattan seafood restaurant, Esca. After pursuing their own culinary ventures, the friends recently reconvened to open Copper Kettle Cafe, a restaurant serving locally sourced comfort food in Hartsdale.
- Chef and owner Joseph D”™Angelo, right, stands at the bar with a guest.
D”™Angelo, who has since opened Spigolo and cooked for The Gilroy, restaurants on Manhattan”™s Upper East Side, lives up the block from Copper Kettle at 201 E. Hartsdale Ave. He said he had wanted to open a restaurant closer to his home in Hartsdale, where he has lived for six years. When the previous tenant, Juice & Java, closed about a year and a half ago, he signed the lease days after, he said.
The vacant space gave D”™Angelo an opportunity to offer a different cuisine to the neighborhood, he said. The restaurant is adjacent to a pizzeria and shares the block with Mexican, Mediterranean, Chinese, Italian and steak restaurants.
“We definitely think that the neighborhood”™s lacking a little bit,” D”™Angelo said. “We”™re hoping to bring something new to the area.”
The menu includes comfort food for lunch and dinner like macaroni and cheese, pork flatbreads and braised short ribs. The dips, dishes, desserts and other plates range from $7 to $18.
Since taking over the lease, D”™Angelo said he had to renovate the space, add a new gas line and change the plumbing. The restaurant, which has seating at wooden tables and at the bar, opened April 6.
The American regional cuisine at Copper Kettle is the type of food that D”™Angelo and Gabriel, the operating chef, grew up eating, D”™Angelo said. He said they are starting small with the cafe to see how it goes and hope to expand in the future.
Copper Kettle Cafe serves dinner and has plans to serve lunch soon. The restaurant is BYOB until it gets a liquor license in five to six weeks.
