Events

Best Of Westchester Top 5 Tables 2010

Events, My Dudes

I was sad to miss the Westchester Magazine “Best Of Westchester” party last night.  It’s always the jump-off of the year around these parts.  But I’m a new Dad with an infant baby at home, so my wife and I were unable to make it.  Lucky for us our Westcheddar correspondent Billy “The Kid” Henderson was in attendance to do his annual breakdown of the Top 5 Tables.  Check out his review…

It’s about that time of year again. Uncle Ralph pulled off another great party. This year was a little different than the last few years. Where was Willet’s Steakhouse? The Crabtree Kittle House? The Seviche? The Gazpacho? Ipcus and Killa Kam? It felt a little off.

With Lady Gaga as our background music, a woman dressed like Lady Gaga trying to lip sync to our background music and a chef (who embarrassed Bobby Flay on a popular cable network) serving dessert downstairs, it was a quick trip upstairs (around fake breasts and really old women) to find the best tables.

Upstairs also raised a couple issues with me. One, if your restaurant is named after your skill at plating dishes, maybe you shouldn’t serve a homemade Ring Ding. Glorified cupcakes aren’t making this list playboy. Two, the background music, for both floors, should of been from the band upstairs. Three, way too many desserts.  Let’s get into it.

1. Le Chateau
1410 Route 35
South Salem, NY 10590
www.lechateauny.com
914.533.6763

As I approached the table, Chef Andre was doing his best European two step and his assistant had a Pink Floyd shirt on. Again, a little different this year. He served a seared bay scallop with a tomato-basil sauce and a parsley-ginger sauce. Clean, simple, and the best dish there. The parsley-ginger sauce was insane.

2. Sushi Mike’s
146 Main Street
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
www.sushimikes.com
914.591.0054

This year Sushi Mike and his team tried to distract me from eating all their food, with a female employee sporting a fake “Sushi Mike’s” tattoo on her neck. I did notice her neck. I also noticed the fact that I can eat an absurd amount of Sushi in one sitting. Like my Irish Grandmother used to say,”Odorokubeki Sushi!”

3. F.A.B.
222 E. Main Street
Mount Kisco, NY 10549
www.fabbistro.com
914.864.1661

They had a braised Lamb shank over goat cheese Polenta. The Lamb tasted like actual butter and the goat cheese Polenta was very nice. Subtract the enormous carrots and you might have the best dish at the party. Really good.

4. The Cookery
39 Chestnut Street
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
www.thecookeryrestaurant.com
914.305.2336

Have to applaud Chef Dave for coming strong at his first B.O.W. with TWO solid dishes. The White Lasagna and fried Duck Tongue over white Polenta were pretty damn tasty.

5. Bistro Rollin
142 5th Avenue
Pehlam, NY 10803
www.bistrorollin.com
914.633.0780

This place served two little servings of amuse-bouche that were packed with flavor. One was a Salmon tartare with pickled leeks, ginger and cucumber. Topped with a lemon reduction. The other was chicken liver topped with a fig and a Port jus’ lie’. Dope.

Thanks for reading. If you disagree with me, I could care less.

No, thank you Billy.  Hope to see you next year.  Cheers Westchester!

Winning The Wheel

Events, My Dudes

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Sometime towards the end of last year, I got a text from my boy Timmy P saying that his older brother Matt was going to be on Wheel Of Fortune.  Matt, a fellow WPHS graduate and our elder of a few years, is a great guy, and during my middle school and high school years growing up I would see him at Tim’s house playing pool in their basement and hanging out on weekends. I never knew that Wheel Of Fortune was so big in their family, and specifically with Matt, who loves the show and had been trying to get on it for years. Well not only did he get on, but he won the fucking thing and took home $40,000.  Recently, Matt told the story of his triumph at Back Fence PDX, which is a live storytelling series in Portland, Oregon, where Matt has lived for a while now. Check it out, it’s a doozy of a tale, told with heartwarming humor and comedic style.  Congrats Matt, you are now an official member of the Westcheddar Hall Of Fame.

And yes, we have the footage of the actual show in the Westcheddar Archives.  Stay tuned!

Luca Long Legs

Events, Fatherhood, My Dudes, The Good Old Days, Youth

Born on his Daddy’s birthday, 5/25.  Welcome to Westcheddar baby boy…

It’s A Wrap

Events, Fly Spots

It’s only right that the first Chipotle in Westchester County is opening up in my neighborhood.  See you Friday.  And then every day after that.  For lunch.  And dinner.  Let’s get salseated!!!!!

X Marks The Spot

Events, Youth

I posted the link below last night to the first ever BGC Open Mic (which I hosted at my job), but I wanted to give my boy Xavier Simmons his proper shine, because he especially went in with the spoken word.  Xavier has transformed in the past six months from a rapper to a full fledged musician and writer, focusing more on poetry and writing songs on the piano than just murdering instrumentals (which trust me he can do with ease).  Here’s his performance from the BGC Open Mic, titled “The Mechanics Of Life”….

Crazy, right?  My G is gifted with it.  More videos and pics from the open mic HERE.  Please check it out, there were some great performances by some really talented kids.  And before I go, I gotta throw the video up of my dudes the Gym Lawyer Band, two of my best friends who performed together live for the first time in over a year at the event (you might recognize Matty B from “Hammer”).  How raw are these guys?

Lots of talent in Westchester County.  Who else is out there?  Holler at your boy and let me know so I can check them out.  Uno.

DJ Diapers

Events, My Dudes

Baby Season is creeping up slowly here in Westcheddar, and I am taking notes from some of my close pals who already have seeds, trying to make sense of what it is going to be like to raise my son, and what I want to teach him to at an early age.  Of course, many people ask me already, “are you going to teach him how to rap?”  We shall see about that, but yeah, that’s my son, he’s gonna be spitting fire regardless if I teach him or not because IT’S IN HIS BLOOD.  Well my dude DJ Destro (above left with Uncle Mack) has already taught his two year old son how to work the turntables.  At a recent community hip hop event hosted by Lord Judah (what up my G) at Manhattanville College, DJ Destro let his son, DJ Diapers, show off his skills on the 1s and 2s.  Check the video…

As my wife would say, “OH MY GOD HE’S SOOOO CUTE”.  Keep doing your thing DJ Diapers, I’m gonna have a rapper for you to team up with very soon.  Cheah!

New Look Knicks

Events, My Dudes, Sports

Big game last night, and the whole Isenberg Fam was in the building for it.  Shout to my pops, Jimmy I, for coming through with the tickets.  We’d been talking about going to a Knicks game for a while, and I told him the Oklahoma City Thunder was the team to check for right now.  Durant is a scoring machine, and Westbrook is a problem.  Turns out with Tracy McGrady and the rest of the new Knicks making their debut last night after some hyped up trades, we picked the right game to attend.

The Garden was definitely rocking and filled to capacity.  I saw John Starks as we were walking to our seats in the hallway (ironic because McGrady is sporting his #3 now see below), and all I could think to do was yell right in his face “LEGEND”.  He appreciated it.  My wife, who supposedly “loved John Starks” as a teenage girl because she felt bad that he had to wear that mask on his face when he broke his nose back in the day, missed the Starks sighting.  She was too busy talking to my sister about baby furniture or some shit.

It was a great game, neck and neck until the last buzzer, went into overtime, and I gotta say the new Knicks looked good even though they lost.  McGrady had a productive game, making lots of high energy shots and nice passes, but he missed two clutch free throws down the stretch which kinda cost them the win.  And I like Eddie House, he’s a nice addition to the club and brings some personality to the rotation.  For a bunch of guys who’ve never played together, it was a better than decent showing.  I see potential.  But I still think there’s some more guys to get rid of.  And of course, we gotta get Lebron.  Come on Bron Bron, what superstar athlete wouldn’t want to play in New York?  Check the highlights from last night’s game below…

By the way, Durant really is sick with it.  He made some huge shots last night.  He’s my favorite player in the NBA right now.  Check Tommy Dee (who we chilled with at halftime) at The Knicks Blog for more commentary on last night’s game HERE.  Scream.

Get Him To The Greek

Events, Fly Spots, My Dudes, Stan Ipcus

Get Him To The Greek, the highly anticipated Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill (see above), finally released its official trailer.  Looks like quite an adventure.  I’m very excited about this movie for a few reasons.  One, I’m a big fan of Judd Apatow movies, and FSM is a classic.  Two, my boy Nick Kroll is in it, as is his boy Aziz Ansari (they popped up together briefly in I Love You, Man too).  Check them both out in the first couple seconds of the trailer with Diddy.  Yes!

My third and final reason why I’m excited about Get Him To The Greek is because I’ve performed there!  Ahh, the summer of 2006.  Check the pic of me rocking with Matisyahu at the Greek Theatre…

Finally, a movie I’m looking forward to seeing.  Anything else good coming out?

Presidential Moments

Events

It’s been one year since President Barack Obama took the oath of office.  His approval rating is down, but I still think he has the potential to help our country (and the world) be a better place to live.  My sister Becca sent me over this “pretty incredible” photo gallery by the White House photographer, capturing some great presidential moments from his first year in office, the last shot which is posted above.  Yes, Obama called on his predecessors to help him with the Haiti earthquake relief efforts last week, and this historic photo was taken at the White House after their press conference.  Check out the rest of the pictures in the link below, which includes lots of intimate shots of Obama at the White House and around the world with his staff and family.  They are excellent.

Pictures from President Obama’s First Year

As for some lighter presidential moments, well this speech that George W. Bush made in Miami a few years ago always cracks me up, no matter how many times I watch it.  “Dan Marino and his, uh, really dynamic wife…”  Hahahahaha!!!!

And finally, watch comedian Don Rickles roast President Reagan.  Wow…

Keep going President Obama.  Westcheddar supports you…

Hammer Heads

Events, My Dudes, Stan Ipcus, The Good Old Days

That’s a young Wedding Crashers shot right there.  Stan Ipcus and Matty B.  Pause.  I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing!  I think we’re dancing crazy for some field hockey girls (shout out to Chrissy Castro I’m pretty sure that’s her room).  Anyway, I found some old footage of us performing our hard body duet “Hammer” from the first Stan Ipcus and Friends White Plains Thirsty Turtle show in November of 2006, and I finally got around to uploading it.  This was a great night…

“Hammer”, which is actually a love song if you do the knowledge to it, first appeared on my mixtape Bachelor Party, which also features our other collaboration “Highlands To Hollywood”.  This is my personal favorite body of work.  Download it HERE. And for more Thirsty Turtle moments, CLICK HERE.  Shout out to my dude Matty B!!!!  And special birthday shout out to my dog Killa Kam aka K-Wet out in California!!!!