Health and Life

You can't have a fabulous meal without great ingredients. So where do Westchester’s top chefs find the makings of their famed fare? To find out, Westchester Health & Life tagged along on a food-buying expedition with Matthew Karp, head chef at Plates in Larchmont (914-834-1244, www.platesonthepark.com), who can regularly be found searching Westchester food markets for intriguing ingredients and last-minute inspiration. We spent an energetic morning hitting the markets with Karp, and also convinced four other area chefs to reveal their favorite places to find fresh, flavorful and sometimes exotic foods.

9:15 a.m. It’s a gorgeous spring morning, and Karp pulls into the parking lot at Plates. The cozy, cottage-style building—which, during its 100-plus years, has been a rest station for New Haven Line conductors, a butcher shop and an Irish pub—is quiet, but Karp is bursting with energy. He’s already been to his aikido class (the chef is also a three-time Ironman triathlete) and is ready to hit the road.

We take off for one of his favorite food purveyors, Cosmo & Alex Pisano Brothers, an Italian-American deli in downtown Mamaroneck (914-381-4402). A local fixture for 45 years, the shop is bursting with enticing foods, most imported from Italy. Salami, prosciutto and fragrant cheeses dangle tantalizingly. Pungent olives and a mouthwatering display of prepared foods fill a counter. Karp excitedly points out dried beans and grains, such as faro, and the entire aisle of dried pastas, featuring varieties hard to find in the U.S. Across the aisle are bags of rice for risotto. For aspiring gourmets, Karp recommends carnaroli—“so forgiving that even a first-timer can make a perfect risotto.” He zeroes in on the floor-to- ceiling shelves brimming with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and selects a special bottle of Aceta Balsamico Tradizionale de Modena for his uncle’s 70th birthday. “It’s aged in casks, like wine,” he explains. Price tag: $86.

We next head down the block to Village Farms, a Korean fruit and vegetable market. The owners get their produce from Hunts Point Market, Karp explains, as do many local stores—but “there are various degrees of quality. Here, it’s top-notch ... and they charge for it.” Still, Karp doesn’t mind. “The nectarines and peaches in the summer are out of control!” he says happily.

10:30 a.m. We’re zipping toward White Plains, home of two of Karp’s favorite Asian supermarkets. Though Karp studied at Le Cordon Bleu and trained in Europe and New York (he worked under Roger Verge in France and the colorful Gordon Ramsay in London, and at Restaurant Daniel and Bouley in New York City), he has a fondness for Asian cuisine. In fact, Karp confides, his culinary education began in junior high when he and his mom took cooking classes at Manhattan’s China Institute.

So it’s no surprise to learn that the chef is a big fan of the Japanese market Daido (914-683-6735). A small selection of interesting potted plants is stacked near the doorway, including shisito peppers (delicious fried with olive oil and sea salt). In the condiments aisle, he picks up miso paste for tonight’s sardine croquettes. Nearby is Koon Chun Hoisin Sauce, which Karp pronounces “the best! You could eat it off a napkin, it’s so good.” He buys a bottle to use in Chinese pork buns.

The store’s highlight is its pristine fish—so fresh, the flesh actually sparkles. He admires the sushi-grade tuna and baby octopuses, then selects tilefish for tonight’s ceviche. He resists mizuna greens, garlic chives, daikon radish, cucumbers ... but the truth is, he says, “I’m tempted to buy everything I see.”

11:15 a.m. We drive into downtown White Plains to Kam Sen Asian Market (914-428-4500,www.kamsenfoods.com), where we wander past tanks of live fish, butchers with cleavers and cases of beef and poultry. The chef tosses a few cans of lychees in his cart—“the canned product has an even stronger flavor than the original,” he explains—to serve with foie gras or to make lychee martinis. In the noodle aisle, Karp examines wide Shanghai and thick udon varieties before selecting a few packages of lo mein for a duck ramen-style soup. We move on to the greens— “Their greens can’t be beat!” —where he grabs some bok choy and yu choy (similar to Chinese broccoli). He also snatches up a couple of packages of whole garlic heads. “We’ll deep-fry them whole and use them as garnishes!”

11:45 a.m. By the time we arrive on New Rochelle’s Main Street, we’re ravenous. So before tackling the bustling Viva Ranch Fruit Market (914-632-6496), Karp takes us to his favorite local dive—the hospitable El Michoacan (914-654-9315). We devour delicious pork tacos and shrimp tostadas, then walk down the street to Viva Ranch. “A dollar ninety-nine for a pineapple!” Karp exclaims as we walk in. “That’s a great price.”

Karp is a big fan of chef Rick Bayless, who specializes in authentic Mexican fare, and it’s clear that he knows his Latin foods. He eyes hot sauces, jalapeños and dried peppers, selecting some fine speckled cranberry beans for a soup and epazote (Mexican oregano) for a favorite Bayless recipe. Just past the cactus leaves, some baby eggplants catch his eye. He decides they’d be just the thing to hollow out and stuff with the lamb (from Fleisher’s Grass-Fed and Organic Meats in Kingston; 845-338- 6666, www.fleishers.com) he’s planning to braise with mint for tonight’s menu.

Pleased, he shovels some into large bags.

1:15 p.m. At Auray Gourmet in Larchmont (914-833-3274, www.auraygourmet.com), Karp heads straight for the meats and cheeses. “Their charcuterie is second to none!” he raves, pausing to admire the Camembert, Tallegio, Chimay from Belgium and Humboldt Fog blue. You can see that he’d like to sample it all—but there’s an afternoon meeting on the calendar and a menu to prepare. Diners are looking forward to their night out; responsibility calls. And the chef answers.

“Whole Foods Market in White Plains (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) has a great selection of fruits and vegetables—very fresh,” says Palomino. The La Marqueta markets in Mount Kisco (914-244-3000) and Port Chester (914-939-1330) are another favorite source for fruits, while Despaña in Queens (718-779-4971,www.despanabrandfoods.com; shipping available) is a go-to supplier for chorizo. “They have any type— Colombian (pork sausage with cumin, garlic and coriander) and dry—as well as Serrano ham and cheeses,” he says. He also cites Kalustyan’s in Manhattan’s Little India (212-685-3451, www.kalustyans.com) for exotic spices like saffron, plus dried mango pulp in the winter, when fresh fruits aren’t in season. No need to venture into the city unless you’d just like to—Kalustyan’s is happy to ship.

Beaty enjoys shopping at the Hastings Farmers Market (www.hastingsfarmersmarket.org), where he looks for eggs from chickens raised locally, without steroids, antibiotics or growth hormones. “You hold these eggs and they feel heavy for their size—like paperweights,” he says. “When you crack them open the yolks are orange, not yellow—like the color of a school bus.” He also recommends Hastings Prime Meats (914- 478-2392) in Hastings-on-Hudson and Dante Delicatessen (914-946-3609) in White Plains, and says DeCicco Family Market in Ardsley (914-813-2009, www.deciccos.com; other locations can be found in Pelham and Scarsdale) is a good source for cheese as well as Spanish and Italian foods. A bit beyond Westchester, Beaty recommends the cheeses from Coach Farm in Pine Plains (www.coachfarm.com) and the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company (www.blacksheepcheese.com)—both companies sell their products online.

X2O Xaviars on the Hudson has a menu that includes a full sushi bar—“but it’s my interpretation of sushi,” says the chef. Since Kelly lives just over the Westchester line in Rockland County, he often turns to Rockland Seafood in Bardonia (845-624-3660). “Whatever you want—Nantucket scallops, Montauk skate, softshell crabs—they’ll get,” he says. “They’re a full-service seafood monger.” For meat, Kelly heads south to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. “The best butcher I know of is Biancardi’s Meats (718-733-4058),” he says. “You want veal scallopini—they cut it and pound it for you right there. They’ll tie up a pork roast to your specifications. And they do a lot of their own cured meats.” Back in Westchester, the chef says he’s often inspired by what he finds at the Hastings Farmers Market (www.hastingsfarmersmarket.org). “You go and there’s lavender, so maybe we do a lavender ice cream to sit next to a lemon tart. Or we make a salad with dandelion greens.” Finally, for desserts, “there’s a guy in Mount Kisco at La Tulipe who does a great job” (914- 242-4555, www.latulipedesserts.com).

“Small farmer’s markets are key,” says Lewis. So on a summer Saturday morning, he often leaves his Connecticut home and stops at markets in New Canaan, South Salem and John Jay High School in Cross River on his way to the Inn. To help himself—and other locals—Lewis even established his own weekly market at the Bedford Post Inn (Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) “We have up to 15 artisan producers and farmers from the Hudson Valley, Westchester and Fairfield County,” he explains. “Then, at 7:30, we have a family- style meal at a big farm table.” Lewis also recommends the small, local Scott’s Corner Market that takes place on Sundays in Pound Ridge (914-764-7699). “It’s really small and country—great stuff,” he says, noting that one of his favorite vendors there is John Boy’s Mountain View Farm from Jackson, near the Berkshires. “Then I go to Plum Plums cheese store (914-764-1525, www.plumplumscheese.com), which is right across the street from the market. It’s a great little artisan shop. They seek out hard-to-find cheeses for us and vet the vendors. I stop by every other day.”

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