Restaurants in New Rochelle

The Gnarly Vine doesn't have any trouble winning visitors' affections, perhaps owing to its romantic atmosphere, as described by Westchester Magazine, or perhaps because of its abundance of wine. Westchester Magazine ranked the relaxed venue as one of the best bars in Westchester and also named it the Best Chill Bar Spot in 2009. Featuring a menu of seasonal small plates and a wine list that rattles off more than a hundred vintages by the bottle, The Gnarly Vine inspires the sharing of dishes, toasts, and fire-safety reminders across candle-lit tables.

In an inviting dining room with exposed wood walls and tables that are candlelit in the evenings, visitors to Kashiwa Asian Bistro can enjoy traditional Asian cuisine as well as fusion dishes. Chefs fashion dumplings, pan-fry noodles, and roll sushi with ingredients such as fresh Maine lobster, mango, and white tuna. Dishes such as tortilla-wrapped duck rolls with hoisin and honey mustard sauce blend Eastern and Western flavors.

Chef Brian MacMenamin infuses Post Road Ale House's gastropub menu with clues to his own history and the nation's fine dining legacy, while embracing contemporary culinary touchstones. In the grand tradition of American chophouses, servers prepare salads tableside on a rolling cart before bringing out pastas and the classic cuts of beef, pork, and lamb MacMenamin honed at his now closed, eponymous grill on Cedar Street. A daily raw seafood bar suggests a similar narrative, revisiting a benchmark of dinnertime decadence and nodding to the time the chef spent at the Larchmont Avenue Oyster House. 1950's nostalgia is balanced by seasonal ingredients as MacMenamin wryly innovates low-brow bar snacks, culls side dishes from the Caribbean and the Pacific Rim, and includes options for kids whose primary ingredient is not regret. Furthermore, MacMenamin cultivates a lively atmosphere by hand-picking spirits for public tastings and hosting local bands every Friday night.

The restaurant's semi-formal atmosphere plays with this tension to invigorating effect, with bare brick walls backing a very well stocked, 25-seat bar that accounts for about a third of the room's capacity. The lofted ceiling exposes I-beams and ventilation ducts, under which two rows of sleek leather banquettes abut tables dressed formally in white linen ties and tails.

The brainchild of head chef Anthony Labriola, Caffe Regatta Oyster Bar & Grill dresses traditional ocean critters in Mediterranean duds and packs oysters and other seafood into the raw bar that made a splash in Westchester Magazine. Friendly waiters scurry past white-clothed tables and nautical decor—including miniature boats and real-life sea captains perched on the full-service bar—bearing brunch, lunch, and dinner platters piled with refreshments ranging from lemon-ricotta hotcakes to a half pound of Alaskan king-crab legs. Summertime lures patrons to the outdoor patio, and BYOB Tuesdays give the restaurant's wine list a chance to collect its pages and prepare for another week of staring into thirsty eyes.

In 2011, the Michelin Guide recommended Vareli for its upscale and creative Mediterranean fare, crafted by chef and Gramercy Tavern veteran Amitzur Mor. Chef Mor uses sustainable and organic ingredients whenever possible to inform Vareli’s ever-shifting local menu, which has featured such rich meats as Hudson-Valley duck and Pennsylvania lamb. Resident sommelier Richard Bill draws from his experience at Beacon and Ouest to complement each succulent entree with a wine list of 20 wines by the glass and 100 wines by the bottle. From Thursday to Saturday, Vareli’s kitchens remain open until 2 a.m., so patrons can sip vino and draft beer or rouse sleepwalking roommates with wafts from cheese and charcuterie boards late into the night.

On the ground floor of Vareli, a polished copper bar runs for 20 feet below a rustic arched ceiling, as wide stools belly up to the bar and to barrel-shaped plates. In the upstairs dining room, wide windows look out on treetops and burnished walls support velvety banquettes and lantern sconces. During the summer, couples close in on an intimate outdoor patio for fresh air from nearby Central Park, while colder days invite diners to gather around a cracking fireplace that the New York Times lauds for creating a cozy atmosphere.

Vero Restaurant & Wine Bar's dual Midtown and Uptown locations curate more than 100 international wines served by the bottle and 40 served by the glass. Chefs craft plates of Italian-inspired fare at both locations, serving up seafood dishes and flatbread pizzas for diners to share with companions or stack obsessively into molecular diagrams. An in-house certified sommelier teaches food-and-wine pairings, workshops, and wine-self-esteem seminars at Midtown's wine school or Uptown's wine school. Seasonal workshops teach participants about food and wines of diverse nations, as well as the production and uses of different varietals. At both locations, warm red walls and wood accents surround tall bistro tables with wooden tabletops lit by candlelight and geometric wall sconces. Framed black-and-white photographs and prints stare down approvingly as guests dine and drink or disapprovingly as guests hold paper-football playoffs.