Midnight Roast Chicken, and a day at Dia

Disclosure: This isn't a Westchester entry. It takes place in Duchess. Paul and I drove up Route 9 along the Hudson to the lovely Beacon, where we visited Dia, an art museum where you are not allowed to take pictures. I asked permission after snapping this one, so I consider myself within the realm of ethics ... somewhat ... by publishing it here. This is an Andy Warhol installation called "Shadows." There are some awesomely comfy couches right in the middle of the room, perfect for considering the paintings. And the light streaming in from windows near the roof. And also perfect for my wait at the end of the day for Paul to finish up looking at art.

The building itself is gorgeous -- a former box-printing factory for Nabisco, right on the gleaming Hudson. Favorites: huge line drawings designed by the late Sol LeWitt, and a panoramic wall installation of vintage postcards, by Zoe Leonard.

Then we drove home the quick way (via I-87) as it got dark, visited with our baby nephew for an hour or two, got groceries, and went home to cook a very late supper: roast chicken, which we ate piping hot and crackling on slices of wheat bread with butter, and a glass each of Terra Andina carmenere. Is there anything better at midnight?





And that's Paul, pulling apart the roasted chicken even though it was still so hot it burned his fingers. Delicious.

Putting the fizz in an afternoon walk

South Broadway in Yonkers is an interesting mix of old and new. The signs pictured here, rusting Pepsi on a shuttered deli and fading Coca-Cola on a still operating luncheonette, are ties to a past that still peeks through a wide-ranging menu of Chinese, Portuguese, Cuban, Mexican, Italian and other restaurants.

In addition, there's an eclectic hardware store with uneven floors and haphazardly stocked shelves you'd wish your neighborhood had after it gentrified. Also open for business: a silversmith and a piano store.

There's a storefront called Triple Magnet that offers haircuts, a photo studio and games. A small thrift shop (open when it has volunteers, according to the sign, and those volunteers were so ready to leave when I stepped inside they almost locked me in) had a surprisingly unworn but unsurprisingly pulpy best-seller pile of books.

Fall color

The first hints of red, yellow and brown are peeking into the trees around the city as the weather gets cooler. Fall colors, driven in from upstate and farms inland predominate at the farmers' markets. Apples, squash, gourds, peppers, pumpkins and corn display the full spectrum of autumn taste and tint. Here's a glimpse from the Thursday market in Yonkers.

Full list of farmers' markets in Westchester County.

Yonkers tacos redux

I mentioned that Tacos El Poblano had a bar for topping tacos. Feast your eyes on the spread of chopped cilantro, tomatoes, onions, peppers, radishes lime, salsa verde and salsa rojo.

The service is friendly and speedy, and the carnitas are crunchy on the ends leading to soft strands of meat that is heaped on the hot tortillas.

The toppings bar

The finished taco. It was tasty.

Tacos downtown Yonkers

I haven't had a specific taco craving, but I had been eyeing the signs for Mexican food downtown Yonkers for some time when I finally had the chance to sample a couple of weeks ago.

Getty Square Luncheonette has a wide-ranging menu including traditional breakfast platters (the hashbrowns looked tempting). The beef taco was incredible, a browned heaping of meat on two steaming tortillas topped with freshly chopped cilantro, onions, guacamole. It comes with lime slices for squeezing over the awesome pile, as well as crispy radish slices and red and green hot sauces.

Emboldened by my find, I also tried Tacos El Poblano, a brightly painted shack nearby with a solely Mexican menu. The carnitas and steak tacos came on similarly steaming tortillas, but with no veggies. Those choices are left to the eater, who has an entire salad bar of chopped cilantro, onions, pickled peppers and more to top off the tacos. The carnitas were brown and crispy. The beef not as good as Getty Square (I later tried Getty Square's carnitas -- not as good at Tacos el Poblano) but not bad.

For less than three bucks a taco, you can't go wrong at either place.

Getty Square: 2 Main Street, Yonkers NY

Tacos El Poblano: On the Southeast corner of the intersection of New Main Street and Nepperhan Avenue, Yonkers, NY

Johnny's

Plain pie from a visit in July.

Worth noting: one man's quest to make the perfect New York pizza in Atlanta.

Cooking credentials

I'd be less shameless in my first post, but I need to go get pictures and names to give you the lowdown on two great taco places downtown Yonkers. Get your appetite ready for that one.

While you're salivating over the thought of crispy carnitas and a bar with chopped veggies for topping piping hot tortillas and meat, here's a nod to Liz's taste and cooking.

She prepared an awesome roast chicken (who wants to see her post the recipe, raise your fork), skin-on mashed potatoes and green beens tonight. Feast your eyes on one fowl dish.

I'm sure the birds roasting as you walk into Malecon, 390 South Broadway in Yonkers, are almost as tasty. We ordered other dishes, which were great, although they took longer than the chicken, which arrived almost as fast as the people at the neighboring table ordered. The mojito was tasty, mint and sugar crushed with a pestal and a twig of sugar cane sticking out of the glass. The avacodo salad was overkill (I'm not sure I can eat a whole avacado in a sitting even if it's guacamole) given that there was avacado on the regular salad. Definitely worth trying. Everything was well-prepared and tasty with moderate pricing, although drinks can add up quickly.