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2 weeks ago | 
ctbites.com | Andrew Dominick
Menu Highlight: Kawa Ni in Westport Introduces "The Katsu Burger" Chris Gonzalez is never surprised when people (including me) bring up Hapa Food Truck, specifically THAT burger. You know the one. Juicy grass-fed beef, a thick strip of tender pork belly, ultra caramelized onions, Vermont cheddar, lettuce and tomato, all between an eye catching purple ube bun. But those days are gone and these days are now.
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1 month ago | 
l8r.it | Andrew Dominick |Polly Sparling |Sabrina Sucato
Columbia County • Dutchess County • Orange County • Rockland County • Ulster CountyThere’s more than one river running through the Hudson Valley. While the mighty Hudson gives the region its namesake, the flowing trails of local vino are what mark the Valley as one of the most beloved wine countries in the United States. The reputation is well-deserved, too. Throughout the Hudson Valley, winemakers craft vintages that are always a cut above the rest.
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1 month ago | 
l8r.it | Andrew Dominick
Winston Churchill once uttered a not-so-subtle dig at one of the ingredients that makes a martini a martini. When asked how much vermouth he wanted in his, he replied, “I would like to observe the vermouth from across the room while I drink my martini.”Vermouth, both the sweet and the dry, is essential to many classic cocktails, which are enjoying a resurgence at bars across the Hudson Valley and beyond.
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1 month ago | 
ctbites.com | Andrew Dominick
Preview: Taco Guy Opening Tacos 203 at the South Norwalk Train Station Everything you’ve heard about Adrian Hurtado and his Taco Guy brand opening a new taqueria in Norwalk are true, even if some of the details weren’t originally clear or correct. Numero tres for Hurtado, if we’re counting the taco truck first, then his Wall Street spot second, is Tacos 203, not Carnitas Michoacán, regardless of what you may have heard.
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2 months ago | 
ctbites.com | Andrew Dominick
It’s A Woman’s World: Pizzaiolo Alexandra Castro of Everything Dough You’re visiting your favorite Neapolitan pizzeria. Almost always, the person “manning” the wood-fired oven is, well, a man. Shattering that mold is Alexandra Castro, whose love story with pizza began when she was a kid in her home country of Colombia.
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
l8r.it | Andrew Dominick |Raphael Beretta
Note: A shorter version of this digital article ran in our February 2025 print issue. From bootlegging in the Prohibition era to the recent craft beverage resurgence, the Hudson Valley has a reputation for serving up inventive booze. It remains the country’s oldest winemaking region, and area breweries have taken advantage of ideal hop-growing conditions and other local ingredients for beers with unparalleled flavor. However, few Valley specialties pack more of a punch than its liquor.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
westchestermagazine.com | Andrew Dominick
When it’s cold outside and the usual heartwarming pour of a neat dram isn’t cutting it, you need something that may not necessarily be higher in ABV, but something that’s higher in temperature. The oldest known — and most quintessential — of the hot cocktails is a toddy. A hot toddy is usually served with hot water and citrus (typically lemon) or tea with a healthy glug of brown liquor, usually whiskey.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
westchestermagazine.com | Andrew Dominick
We’re waiting…And, breweries, if you’re going to brew a pumpkin beer that ends up tasting like a liquified baked sweet potato anyway, let’s ditch the cinnamony, nutmeggy, sugared rim pint glasses, too. You know who you are. Let’s leave pumpkin spice and everything nice to Starbucks. This fall, and every fall thereafter, let’s switch out the pumpkin for a cask ale at a British pub or a barleywine at a brewery. Something with apples instead? No problem.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
westchestermagazine.com | Andrew Dominick
If you find yourself in Hartsdale, specifically at the new Matanzas Cuban Cafe, and you meet its owner, Annarella Hernandez-Dias, you’ll feel her passion for her family and culture immediately. Although she just opened Matanzas (named after the city located on Cuba’s north shore) this summer, the idea to serve Cuban comfort food was one that had been cooking for a while. “It’s a passion project that I originally wanted to start with my father, but he passed in 2017 from ALS,” she says.
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Sep 28, 2023 | 
westchestermagazine.com | Andrew Dominick
Suarez beer. Photo by Andrew DominickLeave pumpkin spice and everything nice to Starbucks and enjoy a real fall beer from local breweries instead. When’s the last time you had a pumpkin beer that you were blown away by? We’ll wait…And, breweries, if you’re going brew a pumpkin beer that ends up tasting like a liquified baked sweet potato anyway, let’s ditch the cinnamony, nutmeggy, sugared-rim pint glasses, too. You know who you are.
