TN: Betsy's birthday at X2O
 

Tuesday was Betsy's birthday. As Xavier's in Piermont is one of our
favorite splurge restaurants, we decided to try X2O in Yonkers, Peter
Kelly's newest venture. Wow, how far downtown/waterfront Yonkers has
come! Beautiful restaurant on the pier, very attractive furnishings,
we had a nice table by window (views of barges and water taxis, and
the Palisades in background).

I had checked online winelist before coming. A bottle of '04 de
Villaine Bourgogne blanc beckoned, and I also eyed a half-bottle of
Chablis and a half-bottle of Gagnard Chassange 1er rouge. Of course,
though 95% of the list was accurate, the de Villaine and the Gagnard
was gone. None of the other red halves that were in my budget really
appealed, so ordered a bottle of red and a glass of white.

Our appetizers were a cobia sashimi with apple and mache, plus a warm
salad of sweetbreads, calamari, panisses with fennel pollen, frisee
and pomegranate seeds. Whoa! Very good.

The server had asked who the white was for, and I said "me, but she'll
have a sip." He brought two stems and said "I'll split it for you,
here's a half, oh a little more" and poured what I would call two
glasses. Nice!
The wine was the 2006 (I think) Wishing Tree Unoaked Chardonnay.
Tropical and citrus fruit, borders on sweet, but enough acidity to
balance. Hard to peg as Chardonnay, more like a NZ SB, but likable
enough little wine. B/B-

My main course was squab with a tamarind glaze, on top of cheese grits
with a side of spinach (and more panisses). Betsy got the Berkshire
Black Hog and bacon, sweet potatoes with ginger, and a fruit compote.
We both love creamed spinach, so got a side of that even though I had
some sauteed spinach.

Wine was the 2005 Bernard Baudry "Les Granges" Chinon. A little tannic
and tight at first, but it had been opened for 30-45 minutes before we
got to main courses, and was opening nicely. Fresh clean acidity,
spice, bright raspberry fruit. Developed some tobacco and smoke notes.
A bit tannic, but with the squab a rather nice match. Good length and
concentration, best glass was last. B+

Betsy finished with a lemon napolean with curd and mousse, I had a
small cheese plate with Epossies and petit Basque. My only food
quibble of the evening was the Epoisses was served too cold. The floor
manager was aghast when I told him, and asked what he could offer to
make it up, but I was full and content. I do believe in saying
something if there's a mistake that is easily avoided in future.

Really quite a meal, and X2O joins the very brief list of Westchester
restaurants I could possibly recommend making a trip for.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency