By Karen Talbot

Harvest on Hudson
1 River Street
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
914-478-2800

Sep. 13, 2017:  The glorious view of the Hudson River and attractive ambience are hard to beat. And main courses can be pricey, so, in our case, we chose from the many excellent appetizers on the menu and did fine. 

Harvest on Hudson is a very large Italian restaurant with outdoor patio dining right on the river with a bar, along with a two-level main dining room that sweeps around inside with high ceilings, a bar, and lounge area. A large, tall stone fireplace separates the two dining areas, which should make for a cozy atmosphere on rainy nights or in the off-season.

The chef, David Amorelli, uses locally sourced ingredients of fresh vegetables and herbs from the outside organic garden. Our foursome chose not to order from the main menu (secondi) which in most cases started at $29 for the organic lemon half chicken, $54 for the veal chop, and $99 for the porterhouse steak for two. From crudo (ice cold and mostly raw) menu, we ordered the East Coast oysters, half dozen on the half shell, which were very good, served with red pepper-lime mignonette and cocktail sauce; from sfizi (specialty appetizers), we had baked dates wrapped in bacon and stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and almonds, and mortadella meatballs in tomato sauce with grated parmesan. They were moist and flavorful but served lukewarm. 

Our antipasti selections were artichoke guida--absolutely delicious--with shaved pecorino, arugula pesto, and roasted garlic; crispy crab cake, consisting of jumbo lump crabmeat served with savoy cabbage slaw and tomato mostarda; and country paté with pickled vegetables and whole-grain mustard. Insalate selections we tried were the seafood salad--fresh and enjoyable, consisting of shrimp, calamari, octopus, and scungilli with lemon olive oil, vinegar pepper, and red onion--and arugula and prosciutto, dressed with lemon, olive oil, and gorgonzola cheese.

The service was quite good, with two waiters working in tandem to make sure the food and wine were delivered to our table in a timely fashion. However, when we had finished, there was a long wait for dessert and coffee; we had to ask for the dessert menu. We shared the lavender panna cotta with berries, which was very good.

Harvest on Hudson, which is part of the Fort Pond Bay Company family of restaurants that includes the Half Moon in Dobbs Ferry, has been open for almost twenty years and serves lunch and dinner seven days a week and brunch and dinner on Sundays. It also serves paninis, primi (pasta and risotto), and brick oven pizza in seven combinations.

Pictured here:  Scenes from Harvest on Hudson.

Photo courtesy Harvest on Hudson