We Changed our Mind on Primavera

We Changed our Mind on Primavera

Northern Westchester foodies were abuzz in 2006 when the Katonah born foodie, actor and director of the 1996 film Big Night, Stanley Tucci opened Finch Tavern on Rt. 22 in Croton Falls. The beautifully restored white Victorian manor complete with front porch and crowing cupola built by Joel Purdy in 1864 was the former space occupied by Mona Trattoria, a family Italian that held court there for 30 years. Tucci spruced up the interior with impressive dark wood shutters, muted yellow banquettes, soft recessed lighting and a full wall equestrian mural.

We thought, at the time, he had created the perfect fusion between the urban sophistication and back woods horse country ethos that defined North Salem, the rural end of New York City’s suburbia. He brought with him a hot young Manhattan chef who put together an elevated menu of Hudson Valley game, forest mushrooms and chestnuts. But by 2006, Finch Tavern was gone and in its stead was Primavera – a family operated Italian.

Our first foray there was an Easter Sunday lunch with family and it soon became our go to place for all special occasion family luncheons. While the food was good and I immediately fell in love with the duck ravioli in a brown sauce, it didn’t feel the same. And although the New York Times gave it a Good rating – the gild was off the lily. It had gone, in our minds, from a trendy urban oasis in the woods to a stodgy, white table cloth traditional Italian.

Until we went recently. This time at night. And without the Greatest Generation. Maybe it was a generational thing or maybe it was the soft recessed lighting that filled the room after dark. While we had been convinced that everything was different under the new owners we checked some old photos and realized the shutters, the banquettes and the mural were all still there. “They actually didn’t change anything,” we remarked. It’s still Stanley’s renovation. Just with a different menu. And while the Hudson Valley venison, wild boar and squab is gone, along with the James Beard aspirations, we are hard-pressed to think of where you can get a better traditional Italian dinner in northern Westchester than Primavera.

My two favorite Primavera dishes remain the Duck Ravioli and the fresh Filet of Sole Francese. Consistent with its fine dining Italian standards the Sole Francese was delivered in a sizzling thin lemon and white wine sauce – not the thick gloopy mess you may find in a lesser Italian. And on my most recent visit, I was able to have the sole and the duck ravioli by virtue of suggesting it as a starter for our party of five. Everyone agreed it was a brilliant suggestion.

Also passing muster at our table was the pounded thin Veal Chop Milanese; breaded, pan fried and crowned with arugula, tomato, onion and parmigiana. The jumbo Shrimp Scampi served with risotto bathed in scampi sauce. And a pan seared branzino in a mushroom pan jus that was on the evening’s menu.  We started the evening with a bottle of Prosecco, fresh and briny CT blue point oysters and clams oreganata. It was lovely.

With the exception of the Inn at Pound Ridge and the Bedford Post Inn’s Farmhouse, Primavera’s main dining room offers one of the most comfortable, quiet, well-lit and laid back rooms north of 287. Especially if good conversation is on your menu. The service is formal without being stuffy and it’s a good night out for friends, family, or a romantic evening. If you haven’t been, you should try it once. It will fit somewhere in your lifestyle for a return visit, I suspect.

(592 NY-22, Croton Falls, (914) 277-4580; https://primaveraitalian.squarespace.com)