We “Pigged” Out at The Cookery and We Liked It

We Pigged Out at The Cookery and We Liked It: Okay, so it wasn’t the complete pig out, namely Chef David DiBari’s famous Whole Pig Dinner which you can get anytime at The Cookery for a party of six with five-day’s notice. But when we saw a Pig Head Dinner for Two on their Spring Hudson Valley Restaurant Week menu, we jumped at it.

DiBari is a Culinary Institute of America graduate who earned sought after positions at David Bouley’s Danube, Mario Batali’s Babbo and the Eastchester Fish Gourmet. Named Westchester’s Best Chef in 2015 by Westchester Magazine, DiBari has appeared on Good Day New York, WABC’s Neighborhood Eats and CBS’s Toni on NY! And yes, he really can be seen carving whole pigs at the Cookery although he was not there to help us with our pig head.

Like being on Naked and Afraid without the bugs and with your clothes on

And we could have used some help mining the meat that was often hidden below layers of fat, but we eventually caught on and turned this one of a kind experience into a savory meal. Most of the meat on the pig head is in the cheeks and we quickly found a layer of juicy white pork similar to the quality of a chop except more flavorful. After that you just keep digging and eventually you’ll find some of the most succulent dark meat behind the jaw, eye and ear that you’ve ever eaten. Stringy and fall apart like the best pulled pork you’ve ever had.

Eating a pig head is a lot like eating King Crab Legs. It takes a lot of work but ultimately, it’s rewarding. Perhaps the best part of the adventure was sharing the experience with my son who was home from college on Spring Break. It was like a scavenger hunt at a table or like being on Naked and Afraid without the bugs and you get to keep your clothes on. But that’s not why we decided to write about The Cookery. It was really everything else about the place.

“Too ra loo ra, too ra loo rye aye”

DiBari promotes The Cookery as “Westchester’s Best Italian Restaurant’. But when you walk in to this two-story, stand-alone Depression era building on Chestnut Street in Dobbs Ferry it is more reminiscent of an Irish Pub. With the brick walls, original paned glass windows, antique bar, exposed duct work, subway tile and the Wild Boar head on the walls, the only thing missing is sawdust on the floor and a barrel of peanuts at the door.

And whatever your image is of a waitstaff in an Italian restaurant, I’m sure it doesn’t include grunge jeans, flannel shirts and knit Rasta hats. Or the sound of Dexy’s Midnight Runners singing “Come on, Elieen'”. No, this is not date night and don’t take Nona here for her eightieth birthday.

This is where you go for an indulgently delicious meal of serious Italian peasant food! Like the incredible Escarole salad and the super creamy daily mozzarella we had for starters. We also had our eye on the Salt Baked Rutabaga, Fonduta, caviar, herbs, chicken skin crisps and the Butter Beans on the appetizer menu. Who makes these kinds of dishes?

Pick ’em, hull ’em, put on the steam, That’s how we fix butterbeans

They were out of the Rutabaga, so we went with the Butter Beans. We were floored when they came out with this huge plate of white Gigante beans (it could have served four) with two huge slabs of their home-baked “torn bread”. The bread was piping hot, liberally lined with char marks like a good wood oven pizza crust. Delicious. The butter beans, cooked in pork stock, chicken stock, butter and Parmigiano Reggiano and sprinkled with parsley was sinfully delicious. If you have cholesterol issues, you may want to bring a bottle of Lipitor because Chef DiBari loves butter and is not afraid of using it. It was like eating an Alfredo style pasta dish without the eggs. We’re going back for more.

We should tell you that the Starter menu also has something called Buttery Salty Potatoes with Parmigiano and pure Slovenian sea salt. And something else called a Doughnut with pork confit, BBQ onion, basil and spicy maple – also a signature dish. Getting the idea yet?

From Lasagna Bianca to Sticky Date Cake, we ate the whole thing!

We also liked the Casarecce with lamb Bolognese parmigiana and fresh mint. And the White Lasagna with mozzarella, ricotta, besciamella and mushrooms made it into the mouths of everyone at the table. But it could have been the Bone Marrow Cavatelli or the Lemon Fettuccine or the Branzino or Pork Osso Bucco, it’s hard to imagine anything here disappointing. And I just noticed the Goose Fat Potatoes and Creamy White Polenta on the Sides menu. Aye, we could go back a lot of times.

Just one more thing we have to tell you about. Dessert. The Sticky Date Cake with cinnamon ice cream was sick! Like eat it and die because what’s left to live for? It was like the first time you ever had a Cinnabon but with dates. And the Stickabutta Pie was not far behind (we told you about the butter). Fabulous almond crust, drizzled in caramel. The name is scarier than the bite here, we loved this dessert.

Worth the rowdy trip? “Ya-huh!”

Okay, so there it is. If you’re up for a rowdy good time than The Cookery is worth the trip. If not, get in the mood because this is a new entry on the What To Do Bucket List!

Chef DiBari also has a wood-fired “pizza joint” at 14 Cedar St. in Dobbs Ferry that received an “Excellent” rating from Steve Reddicliffe of The New York Times in May 2014 that called Chef DiBari a “genius of dough making”.  And a wood-fired Neapolitan Pizza Truck, called Dough Nation, for corporate and private events with an oven that reaches 900 degrees.

Open for dinner: Tues-Thurs: 5-10pm, Fri-Sat 5-11pm & Sun 5-9pm and Brunch Sat-Sun: 11:30am-3pm

The Cookery, 39 Chestnut St., Dobbs Ferry, 914.305.2336; www.thecookeryrestaurant.com