Business Profile: Bistro Twenty Five, White Plains
There’s a new addition to the county-owned Maple Moor golf course in White Plains that will delight both golfers and local Westchester residents alike.
Known as Bistro Twenty Five, the restaurant opened to the public last year and has been attracting a local following since then, as well as catering to the needs of the many golfers who use the public course, one of six in Westchester County.
Co-owned by Joe Mangi and Frank Magistro, Bistro Twenty Five offers fine Italian cuisine in a renovated space that includes an elegant new dining room, a 1,200-square-foot new deck and a revamped bar area.
Mangi, who owns three other restaurants, two in Westchester and one in Ridgefield, Conn., also imported a wood-burning pizza oven from Italy that sits on the deck.
The newly revamped dining room seats 55 people, the bar area seats 24 and the deck accommodates up to 70.
“The challenge for us was to take the previous dining room and turn it into something that people would want to eat fine Italian cuisine in,” said Mangi, a Bronx native. Because the restaurant is away from the “hustle and bustle” of the White Plains downtown area and the fact that it offers ample parking are all reasons, said Mangi, for prospective patrons to check out this newest addition to the White Plains restaurant scene.
In addition to offering what head chef Dina Leigh refers to as “a very classic Italian menu,” Bistro Twenty Five is also known for its wide variety of wood-burned pizzas, including the classic margarita, pepperoni and sausage pizzas, but also specialties with names like “Goat and Portabella,” “Prosciutto & Pesto” and “Chorizo & Shrimp.” The pizza, say the owners, is as close to the traditional Italian pizza as you’ll get anywhere in the New York area.
Leigh, a White Plains native who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, has created a menu that she believes is close to the authentic fare served in restaurants throughout Italy. Leigh searches farmers markets for the freshest, organic food she can find and then goes about creating organically-inspired dishes, the kind of cooking she perfected while living for a year in Florence.
She also oversees the creation of a “very cool Sunday brunch” menu that includes an array of delicious options, including different takes on Eggs Benedict, a favorite breakfast dish, pancakes and a hearty homemade banana bread French toast with caramelized bananas, candied walnuts, Nutella and a dollop of freshly whipped cream.
Some of the classic Italian meals that Leigh likes to dish up at dinnertime include the butternut squash and leek soup, braised veal chops or any other recipe that includes red meats and chicken. Her other favorites include carbonara, spaghetti bolognese and spaghetti and meatballs.
While Bistro Twenty Five is located outside the city’s downtown area, neither the partners nor Leigh see it as a disadvantage. “If anything, I think of Bistro Twenty Five as more of a destination,” said Leigh.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about the food, about the service and about getting to know our customers on a daily basis,” said Mangi. Leigh said the service at Bistro Twenty Five is “very hands-on,” from the owners to the cooks, waiters and servers, “we all have great relationships with our patrons.”
The restaurant is located at 1128 North Street, White Plains (at the entrance to the golf course) and serves breakfast seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 11:30; a lunch and bar menu on Sunday and Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; a lunch menu Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 to 3 p.m., and a bar menu, Tuesday through Saturday, 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. A dinner menu is offered Tuesday through Saturday, from 5 to 10 p.m.
To find out more about Bistro Twenty Five, check out the restaurant’s website at www.bistrotwentyfive.com. Call (914) 437-8100 to make a reservation or use the Open Table reservation system on the restaurant’s website.
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