Business Profile: Muscoot Tavern, Somers
The Muscoot Tavern has been a Somers landmark since the 1920’s. Its new owner wants to keep the popular tradition of the restaurant, but added last week he is putting his own stamp on the establishment, which is located at the intersection of routes 35 and 100.
Katonah resident Bobby Epstein said the building was at one time a schoolhouse for Muscoot Farm and was moved to its current Somerstown Road location in the 1920’s. “It’s been a restaurant pretty much ever since,” Epstein said, adding that there have been several owners of the establishment. He has owned it for about a month.
Epstein, who grew up in Bedford, has been coming to the tavern since he was a child. He said his first job was pumping gas in a station that was located across the street from his new business.
Muscoot is not the first restaurant owned by Epstein. “When I was 20 I moved down south and I ran a restaurant in the Bahamas for quite some time,” he said. Epstein returned to northern Westchester about three years ago to open Social on 6 in Mahopac.
“When the owners of this place called me and told me they were ready to sell it was a no brainier. This was like coming home for me,” Epstein said.
Epstein explained he wanted to make some changes to Muscoot Tavern but still keep its traditional appeal. “We really wanted to keep the character and the feel of the restaurant the way it’s been forever,” he said. “It a very comfortable place to come. We didn’t want to change that.”
“We dressed it up a little bit. We put tablecloths on the tables. We refaced the bar. We repainted a little bit. We put some new equipment in the kitchen,” Epstein added.
There are also some changes to the food offered at the eatery. “We’re keeping the old menu with some tweaks to it,” Epstein said. The restaurant is now stressing fresh ingredients and has introduced a raw bar with daily fresh items from the Long Island Sound.
A major change to the restaurant is the hiring of a new chef, Anthony Terzano, who lives on the restaurant property. By coincidence, Epstein was a regular customer at the restaurant Terzano’s uncle, Nick Femia, rain in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where Epstein was a police officer.
Terzano said he broke into the restaurant business 26 years ago working for his uncle after serving in the Marine Corps. Terzano previously operated five successful restaurants in Westchester.
Fresh food is a priority for Terzano. “We want to support all the local growers,” he said.
Some of the new items on the Muscoot include hand crafted pastas and Sunday at Grandma’s, which features an Italian entrée that a grandmother would make for her family, Terzano said, The desserts offered at Muscoot Tavern are created at the restaurant.
Pizzas served at Muscoot Tavern now feature flour imported from Italy and cornmeal and polenta on the bottom of the crusts to make them crispier than typical pizzas, Terzano said.
Epstein said the hours and work needed to succeed in the restaurant business is worth it. “It’s a lot of fun. I get to meet so many new people. I get to impart my creativity and my chef’s creativity,” he said. “It’s a homey feel. I really enjoy it.”
Muscoot Tavern is located at 105 Somerstown Rd., in Somers. For more information call 914-232-2800.
