For my 13th birthday, I went to X20--a restaurant on the Hudson River owned by Chef Peter X. Kelly. Chef Peter X. Kelly is a self taught chef that owns four restaurants collectively called the Xaviar Restaurant Group. He is so good that he won a match against Bobby Flay in Iron Chef America and he's a really nice person too. He let me tour the kitchen and wine room, and I even got a peek at his old cookbooks.
X20 sits right on the Hudson River in Yonkers and has a perfect view of the Palisades.
For my birthday meal I had a couple of appetizers. First I had a very delicious risotto with black truffles and a parmessan crisp. Then I had ravioli with short ribs and foie gras in truffle butter. I had some help from my family--just in case you're thinking that I ate this all by myself. :-)
As an entree I had the Heritage Pork with crispy brussel sprouts and white cheddar grits. I told Chef Kelly that I really liked the brussel sprouts. I did.
For dessert, I had the frozen caramel souffle with warm cardamom donuts. They even scribed "Happy Birthday" on the plate. It looked so good I didn't want to eat it. I wanted to preserve it in my refrigerator..but...it was going to melt. So I ATE IT.
Someone else in my family had this green tea creme brulee. It had a spun sugar nest dome on top. Someone told me it looks like the olympic stadium from the Beijing Olympics and since it's green tea with a lychee compote, I think that that was the intention.
I highly recommend this restaurant if you want to have an exceptional experience. This restaurant is located in Yonkers so it's close to Manhattan without having to go through all of the traffic. You wont be disappointed at all.
Check out the restaurant. www.xaviars.com
