Happy Friday! Today’s intro is short and sweet. It’s been a long, busy week and I’m so happy for the weekend! Here are five from this week:
1. Orange County Arboretum -It’s been over two years since we visited the Orange County Arboretum. It’s beautiful in the spring and on our recent visit the tulips were in full bloom!
2. Eating – Sunday after our visit to the arboretum we stopped at Thank Goodness It’s Vegan for lunch. We shared the Shrooms basket, Chick’on littles with teriyaki sauce and cheese taquitos.
3. Reading – This week I finished reading Home Made by Liz Hauck. This was the April book pick for my local foodies book club. We had the meeting last week but I hadn’t quite finished the book. I ended up finishing it this week and am glad I did. This is a nonfiction book about a woman who starts a cooking program at a residential home for teenage boys.
4. Cooking – This week one of our favorite dinners was Cauliflower Grain Bowls. I substituted farro for quinoa and also bought a tahini salad dressing instead of making homemade. I’m all about the shortcuts, especially on a weeknight!
5. Watching – Being quarantined for several days I ended up finishing watching all the episodes of Old Enough on Netflix, which I had written about last week. It’s such a cute show!
I also am almost through watching the second season of Bridgerton.
6. School Play– My son was one of two stage crew managers for his middle school play, High School Musical. We saw it Saturday night and it was so good!
7. Drinking – Boba Bam kindly sent me samples of their instant boba tea for a post I wrote for Guilty Eats. Our family, especially my teens, love bubble tea. This is found only at Costco and select Aldi’s
Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a happy Passover and Happy Easter! I didn’t have a Friday post last week because we were on vacation! We flew to Barbados and went on a 7 night Caribbean island hopping cruise. The trip was in honor of my daughter’s 16th birthday. Instead of a big party, she asked for a tropical vacation. Seeing that we hadn’t taken any real vacations in over two years, we thought it was a great idea. It was a fantastic trip and although there were so many things that could have gone wrong, we had a seamless trip. It was definitely a bit stressful pre trip – packing, COVID tests, etc. However, the trip itself was amazing. It was so nice to unplug (we didn’t buy wifi) and spend some real quality time as a family. Here are five from this week:
1. The Cruise Ship – We sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. This is one of their smallest ships, which was fine with us for this trip. There wasn’t that much to do in terms of activities, but that was fine since we were off the ship every day exploring the different islands. The ship left from Barbados and then went to Grenada, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Vincent, Dominica and St. Lucia. I’ll be posting more pictures of our travels on Instagram.
2. Eating – Overall, I was actually pretty disappointed with the food on the cruise this trip. Normally, I really like the food on Royal Caribbean. I did enjoy this lobster tail for dinner on one of the formal nights. Our head waiter told us a story of a previous cruise where a woman ended up eating 32 lobster tails! Pretty unbelievable.
3. Reading – I ended up bringing my kindle on the cruise since I didn’t want to lug bulky books around with me (and our suitcases were already stuffed!). I borrowed a bunch of digital books from the library…..and realized when I went to read one that I hadn’t downloaded them to the kindle! So, I was stuck reading what was already downloaded. Fortunately, I had a Netgalley ARC of Bet on It by Jodie Slaughter. This is a contemporary romance about, “a bingo-based sex pact” that is set to be published this summer.
4. Cooking – It was so nice having a week off from grocery shopping and cooking! Reality set in though and I’m back at it. One of our favorite dinners was Pinch of Yum’s Spicy Peanut Tofu Bowls.
5. Watching – On the plane headed to Barbados I slept, since we were up at 1:45 AM to head to the airport! On the way home I watched 22 Jump Street with Jonah Hill and Tatum Channing. I didn’t realize this movie was so old (2014), but it ended up being an entertaining, light watch.
I also found the show Old Enough on Netflix and have been binge watching it. The short episodes feature a Japanese toddler sent out to run errands. These kids are so adorable and are only 3 -4 years old (some are even younger!). They are walking busy streets, going into stores, etc. by themselves.
6. Driving Permit – Of course as soon as we got home, my daughter wanted to go take her permit test. She went Monday afternoon and passed. We now take her out every afternoon driving (in parking lots and empty streets). She’s not quite ready to hit busy roads yet!
7. COVID – I thought the cruise did a great job with their COVID precautions/testing requirements. We tested the day before we left for our trip, we also got tested before we could board the ship. Then we got tested Saturday before we could fly home on Sunday. Monday I had a cough that got worse later in the week. Wednesday I finally took an at-home test and tested positive! It’s crazy that I made it over two years without getting COVID and then got it now! I am so thankful I was not positive on the ship though, where I would have had to quarantine on the boat for 10 days! So, I’ve been home the past two days quarantined in my bedroom. I’m fine and just have a cough and runny nose. It feels like a cold, which is what I thought I had. Unfortunately, we had to postpone my daughter’s birthday brunch celebration with her friends. But thankfully, the rest of the family is negative!
Happy Friday! This weekend starts the kids’ spring break. We are going on vacation so there won’t be a Friday post next week. I wish everyone an early happy Passover and Happy Easter! Here are five from this week:
1. Hike – Saturday morning we went on an early hike to Rockefeller State Park Preserve. We walked around Swan Lake and walked the Old Railroad Bed Trail to Peaceful Path. It was nice seeing spring trying to make an appearance. I am excited to be able to get more hiking in, now that the weather is starting to warm up!
2. Eating – After our hike we stopped at Falafel Taco for lunch. This is an Israeli-Mexican fusion restaurant. We shared several items including this Fatoosh Taco (fried eggplant, fried egg, black bean hummus, and Israeli salad) along with an Israeli Corn Salad and Mexican Latkes!
3. Reading – This week I finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Even though this isn’t my usual genre, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed his other book The Martian. I’d heard such good things about Project Hail Mary, I thought I’d give it a try and I’m glad that I did.
I also finished listening to The Therapist on book on cd. It was an okay suspense read.
4. Cooking – one of our favorite dinners this week was Honey Sriracha Tofu that I served with rice and roasted broccoli.
5. Watching – Friday we watched King Richard, which was a great movie. Kind of makes me want to play tennis again!
We also watched Tick tick Boom, the musical about Jonathan Larsen. I saw Rent on Broadway twice and it was so interesting to see Jonathan Larsen’s life before that.
A fun television show that I’ve been watching is That’s My Jam on Hulu. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, it’s a music and trivia game show with musicians and celebs competing against each other.
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Unfortunately, I won’t be around on April 12th to link up this post to the monthly Show Us Your Books linkup. However, I still wanted to share my March reads. My reading has continued to slow down and disappointingly, I’ve been picking mostly so-so books. Hoping April brings better books! Here are my March reads:
3 stars:
Burn The Place by Iliana Regan (autobiography/memoir, July 2019) This is the memoir of Iliana Regan. She grew up and spent most of her childhood on a farm and most recently was the owner and chef of Elizabeth, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago. This was the second book of my local foodie book club. I hadn’t heard of the chef or the book prior to this. Memoirs don’t appeal to me very much if I’m not interested in the person they are about. This was just an okay read for me.
Deadly Little Lies by Stephanie DeCarolis (Mystery/Thriller, November 2021) (c/o Netgalley) Juliana lives in the city and has a boyfriend, a good job, and her friends. All that is jeopardized when she receives a text from Jenny. The Jenny from college that she thought was dead. Juliana reconnects with her college friends who also received the same message. Jenny somehow knows secrets that each of them have and is blackmailing them. The story alternates between the past and present as we learn what happened to Jenny and if she is really dead. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for any of the characters and thought the book was just an okay suspense read.
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon (Romance, January 2022) Ari is a meteorologist at the local news station. When her boss Torrance creates a toxic work environment, fighting with her ex-husband, Ari and her co-worker Russell create a plan to try to get the couple back together. While putting their plan into action, the two may end up finding sparks of their own. This was a cute romance read.
4 stars:
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons (Fiction, September 2020) Eudora Honeysett is 85 years old and is ready to die. But then a new family moves in across the street and she meets 10 year-old Rose. Rose brings adventure and excitement to Eudora’s life and may give her a reason to continue to live. I went into this book not knowing anything about it and discovered an emotional but very enjoyable read.
Instamom by Chantel Guertin (romance, June 2021) Kit Kidding is an Instagram influencer whose platform is based on not wanting children. But then she meets Will…..who has a child. Will Kit give up her social media stardom for the guy or will she follow her heart? I started a new job recently and have a longer commute. To make the trip more enjoyable, I decided to listen to audiobooks. Instamom was a book on CD that was readily available at the library. While I didn’t have high hopes for this book, I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it as much as I did. I enjoyed the narration and the overall story.
Fresh seafood prepared with unique flavor combinations and artfully presented. This is what you will find at Brothers Fish & Chips in Ossining. If you haven’t dined here yet, please add it to your list. You may have driven past the restaurant, which is located in a small strip mall on North Highland Avenue (Route 9), next to Mavis Tire. But don’t be fooled by the façade. The restaurant is actually made up of two separate spaces; the right-hand door offering takeout only and the left side a fine dining restaurant.
Lobster Roll with Squid Ink Bread
The Name
The name, Brothers Fish & Chips, pays homage to the brothers who own and run it. Elmer Oliveros and his brother Kevin opened Brothers Fish & Chips in 2010 as just a takeout restaurant. Six years later, they bought the space next door and turned it into a sit down dining space. Kevin now runs the successful restaurant Risotto, in Thornwood, most notable for its flaming cheese wheel. Although Elmer and Kevin no longer work together at Brothers, they still collaborate on recipe development and wine acquisitions.
Crab Risotto
The Chef
Elmer is the oldest of three boys. He grew up on a farm in Guatemala where he assisted his mother in cooking for family and neighbors. The family truly lived off the land, growing their own vegetables and using the milk from their cows. His childhood upbringing has given Elmer respect for produce and animals and has had a major influence on his cooking. At the age of eleven, Elmer started helping out at his aunt’s restaurant. Although he has been around food preparation all his life, Elmer has had no formal culinary education. This makes his skills even more impressive!
When he left Guatemala, Elmer also wanted to leave Guatemalan food behind, so he began specializing in seafood. However, influences of his cultural background have recently started to appear on the menu at Brothers. Homemade tortillas, ceviche and flan are just a few of the dishes that often make appearances on the tasting menu. Elmer isn’t afraid to experiment and diners may enjoy dishes garnished with edible flowers or gold leaf, beer ice cream or smoked desserts!
The Food
I was first introduced to Brothers Fish & Chips several years ago by my friend and food blogger, Ashley from Big Flavors From a Tiny Kitchen. She recommended that our local supper club pay a visit during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. Ever since that dinner, whenever my husband and I have a special occasion to celebrate, Brothers Fish & Chips has become our go-to restaurant.
The seafood from Brothers Fish & Chips is procured from multiple sources. Three times a week, Elmer or his staff make an early morning trip down to Hunt’s Point in the Bronx. He uses other distributors to provide fish that can’t be found at those local vendors.
Many of the fresh herbs and garnishes used in the dishes come from the hydroponic tower garden that is situated in the dining room.
While I prefer to dine in the sit down restaurant, I have enjoyed takeout from Brothers Fish & Seafood. The fried shrimp and French fries that I ordered for lunch were hot, crispy and delicious.
The Tasting Menu
The unquestionable highlight of Brothers Fish & Chips is the tasting menu. We have celebrated many special occasions at the restaurant. Every time we visit we opt for the tasting menu and it never disappoints.
Grilled Octopus
The tasting menu is Chef Elmer’s time to shine. He adapts the tasting menu to the diners and no two tasting menus are the same, even for two different tables dining on the same evening. He may change the order of the dishes that are served or he may send out totally different dishes. If you make multiple visits to the restaurant, you will likely never have the same dish twice. Be sure to come hungry! While there’s no set number of courses to the tasting menu, from personal experience, dinners have typically ranged from 10-12 courses.
Scallop Crudo with Mango Purée
Every dish is well thought out with unique flavor combinations and cooking techniques. Careful consideration is made, even with the plating. From the placement of sauces and garnish on the plate to the serving vessels themselves, many of which are made by local artist Connor McGinn Studios, each course is its own mini piece of art. You can tell that Elmer is passionate about what he does and he takes pride in his craft.
Our most recent dinner included nine savory courses and three desserts. The meal had a satisfying progression, starting with lighter dishes and moving on to more heavier mains. Our first course was a duo of Canadian Oysters served in a box atop coffee beans.
We then had a 24-hour cured salmon tostada on a pea purée. This salmon was “chef’s kiss!”
The next course was a fluke ceviche served in a ring of Japanese and Peruvian sweet potatoes.
“Fish bites” were the next course which included flounder and onion rolled inside a tortilla and topped with a tomatillo sauce and aged pecorino.
Then we were served a crab cake on a homemade mole sauce.
Next was grilled octopus served with mushrooms and onions. Tableside, a port wine reduction sauce was poured over the dish. Octopus, regardless of how it is prepared is one of my favorite dishes at the restaurant.
The octopus was followed by wild salmon atop a pepper sauce with a Chimichurri and a lemon foam.
Next was a wild shrimp taco with Oaxaca cheese, pico de gallo and mango, served in a homemade tortilla created with three different types of corn.
Our last savory dish was a bacalao croquette. As you can see from the savory dishes, Elmer is beginning to incorporate his Guatemalan roots into his cooking.
Before our first dessert course was served, pour over coffee was delivered to the table. Elmer is passionate about coffee and loves the ambiance and aroma that it offers. The restaurant serves single-origin coffee from Central America.
Our first dessert course was a duo of smoked mango and salted vanilla ice cream.
The next course was a coconut flan topped with a blueberry confit and served with a salted plantain.
The last course was an orange lemon olive oil cake topped with Italian meringue that was torched at the table. As you can see, they remembered we were celebrating our anniversary!
Are you drooling yet?! Needless to say, it was an amazing meal. As always, we left stuffed. I couldn’t even pick a favorite dish since they were all so good!
The Cocktails
I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the cocktail selection at Brothers Fish & Chips. Juan is not only the restaurant’s bartender, but he also seats guests, takes orders and brings out dishes. He’s literally a jack-of-all-trades.
He also crafts the cocktail menu, which he changes seasonally. On our most recent visit, my husband enjoyed the Mexicano (Mezcal, orange spritz, lime juice) and the Peach Cobbler (peach brandy, vodka, lemon juice, almond syrup).
For those who prefer not to partake in the tasting menu, Brothers has a limited dinner menu that typically includes ceviche, fish and chips and more. Plus, there are often daily specials. The menu changes seasonally. However, I highly recommend the tasting menu and can’t say enough good things about it!
Tuna Ceviche
Brothers Fish & Chips is small and only seats 24 guests. Reservations are highly recommended, especially on the weekends. Check out the restaurant’s Instagram account to see more pictures of the beautiful dishes that Elmer creates and for updates on special events. He often hosts special wine and cocktail pairing dinners. The restaurant also have an upcoming cooking demo class with Taste of Westchester.
The restaurant offers catering and has a new food truck, which debuted in 2021, that is available to rent for parties.
The Details: Brothers Fish & Chips 172 North Highland Avenue Ossining, NY 10562 (914) 488-5141 website
Hello Friday! I hope you all had a good week. Can you believe it’s the first day of April?! It’s gearing up to be a very busy month around here. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, so I’m hoping to get outside for a bit! Here are five from this week:
1. Anniversary Dinner – Saturday, the weather was crappy and we had a free evening so my husband and I went out for an early anniversary dinner. Our actual anniversary is April 4th but April is a super busy month for us. Since we had no plans, we decided to celebrate early and went to our favorite restaurant Brothers Fish & Chips. We had the chef’s seafood tasting menu which was 12 courses (including 3 dessert courses!). It was such a beautiful and delicious meal! I am working on a post for next week to share all about this amazing restaurant.
2. Eating – Over the weekend my daughter decided to make a big batch of Muddy Buddies using a box of chocolate Chex that we had. I’ve never made Muddy buddies before and they were so good!
3. Reading – My new job has a longer commute, so I’ve started listening to books on CD. This week I finished listening to Instamom by Chantel Guertin. I thought it was going to be a fluff book, but the narration was good and I surprisingly enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
4. Cooking – This week one of my favorite dinners was Cajun Garlic Butter Shrimp with Creamy Pesto Pasta. I cooked the shrimp for my son and I and I made ravioli with pesto sauce for my husband and daughter. I modified the recipe and used bottled pesto sauce instead of making homemade. So much easier, especially on a weeknight!
5. Watching – Last week we watched The Power of the Dog on Netflix. It was slow and not really my fave. I didn’t realize that it was based on a book, which I will likely never read. I didn’t watch the Oscars, even though this year I’ve watched more movies that were nominated than ever before.
6. Guilty Eats Posts: Check out my recent Guilty Eats posts:
My 8yo daughter met a girl at summer camp last year named "Internet." I said no way, that can't be her name but my daughter has been adamant. For almost a year we've been having this discussion.
ANTOINETTE. I just found out her name is Antoinette.
8. Heardle – Is anyone else still doing Wordle?! I am on an 83 day streak! Although there have been numerous spin-offs of the word game – (check out this site for all of the variations!), the only other “-dle” game I’ve been enjoying is Heardle. It’s a music guessing game and I am the WORST at remember artists and song titles, but I still think it’s fun. Some days I get it, some days I don’t.
