Meet the Chef: Steve McCarthy of Bistro Z in the DoubleTree

Steve McCarthy, Chef de Cuisine at Bistro Z in Tarrytown's DoubleTree hotel, has a diversified cooking education. He studied at three culinary schools, cooked at hotels, country clubs and restaurants, was a food service director for companies and schools, and worked in the U.S.A and overseas. “Chefs tend to work at many different places during their careers,” he said, “which is okay because it helps them learn and experience more than they could otherwise.”  

He grew up in Coconut Creek, Florida, and began working part-time at an Italian restaurant in nearby Margate when he was 14. While attending Coconut Creek High School, he completed courses in culinary arts and chef training at the Atlantic Vocational School in Coconut Creek. His beef bourguignon placed second in a statewide cooking competition, and chef Jerry Ball, one of his instructors, encouraged him to choose cooking as a profession. 

McCarthy joined the U.S. Air Force, attended its culinary school at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, and cooked for squadrons and wings based at F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming. After leaving military service, he worked for chef/owner Ann Howard at her contemporary American restaurant Apricots in Farmington, Connecticut for two years.  

He had played high-school varsity soccer and when he returned to the Sunshine State, he accepted a semi-pro offer from a Florida team. Soon afterwards, a teammate whose father who owned the Hotel Arlesheim, near Basel, Switzerland, helped McCarthy secure an apprenticeship on the hotel’s kitchen staff. 

He worked under a French chef for eight months at the hotel. "A great learning experience," he said, and one day he was able to return the favor. The chef asked McCarthy if he knew how to prepare a dish requested by American tourists for which he couldn’t find a recipe. “What is it called?” McCarthy asked. The chef replied, “Cole slaw.” 

Back in Florida, McCarthy joined Out of Denmark, a restaurant in Delray Beach, where he worked for Copenhagen-trained and promotion-minded chef/owner Jurgen Mueller. “I learned a lot about marketing and promotion on this job,” McCarthy said. He stayed for three years, also earning a Liberal Arts degree from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He spent the next eight years as a sous chef at Boca Rio Country Club and Bocaire County Club, both located in Boca Raton.  

Before joining Bistro Z a year ago, McCarthy worked for Whitsons Culinary Group, a company headquartered in Islandia, NY, that provides dining services to corporations and public and private schools, as food service director. 

One of his responsibilities at Bistro Z, is touring local farms in pursuit of produce, meat and seasonal ingredients. “I’ve done this before,” he pointed out. “We bought from local farms regularly when I worked in Switzerland.”  

The results of his shopping trips can be seen on the Bistro Z menu. For example, the Satur Farm dinner salad combines mixed greens from Satur Farms of Long Island with Four Brothers’ goat milk feta ($8).  

Even the horseradish sauce which accompanies the jumbo shrimp cocktail and the crab cake is made from locally purchased ingredients. Lamb chops come with New York State fingerling potatoes, the spiced poached pear is accompanied by Chatham Farms Berkshire blue cheese, and the hanger steak sandwich is served on a baguette with Hudson Valley Camenbert.  

McCarthy’s baked brie, prepared with lingonberry, caramelized onions and toasted almonds received a Sodexho award in 2005. It is available on the Bistro Z menu.  

New dishes at Bistro Z

The newly introduced fall/winter menu includes veal chop Delmonico with braised escarole and Yukon Mashed Potato ($30) and braised Berkshire pork brisket with maple glazed sweet potato wedges and Hudson Valley apple chutney ($20). other dishes new to the Bistro Z’s fall/winter menu and room service menu include: 

• Lunch entree: Smoked turkey wrap with cranberry mayonnaise, brie, lettuce and tomato in a whole-Wheat wrap ($13)
• Lunch appetizer: Spiced poached pear, blue cheese and cherry balsamic glaze ($8)
• Dinner entree: Braised boneless beef short rib, egg noodles, baby carrots ($24)
• Breakfast: Gluten free buckwheat pancakes

New desserts include pear bread pudding made from locally grown pears and organic maple syrup produced in the upper Hudson Valley and an ice cream sandwich that McCarthy said was inspired by his daughters love for the traditional DoubleTree cookie and vanilla Ice cream.

In addition to roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, the Thanksgiving Day menu on Nov. 24, to be served from from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will offer Tuscan eggplant ravioli and panko-crusted Alaskan cod as entrees. Included are raw-bar shrimp, oysters and clams on the half shell, soup, salads, breads, cheeses and desserts. Cost: $38 for adults, $19 for young adults and $10 for kids under $12.  

Bistro Z plans to introduce an express lunch option in November. Patrons on tight schedules such as local business people will be able to select from soup and salad and get a freshly prepared sandwich, carved to order, at two or three stations. 

Bistro Z is located on the main floor of the Doubletree Hotel Tarrytown, 455 South Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591. It is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Parking is free. 914-524-6410. www.bistroz.com