Tarry Tavern Will Open Soon in Tarrytown

A predominance of contemporary American dishes and tavern food is planned for the Tarry Tavern menu by owner Henry Cabral and Chef Gregory Vernick. 

Although an opening date for the Tarrytown restaurant hasn't been set it should be soon as renovation is essentially finished. Tarry Tavern, located at 27 Main Street, will purchase dairy products, vegetables, poultry and pork products from farms located within 75 miles of the restaurant. Many of its foods and compliments will be homemade including Mozzarella cheese, ketchup, mustard and sausage.

Both Cabral and Vernick are Tarrytown residents, and this is Cabral's first venture as an owner; he previously worked at Thomas Keller's Per Se (a three-star Michelin rated restaurant in midtown Manhattan), at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills (he was there on opening day), and with his dad Fernando at Caravela in Tarrytown.

The menu for Tarry Tavern is still being fine tuned but it will include Atlantic seafood, strip steak, grass-fed burgers, grilled Caesar salad, various flat breads, homemade sausages, terrines and fried green tomatoes with a sunny side up egg. 

Its seafood offerings will include halibut, black bass, mussels and lobster - provided by a supplier in Maine. Grilled chicken for two with lemon-chicken au jus will be accompanied by corn off the cob and creamy mashed potatoes.

Two Italian dishes chosen for the menu are actually holdovers from Lago di Como, the restaurant that formerly occupied the space now home to Tarry Tavern. Pollo il Mattone is served as a whole chicken with backbone removed, butterflied (flipped up) and grilled with a brick on top to keep the skin crispy. Gnocchi is made from Yukon Gold potatoes.

The dessert list includes Hudson Valley milk bottled at Ronnybrook Farm served with three cookies: chocolate chip, oatmeal raison and Macadamia.

Vernick is a native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Six days after earning a degree in Hospitality Administration at Boston University, he continued his education by studying for  a degree in Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.  Following graduation from CIA, he worked at several Manhattan restaurants including Per Se and then joined the Jean-Georges Vongerichten organization as a Sous Chef. Subsequently, he was assigned to train chefs  at newly acquired restaurants worldwide for the culinary empire of the acclaimed chef and cookbook author. This job took a toll with Vernick spending 110 days on the road last year during a company expansion phase that added two or three restaurants a month. His mentors were Jean-George Vongerichten and his Corporate Chef Greg Brainin.

The interior of the restaurant has been redesigned with an emphasis on red oak; it appears as flooring, as paneled walls and in a large overhead frame for the bar; imported from England. The long bar is on the right as you enter the restaurant; it was on the left at Lago di Como.

Dinner only will be served from Tuesday through Sunday when Tarry Tavern opens but lunch will be added at a later date.