NY/NJ eGullet Brunch

[=Mark]

Hey Rosie!  Do you think it would be a good time to reprise the brunch that we did at Xaviers in the last century?

I know that it is a NY establishment, but since you helped organize the last one I figure you might be able to figure a way to get the ball rolling.  Maybe we could incite the NY board to host it?

As it is an all inclusive deal with endless fabulous food and champagne it seems cut out to be a perfect venue for an eGullet event.  Whacha say?

Rosie, my Bro Rich and I at Xaviers brunch with food writer John Mariani in Spring 1994.

[cabrales]

Mark -- If you recollect, can you provide some background on Xaviers' lunch offering?  

[Rachel Perlow]

That sounds great to me. Which Xaviar's was it at? Why don't we call it a joint NY/NJ event?

[jordyn]

The Xavier's in Garrison is the right choice for Brunch; the Piermont incarnation has brunch-time service, but it's really just lunch.

Especially now that it's warm, the Garrison space is wonderful:  beautiful to start with, spring and summer light streaming in through the open doors make the place a real treat just to sit in.  And of course, the food is bountiful and excellent!

[=Mark]

Mark -- If you recollect, can you provide some background on Xaviers' lunch offering?  

Starting at noon they serve a typical upscale brunch buffet with steamship round of beef, turkey breast and a huge roasted salmon fillet that they slice to order.  There are also an assorted selection of sides, salads and such, but this is just the beginning...

 Every 10 or 15 minutes the waitstaff brings out a series of appetizer sized portions of prepared gourmet dishes.  Pan seared baby lamb chops, huge gulf shrimp with assorted sauces, pancetta wrapped scallops with basil aioli and much, much more.  

It is sort of like a long, unscripted tasting menu along with the buffet items.  Much like the China 46 meal you really had to pace yourself from the start.  There was much oohing and aaahing as each course seems to try to top the previous ones.  This and all the champagne you want goes on for like four straight hours.  

Back in 1994 this all was had for approx. $35  (Of course one of the nicer aspects of that brunch was that Prodigy picked up the whole tab, and I think there were about 30 of us!  That would be a nice touch for eGullet to ponder...)

[Rosie]

Let's see how much interest there is for this, what month people would be interested in having this event and if the NY crowd would come!! :wow:

[Rail Paul]

Garrison is very convenient to MetroNorth's Hudson Line train service from Grand Central Terminal.

Station is in the center of town, where is Xavier's located?

[Rosie]

I think it was on Rt. 9 D and not far from West Point. If the brunch was $35 in '94 then I would assume it has to be much higher now.

[jordyn]

Xaviar's is in the Highalnd Country Club, which is indeed on 9D.  Unfortunately, this is a bit out of the Garrison town center, so it's not practical to use public transportation all the way.

Apparently inflation hasn't hit Putnam County very hard, as the brunch is currently priced at $40.

[Rachel Perlow]

And unless someone can procure an outside sponsor, individuals will be paying for themselves. Sorry, Mark, nice try.

[Rachel Perlow]

I called. The brunch is only on Sundays, and they are already too full to have a large party anytime in May (I was thinking we could postpone the Italian dinner and plan this for May instead, but no). Our options in June would be June 9th or 23rd, 11:30 AM or 2:30 PM seatings. Just from the responses so far, it sounds like we have a minimum of 10. The woman I spoke with said they usually limit the parties to 14 at a table, so I left a message for the Maitre'd to discuss doing a larger table, or seating two large tables next to each other.

Just so you can get an idea of where it is, according to the directions they faxed me, it is a little more than 50 miles up the Palisades Parkway from the George Washington Bridge, up past the Bear Mountain Bridge.

[=Mark]

My Bro and I walked down to the Metro North station from the country club, so public transportation would be doable...

[jordyn]

I pulled out a map to see if I was misremembering the distance between the country club and the town, and although it's closer than I thought, it still appears to be a bit more than a mile.  This is probably a fine distance for some people to walk, and not so fine for others.  It's almost certainly possible to organize taxis between the train station and the restaurant, but on a Sunday it might be wise to plan this in advance.

[Rachel Perlow]

OK, so Mark called me back. It is a champagne brunch, which means all you can drink champagne, but soft drinks are extra. We will have to limit this to 20 participants as that is the absolute maximum they will accept a reservation for. With tax & tip it will be about $50 per person (anyone know the tax rate in Putnum County?), but if you know you will be ordering juice or soda or other alcoholic beverages bring some extra cash to cover your tab.

Anyone have a preference for the date or seating? Again the choices are June 9 or 23 at 11:30AM or 2:30PM.

PS to markstevens: I didn't check to be sure they are following the same food format as they did when you went in '94. Could you give them a call to check on this since you are the one who was there then? Thanks.

[Rosie]

When we were at Xavier's John Mariani was the guest of honor and that may have made a difference in how much non stop food we had. Also, they incuded wine at that time.

[=Mark]

Will give them a call, do you have the number?

Not sure about the 11:30/2:30 seating deal, would the first seating have to leave by 2:30?  Sounds like a drag, I recall eating till almost 4:00 at a noon seating...

[Rachel Perlow]

The phone number is 845-424-4228.

If it is not to be as it was when you were there years ago (endless parade of tasting dishes) and instead just a fancy brunch buffet, are people still as interested in going?

[jhlurie]

We will have to limit this to 20 participants as that is the absolute maximum they will accept a reservation for.

That's easily solved, if the New York and NJ groups call for seperate reservations for the same day under seperate names (assuming that any of the selected days have "room" for more than 20 people at all...).

The tax rate in Putnam is the same as the rest of the state.

[Rail Paul]

Putnam sales tax rate is 7.25% (4% state, plus 3% county, plus 0.25% MTA district).  NYC is 8.25% (4% borough / county makes the difference). Some cities also add a surcharge to the county's rate, as several places on Long Island do..  

That's why I see so many NY plated cars at Garden State Plaza, Woodbridge Mall, Riverside Square (no tax on clothing in NJ), and Home Depot / Circuit City in Secaucus (3% NJ tax in economic advantage zones).

[Rachel Perlow]

I have a feeling that the endless parade of dishes to sample was because you were a special group. I think that the regular brunch is "just" a fabulous brunch. And if that is the case, there are other, less out of the way, places that also offer such fabulous buffet brunches - The Manor in West Orange and the Hilton at Short Hills to name two.

Has anyone been to brunch at The Clinton Inn in Tenafly? It is local to me and I'm curious how it compares to those mentioned above.

[jordyn]

When I had brunch at Xaviar's in 1997, there was also an endless parade of fabulous dishes, and we were just there.  Sadly, we didn't realize there would be an endless parade of fabulous dishes until we were half gorged on fairly fabulous brunch buffet food.

I've not had a better brunch anywhere ever.