The Hudson Independent: News for Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, NY

Persian Cuisine at its Finest in Elmsford

by Linda Viertel

For anyone who hasn’t yet tasted the joys of Persian cooking, your luck has changed now that Shiraz has opened in Elmsford. Shiraz Persian Cuisine and the adjacent Mediterranean Market are both owned by White Plains resident and the restaurant’s chef, Mohammad Ababaf.

Ababaf, a caterer for New York City diplomatic and corporate events, started the first successful Shiraz in New Jersey. In Elmsford, he has created a welcoming, bright and cheerful decor in which to feature the complex tastes of his native cuisine at very reasonable prices.

Persian cooking is a culinary tradition that stems back in time 4,000 years. And the ingredients suggest a rich heritage, the geography of a country blessed with a variety of fruits, nuts, and spices treasured long ago along the Silk Road. So, when a dish filled with the fragrant aromas of mint and fenugreek, or delicately sauteed shallots and garlic appears, you know you are tasting a bit of history that has been refined for modern palates.

Summer Programs

It’s February and, baby, it’s cold outside, so it must be time again to
check out summer programs! From drama to soccer, history to
computers, filmmaking, to computers, there is something for every
child’s interest in Irvington, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

AYSO Soccer Camp
www.aysosoccercamps.org;
www.aysotarrytown.com
For ages 5 to 16. Half-day, 9 a.m. to noon; full day, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Preference is given to players in the AYSO Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow program.

The Children’s Garden Center Day Camp
Temple Beth Abraham, 25 Leroy Ave.,
Tarrytown, 631-1607, cgc@tba-ny.org.
See the JCC on-the Hudson.

Exhibit at Warner Library

 
Works from artists Donald Whitely (shown here), Martha Evans and Eugenia Miller will be on display at the Warner Library in Tarrytown in February.

Culinary Adventures in February

by Jerry Eimbinder

Paris, as they say, is for lovers, which may explain the irresistible charm of Chiboust, an intimate Parisian bistro in Tarrytown that’s a perfect choice for romantic dining. On Valentine’s Day, February 14, Chiboust will offer a three-course, prix-fixe menu with extraordinary appetizers such as blue crab mille feuille, a wild mushroom/cave-aged-Gruyere strudel and a salad of Syrah poached figs, goat cheese croquette, and spiced pistachio. Rack of lamb is a perfect choice for a winter entreé, and seafood lovers will enjoy either the Arctic char with champagne-caviar sauce or the sesame- glazed ahi tuna. Jill Rose’s famous desserts will be presented tableside. The cost is $75 per person. Call 703-6550.

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Proud to be African American

By Britney Fitzgerald

Although I always have been proud of my heritage, at this particular point in history I am especially proud of what African Americans have achieved. We have risen from working in the fields to holding some of the nation’s highest offices: newly appointed U.S. Senator Roland Burris of Illinois; former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his successor, Condoleeza Rice; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; and, of course, President Barack Obama. While African Americans are most commonly associated with athletic prowess, Obama’s victory represents an intellectual achievement.

We have enjoyed our share of accomplishments over time, some more widely known than others. We are recognized for our great leaders, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks, who were not afraid to follow their dreams and stand up for what they believed. But there are many African Americans whose contributions have not received the recognition they deserve, such as the inventor George Washington Carver, who created peanut butter, and Garret Morgan, who invented the traffic signal which we all use each and every day.

Solutions to Foreclosure Woes are a Phone Call Away

by Sol Skolnick

Of the 2,600 homes in Westchester that are either in default (pre-foreclosure), owned by the bank or listed for public auction, just over three dozen lie within Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow and Irvington.
Declining home values, reduced incomes and the loss of one or both family incomes can diminish your sense of financial security, and then the import of the current economic upheaval really hits home. The good news is with the increase in the volume of mortgage-related problems, potential viable solutions have emerged.

If you believe that your financial problem is temporary, your lender may grant you forbearance, suspending or reducing payments for a short time, a plan giving you the opportunity to make monthly payments that include a portion of the amount that is past due until you bring your balance current.

Be Our Guest: Race in America — Witness to Change

I consider it a privilege to have lived at such a time that I might witness and participate in far-reaching social change regarding race in America: the 75 years from my birth in the segregated South, through the election of America’s first African American president.

I was born into a black middle class family in High Point, North Carolina and lived in the headmaster’s cottage on a 5-acre campus of an industrial school for blacks, founded by Quakers in 1894. In 1922, it became the black high school. Insulated and protected by my college-educated mother who taught in the school, I was 8 years old before I became cognizant of the restraints and restrictions that were to be placed on me because I was a Negro, as we were then called.

Café Manager Relishes His Work at Stone Barns

Step inside the quaint Blue Hill Café at Stone Barns Center and you likely will be greeted by the café’s gregarious manager, Alberto Leyba. As the face of the café, Leyba regularly engages customers from far and wide in conversation with ease. With his affable personality, Leyba can often be overheard chatting enthusiastically as he swiftly prepares lattes and sandwiches for hungry hikers back from the farm.

Born in Santo Domingo, Leyba spent a good part of his childhood growing up in the capital of the Dominican Republic. In 1990, at the age of 10, he moved to New York City and immediately developed an affinity for the area. In order to pursue his interest in aviation, Leyba enrolled in flight school in New York, athough he received his private pilot certification from a subsequent flight school in Alabama after logging more than 70 hours of flight time.

Duck Derby on the Horizon

As many as 2,000 “adopted” rubber duckies will be racing down the mighty Patriot’s Park brook during the Rotary Duck Derby 2009, scheduled for Saturday, April 25. The event will take place in conjunction with the Tarrytown YMCA Healthy Kids Day in the park.

Last year’s events drew hundreds of children and adults cheering on the duckees and participating in the YMCA activities that included rides, music, potato sack races, punk rope and tug-of-war games.

Police Beat

Sleepy Hollow: DNA Opens 30-year-old Murder Case

Sleepy Hollow Police were asked by the District Attorney’s Office in early January to turn over more than 1,000 documents from a 31-year-old case regarding the highly publicized slaying of heiress Ellen Jane Hover, whose bones were found on the grounds of the Rockefeller Estate.

Rodney Alcala, 65, who has spent most of the last 20 years on death row in California for murdering a 12-year-old girl, was recently linked by DNA to two killings in New York, one being Hover, who was last seen leaving her New York City apartment July 15, 1977.