There are 34 eateries in downtown Rye, and three new restaurants are on tap to add to that culinary abundance in 2024.
Construction crews are building out two establishments in a new mixed-use building at 12 Purdy Avenue.
Twenty-seat Saigon Table will serve fast casual Vietnamese food in a kitchen led by Lynn Lee, a first-time restaurateur. Lee has teamed up with culinary veteran Eugene Lum, whose family ran Lum Yen in Mamaroneck for many years, and who helped create the popular Duke’s Ramen there.
Born in Saigon, Lee said she was dismayed at the quality of Vietnamese food in New York when she moved here 17 years ago from California. Inspired by Chipotle’s approach to letting customers select the ingredients in their Mexican food, Lee said she will bring that concept of freedom of choice to Saigon’s limited menu of items such as skewered meats, pho, and noodle dishes. That, she hopes, will please families like hers with varied tastes: “My husband hates cilantro, for example, and I love cilantro.”
A team with seven years of experience serving “coffee and” in a cozy sliver of a shop in Larchmont is bringing an expanded incarnation of Sunshine Coffee Roasters next door to Saigon Table.
In addition to small batch fresh-roasted coffee and pastries, Sunshine will offer light lunch items such as grilled cheese, avocado toast, and fresh soups, said co-owner John Minotti.
The owners are investing in a larger space with couches, booths, and various sized tables they hope will be “comfortable for people to hang out in, plug in their laptops, and work or have lunch with a friend,” said Minotti. In addition, Sunshine will open at 6 a.m. on weekdays to serve commuters.
At 24 Purchase Street, Rafele, an Italian restaurant that opened next door in 2018, is creating Gordito to serve Latin Fusion cuisine.