The latest addition to the Purchase restaurant scene is Trattoria 632, on Anderson Hill Road. Specializing in northern and southern Italian cuisine, the trattoria offers an expansive menu, comfortable setting, and good service.
By Janice Llanes Fabry
The latest addition to the Purchase restaurant scene is Trattoria 632, on Anderson Hill Road. Specializing in northern and southern Italian cuisine, the trattoria offers an expansive menu, comfortable setting, and good service.
Enjoying the distinction of being the owner of the only Italian restaurant in the Harrison hamlet, John Gresia admitted, “The location intrigued me. I felt we had a captive audience here among the mix of corporations and a large residential community. We’ve been well-received.”
Indeed, its neighbors have found a welcomed eatery in Trattoria 632 in the short time since it reopened last summer. Originally called Full Moon Trattoria, the restaurant was rebuilt following a fire that destroyed the better part of it, only a month after it opened over a year ago. The more auspicious reincarnation boasts a mahogany bar and a casual wood oven pizzeria that offers a myriad of pizzettes with various toppings, from prosciutto and artichoke hearts to avocado and baby arugula. A more formal dining room next door is available for lunch and dinner as well.
The dinner menu is divided into a bountiful selection of pizzettes, salads, soups, antipasti, pasta, and secondi. The lunch selections include frittatas, paninis, and burgers, too. A two-course price fixe lunch is available for $19 per person. In addition, there are plenty of kids’ selections.
Having designed the menu himself, Gresia explained, “I always had a passion for food. We pride ourselves in using only simple and fresh ingredients. We also make our own mozzarella and homemade pastas daily.”
Chef Oscar Melendez, formerly of Spaccarelli’s in Millwood, offers daily specials such as filet mignon on the bone, and seasonal items such as pizzettes with fresh figs. Among the signature dishes are: Zuppa di Pesce with fresh seafood over linguine; Veal Scaloppini Forestierre with wild mushrooms; New York Strip Pizzaiola with plum tomatoes, onions, and peppers; and Pork Tenderloin Balsamico with sweet and hot peppers and roasted garlic.
Trattoria 632 serves every kind of pasta — from homemade ravioli, gnocchi or lasagna to bucatini with pancetta, squid ink pasta with seafood, and gluten-free fettuccine. (Gresia shares his orecchiette with sausage recipe below.)
Save room for dessert. We recommend one of the trattoria’s many gelatos or a pizzette with nutella. An extensive wine list is available a well.
Gresia, a caterer who also owns Westchester Manor in Hastings-on-Hudson, opens an additional dining room upstairs for private parties. Ample parking is available in the rear. For reservations, call 481-5811. Trattoria 632: 632 Anderson Hill Road Purchase.
Orecchiette Boscaiola
Serves 4
Ingredients:
16 ounces pureed pomodori pelati
1 fresh or dried porcini mushroom
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 shallot. diced
3 T. olive oil, fresh ricotta, salt & pepper
Pecorino cheese, freshly grated 1
1 pound orecchiette
-Sauté shallots in olive oil until tender. Add garlic, porcini (soak until tender if using dried), and pork meat. Stir for 6-8 minutes, until meat is browned.
-Add the pureed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
-Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to boil. Add orecchiette and cook for 12 minutes, until just tender but still firm to the bite. Drain the pasta and return to the same pan.
-Add the sauce to the pasta along with fresh grated cheese.
-Plate the pasta and top with a dollop of fresh ricotta.
