ing so it offers me much greater satis-
faction than just another restaurant,”
Kelly says. “Having grown up in the
Yonkers downtown, I take great pride
in being part of the revitalization of
a great city.”
Kelly started dreaming about his
career as a child. Growing up in the
projects not far from X20, he played
restaurant with Ned, one of his 11
siblings. With all those children in the
house, their mother, Harriet, was al-
ready running a mini restaurant every
night—even though her cooking was
simple and economical.
In fact, says Paul Kelly, another
brother, “there were so many kids, my
mother would buy the cans that were
damaged and had no labels. You’d
shake it up and say, ‘It sounds like it’s
fruit cocktail, but it’s lima beans!’”
Peter Kelly began learning about
the restaurant world by waiting tables
at such old-school Continental-style
kitchens as the Plumbush Inn in Cold
Spring, N. Y., and later, the four-star
Laurent in Manhattan.
A trip through Europe was meant
to be his education on the Michelin
three-star experience. It was there
that he came to realize that for a
great restaurant to succeed, the
kitchen and the front of the house
must work in tandem, having the
“same goals and sensibilities.”
He was just 23 when he decided
to strike out on his own. With a
partner—they’ve since parted
ways—he opened Xaviars at Gar-
rison in a country club in the Hudson
highlands. The night before they were
to open, he realized he and the chef
did not share the same goals and
sensibilities. He fired the chef. He
stumbled through orders of coconut
shrimp (a dish his customers still
won’t let him take off the menu), and
eventually got through the evening.
The next day, he cracked open books
like Larousse Gastronomique and
started teaching himself to cook.
After a story on outdoor dining fea-
tured Xaviars as the lead photo, the
restaurant was booked for months.
The national magazines came. He’d
made a name for himself.
But Kelly never has been able to
sit still. Four years later, he opened
Xaviars at Piermont, a tiny restau-
rant dedicated to the highest levels
of cuisine and service. After that, he
went for a more casual, neighborhood
feel with the Freelance Cafe & Wine
Bar in Piermont. (The restaurant at-
tracts such celebrities as Bill Murray
and Rosie O’Donnell with its simple,
straightforward fare like pan-roasted
chicken with spatzel.)
When Kelly opened Restaurant
X & Bully Boy Bar in Congers, N. Y., in
1997, Esquire magazine named it one
of the best new restaurants of 1997.
It was not too long afterward that
Kelly started planning his latest
move: X20. The restaurant took six
years to open, but now Kelly’s heading
into his first fall on that pier, ready to
watch the leaves on the trees across
the river change and fall while the
Hudson River swirls below.
71 Water Grant St., Yonkers, N. Y.
914-965-1111; xaviars.com
What’s
the Story?
You tell us!
Photo courtesy Mendon Twin Drive-In ( mendondrivein.com)
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