Chef Peter Kelly
PHOTOGRAPHY: GILLIAN GAUGHAN
Chef Peter Kelly Comes to New Canaan
Earlier this year the interior of the restaurant space at 36 Pine Street in New Canaan was completely renovated and redecorated - with homage to the Polo Club in Manhattan, so it feels like dining at a swanky equestrian club. …But the great new space still needed great food…
Enter Chef Peter Kelly and voila! The Waveny Tavern by PXK
…just what the doctor ordered! A delicious menu with a wide range of foods, done in a Contemporary American style with a European influence, and prepared and presented as haute cuisine. Perfect for a fancy night out…and for couple-of-nights-a-week patrons!
Peter Xaviar Kelly is probably the best-known and most-beloved chef in the Hudson Valley.
{While the internationally-famous celebrity chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten - who was featured in the November/December 2023 issue of B&NC MAG and who operates The Inn at Pound Ridge as one of his 65+ restaurants, and Daniel Boulud, both have residences in the B&NC area, neither of them is associated with the Hudson Valley like Peter Xaviar Kelly.}
Kelly grew up in meager circumstances in Yonkers, the tenth of twelve children in an Irish Catholic family…and his father died when he was just 12. He went to St. Mary’s in Yonkers until the family moved to Croton-on-Hudson, then Peter went to high school at Wappingers Falls’ public Ketcham High School. He attended Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, New York - ironically, only a couple of miles south on Route 9 from the Culinary Institute of America. Peter quips, “When it comes to telling my story, people always ask me if I went to ‘the Culinary’...and I tell them ‘yes, during college I had lunch there once’!”
“I’ve worked in one job or another since I was 12 years old, and when I was about 17 I got a job working in a restaurant in Cold Spring called Plumbush,” Peter recalls. “It was a pretty high-end place. I started busing and waiting tables and learned first-hand about why it’s called the ‘service’ industry. I sous-cheffed and learned the critical importance of quality ingredients and meticulous preparation. Then I moved to front-of-house, and took a job in Manhattan at the Laurent Restaurant, eventually becoming one of their youngest captains, and then their weekend sommelier while I was in college. …I got the bug! I was most interested in the hospitality aspect, and most fascinated with fine wine being an integral component of fine dining…and knew I needed to become immersed in the art of cuisine and ‘Michelen star’ dining…so as soon as I graduated from college I took every penny I had and went to France for a few months to do just that!”
“I dined on a route of Michelin three-star restaurants!” Peter reminisces. “I had dinners at Taillevent and Bocuse! And at each of these meccas, I did what I could to meet with the chef, and the people sourcing the food, and the sommelier and other key personnel, to learn whatever I could about what it takes to have a world-class restaurant. …And pretty much right after I returned to the States and opened Xaviars in Garrison - with every intention of achieving world-class status in relatively short order. …Truth be told, I had a chef lined-up at the outset, and I was intending to run the place and be front-of-house. But when it came to the starting line I just didn’t feel that chef could pull-off what I was expecting, and I took to being the chef myself.
…There was a lot of trial and error, and more than a few dishes I tossed instead of serving, but I think I had a feel for it…and I certainly knew how I expected things to taste! I unashamedly did everything I could from the recipes and in the style of the great Chef Jacques Peppin, and was relentless about the quality of the whole dining experience we were offering.”
In 1983, Peter opened his first restaurant, Xaviars, in Garrison, New York, and after a short time Xaviars received culinary note from Florence Fabricant in the The New York Times…and Xaviars was thereby established as one of the first of the Michelin-style American fine-food-from-a-famous-chef suburban outposts - like Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in the Napa Valley. And Peter ran it - proudly - until it closed in 2003.
Riding-high on his success at Xaviars in Garrison, in 1987 Peter opened Xaviars in Piermont, New York, in a small space overlooking the Hudson River. In this incarnation, Peter elevated the whole dining experience, revealed a more French influence, and established another widely-acclaimed fine-dining north-of-Manhattan destination…if a little too fancy to be anyone’s regular weekly place. None other than Brian Miller, then the Editor and Critic of the Food Section of The New York Times, said Xaviars in Piermont “Was worth the trip from Manhattan”, and Kelly was awarded 4 stars and The New York Times’ only ‘Extraordinary’ ranking for any restaurant outside of New York City.
As a compliment, or maybe an alternative, to Xaviars formality, Peter opened The Freelance Cafe and Wine Bar right next door in Piermont. With no reservations available, there Peter offered a lighter fare of Contemporary American Cuisine.
Then he opened Restaurant X and the Bully Boy Bar in Congers, New York, with 250 seats, which was renowned as one of the Hudson Valley’s favorite restaurants.
And then, in 2007, as the first-phase of the restoration of the waterfront in Yonkers was being completed, Peter was offered the spectacular 14,000 square foot space on a Hudson River pier that he turned into X20 On Hudson - which Peter’s wife, Rica, and his brother, Ned, then designed. X20 received a rating of 29 out of 30 from Zagats - when that was the standard in the dining industry, and The New York Times called it ‘Extraordinary’ as well. The Contemporary American menu, with a complete sushi bar, and a very festive atmosphere, made X20 a top choice to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or other special night…if a little too far from where the customers actually lived, and again maybe a little too grand, to become anyone’s night-out-in-the-neighborhood. X20 closed in 2023. “Everything has its cycle,” Peter reflects.
With Covid finally in the rearview mirror, in 2024 Peter opened the instantly successful Contemporary Italian BASSO by PXK at 11 King Street in Chappaqua - and it’s now a go-to for great Italian food served in Basso’s cozy environment.
…And, for all that, Peter has received plenty of honors, awards, and accolades. In 1998, Peter was named New York State’s Restaurateur of the Year. In 2010, Peter won the James Beard Best Chef in the Northeast award. He beat Bobby Flay in a televised Iron Chef America cook-off, and he hosted on No Reservations With Anthony Bordain. ..And he’s not only been invited for lunch…he’s given the commencement address at the Culinary Institute of America! …As his good friend Bill Murray has said, “Peter is the BOMB!!”.
“Yeah, I’ve been recognized!” Peter says with an Irish mix of genuine satisfaction and self-effacing sarcasm. “I’ve been on all the TV morning shows, I’ve hosted Presidents, and I’ve been able to do OK for me and my wife of 32 years, Rica, and our son, Dylan, who went to Cornell - for business, not to the hotel school - and who’s now working in financial restructuring at Houlihan Lokey. …But I’ve never really vaulted to ‘celebrity chef’ status…and I think that’s mostly because building a branded syndicate of restaurants involves a focus on business finance, organization, and development… and I’d just rather cook! And, more importantly, trying to do so involves giving up the role as the proprietor at one or a couple of restaurants. Not just the face pictured on the door, but the familiar face in the kitchen. …For me, feeding people is very intimate, and there’s just nothing like walking through the dining room and seeing people who are happy!”
“...I devote a bunch of time to the Peter Kelly Teaching Kitchen at New York Presbyterian where we spread the gospel of a healthy diet, and another bunch of time working with kids in the Peekskill area on dietary basics - like how to make a healthy snack…and I’ve got BASSO by PXK in Chappaqua running on all cylinders…but I was still ready for my next passion project,” Peter declares. “I’m completely taken by the challenge of now establishing The Waveny Tavern as both a culinary destination and everyone’s neighborhood nightly favorite!”
Given the opportunity to throw an imaginary dinner party for five people - dead or alive - Peter rather quickly offers, “My dear friend Bill Murray - so the dinner will be fun, Mitt Romney - because I’d really like to hear his take on how things are going, Mother Teresa - to witness her deity, Albert Stockli, who was the first chef of the legendary Four Seasons in Manhattan and the owner of the now-closed Stonehenge Restaurant in Ridgefield, and Joel Rubuchon - who I consider to be the G.O.A.T. …And, more importantly, as to what I’d serve…” Peter volunteers, “...I think it would be Stockli’s favorite Beer Battered Shrimp to start, maybe a Pigeon with Fois Grois wrapped in Cabbage and dusted in White Truffles for the main course, and some Swiss Apple Fritters for dessert. …I know that all sounds a little Southern and probably is a bit different than my more typical fare, but I think the single best meal I’ve ever had - if absolutely forced to pick just one - was at Galatoire’s in New Orleans, and I think the five guests I’m having to this dinner deserve something really special!”
“And if you press me,” Peter continues, having some fun with it, “...I personally am probably more of a gourmand than a gourmet, and prefer some relatively simple meals if I’m just cooking at home. My go-to is probably a Roast Chicken with some Pasta, and I think there’s really nothing quite as good as some properly prepared Scrambled Eggs with Caviar. I never get tired of Caviar!”
Chef Kelly invited me to The Waveny Tavern by PXK to sample some highlighted selections from the menu…and he didn’t have to ask twice!
The entire offering was entirely outstanding!
His dishes have a fundamental and genuine simplicity - so the fish served is still about the great piece of Salmon or Cod you were craving when you ordered - while coupled with a culinary sophistication - which makes each dish uniquely flavored, delightful, and distinct.
What Zagats first labeled as Kelly’s ‘Contemporary American’ cuisine is indeed rooted in American traditions, but Kelly’s French, Irish, and Asian influences make each one of his dishes something elevated and different. And I think the ultimate compliment I can give is that I was pleasantly surprised by something in each dish we tasted, satiated but not stuffed in each instance…and, even at the end of all the gluttony, I was unable to choose which item in each course I liked best!
Course Of Fish
First we tried the Chowanamushi, a Japanese Egg Custard topped with Shellfish and Santa Barbara Uni with Warm Dashi poured at the table and served with Tempura Haricot Vert - which, admittedly, pushed the limits of my typical culinary orbit… but turned out to be incredibly interesting; silken, savory, and deeply nuanced.
Next, a Salad of Grilled Shrimp with Black Truffle with Avocado and Champagne Dressing… an absolute treat - which I will certainly be returning to have for lunch on a regular basis, especially out on the terrace on a summer day.
A Light Egg Custard with Sashimi, a Chatham Cod pan roasted and served with Chive Beurre Blanc, and a Faroe Island Salmon served with Ragout of Orzo with Mushroom Jus and Del Cabo Tomatoes with Broccoli Rabe rounded out the fish course.
The steak that slayed Bobby Flay’
Then… just when we thought we’d had a completely satisfying - and maybe even over the top - meal… out came a 40 oz. Cowboy Steak. This signature dish is the ‘steak that slayed Bobby Flay’ on Iron Chef America. It’s a 40 ounce Ribeye rubbed with Brown Sugar and Cayenne and embellished with a Sauce Bearnaise with Creamed Spinach and Truffle Potatoes… and it’s a showstopper! Decadent and elevated - and yet not too over the top.
Dessert
Of course, dessert goes to a different part of the stomach, so despite all odds, after a full feast… I found the room for a Belgian Chocolate Dome with Creme Anglaise and the ‘Ala Minute’ Lemon Napoleon made to order with Lemon Curd and Vanilla Crema and served between Caramelized Pastry.
I’ve always felt that dessert is a crucial last bite that is the concluding taste of the restaurant - and that it’s rare to find a true finale when there isn’t a dedicated pastry chef… but this was the rare exception! These desserts were quite literally...exceptional!
…And, unbeknownst to Chef Kelly, I’d been in for dinner at The Waveny Tavern twice already since he came on board, and can’t stop thinking about a couple of items I had but that Chef Kelly didn’t include in our tasting… The Meatballs are absolutely ballin’! And the Parmesan Crusted Rice Balls are some of the best I’ve ever had! …I, for one, have adopted The Waveny Tavern by PXK as one of my very few at-least-once-a-week dining spots!
