Meet the Chef: Philip McGrath of Iron Horse Grill

Philip McGrath leased the 95-year-old Pleasantville train station on July 4, 1998 and four months later, after intensive renovation, he and his wife Catherine Correale opened the 60-seat, contemporary-American Iron Horse Grill.

"It was the beginning of a private-public partnership that still lasts today," said the chef and owner. " didn't exist and parking was no problem then."

Drawing dishes from past experience for his first menu wasn't a problem either. During his career, McGrath has worked at 18 restaurants, many ranking among the elite in the culinary world, most of which are located in Manhattan or France. 

His New York City employment résumé includes Tavern on the Green, the Sign of the Dove, Prunelle, the Ritz Cafe, The Carlyle Hotel, Le Lavandou and La Cote Basque. In France, he cooked in the kitchens of Restaurant Troisgros in Roanne, L’Esperance in St-Pere-Sous-Vezelay and Restaurant Michel Rostang in Paris.

But many remember him as the executive chef at the upscale Equus restaurant in Tarrytown's Castle on the Hudson. McGrath joined the Castle in 1994 when it was undergoing major renovations and didn't get to cook for the paying public until nearly two years later.

In late 1997, while he was living in Pleasantville and working at the Castle, Pleasantville's Business Revitalization Committee sought to implement a master downtown plan. The committee believed the Pleasantville train house could be turned into a restaurant. McGrath thought so too and he offered to open the very restaurant the committee visualized for the building. 

For (actually two weeks), the Iron Horse Grill will offer changing dishes along the way but each day it will offer a choice of three appetizers, three entrées and three desserts featuring many locally-grown ingredients. The program runs at 160 restaurants including 86 in Westchester County from March 14 to 27. The cost for the three-course dinner is $28 plus tax and tip; it is not offered on Saturday evenings at the Iron Horse Grill.

Iron Horse Grill menus for specific dates are not available. But one of the main courses it will serve on some days during Restaurant Week is a Cuban cassoulet combining Hudson Valley Moulard duck confit with chorizo sausage, black beans, avocado and tortillas. Another dish expected to be offered at least a few times is a fillet of Mount Kisco Smoke House smoked trout prepared with three radishes. Dinner will include a choice of salad or soup as an appetizer and on some nights, a Mead Orchards apple strudel with homemade ginger ice cream will be available for dessert.

When he's not in the kitchen, McGrath has been working on a book based on his life as a chef, which he is close to completing. As well as providing recipes for a number of Iron Horse Grill favorites, the book will recall many experiences that helped McGrath shape his career. At least one chapter (including a recipe) will be dedicated to each restaurant where he has worked. 

McGrath grew up in Riverdale in The Bronx. He has appeared as a guest lecturer in the NYU Hotel and Restaurant Management Certificate Program and taught in the Westchester Community College’s Hotel and Culinary Arts program. He received a B.S. degree from St. Francis College in Brooklyn and is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.