Scarsdale Village Is Filling Its Everyday Gaps, One East Parkway Storefront at a Time

"Without a market in Scarsdale Village, it often feels like we have limited options for groceries." That line opened an August roundup on Scarsdale10583, and anyone who has crossed Spencer Place with a dinner plan and no milk in the fridge knows what it means.

This fall's changes downtown fix that more than most new-restaurant seasons do. Only one of the new arrivals is a dinner spot. The others are a relocated wine shop, a small grocery, a coffee shop and a fitness studio, all landing within a few doors of East Parkway and Christie Place. Taken together, the village center is adding the everyday stops it has gone without for years. Some are open now, and some are still behind construction paper. Here is the block as it stands this week.

The corner where it's all happening

It helps to see how close together these places are. Every new arrival sits on the short stretch where Spencer Place, East Parkway and Christie Place meet.

• Capretta, 57 Spencer Place, near East Parkway, in the former Akai space. Open.
• Scarsdale Wine Merchants, 30 East Parkway, moved from 2 Depot Place. Open.
• Piccolino Market, 58 East Parkway. Coming.
• Caffè Nero, 100 Christie Place at the corner of East Parkway, in the former Bank of America space. Coming.
• Core Burn Pilates, also at 100 Christie Place. Coming.

That's five businesses on a walk of a couple of minutes. Two can take your money today.

Capretta brings dinner, and lunch too

Capretta is the one that has drawn the attention. Lohud reported that the Z Hospitality Group opened it on Sept. 15. The same group runs Aurora in Rye and a string of Fairfield County restaurants, including Terra and Eastend in Greenwich and Solé and Blackbird in New Canaan. The official opening came a week later, on Sept. 22, when Mayor Justin Arest, Deputy Mayor Dara Gruenberg and Trustee Tim Foley cut the ribbon and lunch service began. Scarsdale10583 called it "an instant hit." The Bronxville Beacon counts it as the group's eighth restaurant.

Lunch is what makes it part of the bigger story. Downtown Scarsdale gains a midday table seven days a week on top of the dinner reservation. Capretta's posted lunch hours run Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., with Sunday lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

That last row is a range because the restaurant's reservation listing says Sunday dinner ends at 9 p.m., while the Bronxville Beacon reported 9:30. If you're planning a late Sunday meal, call 914-202-6900 first.

The kitchen is led by executive chefs and partners Matt McNerney and Albert DeAngelis, according to lohud. Capretta's own site highlights these dishes:

1. Wood-fired meatballs with whipped ricotta
2. Talaggio-stuffed gnocchi
3. Handmade agnolotti
4. Butterflied branzino
5. Parmesan-crusted West Coast halibut

The menu also has Detroit-style pizza alongside regular pies. The room is described as airy and bright, with doors that open to the street. On a mild October day that's an easy way to spot the place from the corner.

A wine shop moves closer to the action

The second change is quieter, but it's the kind you notice on a Tuesday. Scarsdale Wine Merchants has left 2 Depot Place for a larger storefront at 30 East Parkway. According to the Bronxville Beacon, the new shop sits near the former home of Zachys, the longtime Scarsdale wine institution that moved to Port Chester during the COVID-19 pandemic. So East Parkway has a wine shop again, a few doors from where one used to anchor the block.

Owner Kristie Petrullo Campbell is a sommelier, and she plans to start weekend tastings at the new location, as Scarsdale10583 reported at the end of September. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Scarsdale Wine Merchants' website is the place to watch for tasting dates.

With a wine shop at 30 East Parkway and Capretta around the corner on Spencer Place, a dinner out and a bottle for the weekend now fit in one short walk.

The grocery the village has been waiting for

This is the piece that matters most to that August complaint. Piccolino Market is DeCicco & Sons' new smaller-format grocery at 58 East Parkway. Lohud first reported the name in February and expected an opening "sometime this summer." Summer came and went. When Scarsdale10583 stopped by on Aug. 12, a full crew was at work, the exterior windows were in, and the interior was moving along. The outlook was "fingers crossed for an opening this fall."

According to the Bronxville Beacon, the planned store will carry:

• Gourmet groceries
• Italian baked goods
• Fresh produce
• Prepared foods
• A broad beer selection
• Meat raised without antibiotics or added hormones

When the Beacon reported in mid-August, there was still no firm opening date, only a fall target. Since that target already slid from summer to fall, it makes sense to look in the windows on your next walk past rather than plan a week of dinners around it.

Just outside the village there is another new option. Sprouts Farmers Market was scheduled to open on Friday, Sept. 4, at 393 N. Central Park Avenue in Hartsdale, in the space BEST Market used to occupy. Its first New York store opened in Centereach on Long Island this past January.

Coffee and a workout at the old bank corner

The former Bank of America corner at 100 Christie Place is turning into two businesses. Caffè Nero, a European-style coffee shop and café, received its special-use permit from the Village Board on July 28, as Scarsdale10583 reported. At the end of September, the site still listed it as coming soon. The same report noted that the permit doesn't cover sidewalk tables. Outdoor seating on Christie Place or East Parkway needs a separate sidewalk-café permit, so whether the corner gets café tables is a separate question.

Core Burn Pilates is taking the other part of the building. At its Sept. 22 meeting, the Village Board approved a 1,539-square-foot studio. Core Burn's Scarsdale page says its first round of pre-opening packages sold out, and its class schedule starts on Nov. 2. That makes it the most concrete date anywhere on this list.

Once all three are open, one morning could cover a class at 100 Christie Place, a coffee in the same building, and groceries a few doors away at 58 East Parkway.

Parking, and the Sunday market

More errands downtown means more short trips, and the Village is reworking how parking works. Its September 9 community letter says pay-station demonstrations have been tested in the Village Center. A broader plan to modernize parking payment is still being developed. Options under discussion include pay stations, keeping single-space meters at accessible spaces, and varying time limits, with more information expected later this year.

Weekends still have one more standing errand. The same letter confirms the Destination Scarsdale Farmers Market runs every Sunday through Nov. 22. Starting Sunday, Oct. 25, that leaves five market days: Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 8, 15 and 22. The market's season ends right around the time Piccolino is aiming to open.

Where things stand this week

I've lived next door in Eastchester for more than a decade, and a corner like this changes how people use a village. If you'd like to hear when Piccolino and Caffè Nero open, or want to talk about what new storefronts like these mean for your part of Scarsdale, Lori De La Parra is always glad to compare notes over coffee. Let's Connect.