Business of the Week: Myong Gourmet, Mount Kisco
Don’t let the name fool you into thinking that Myong Gourmet is all about Asian cuisine. Far from it.
This popular Mount Kisco restaurant offers an array of delectable fare that has influences from around the globe, all lovingly created by Myong Feiner, the energetic self-taught executive chef and owner.
Looking at what Feiner, a South Korean native, singlehandedly creates would give a dining customer the impression she’s been doing it all her life. Not so.
Previously, Feiner worked as a fashion designer, creating scarves, belts, handbags and accessories for companies throughout the tri-state area. In the early ’90s, Feiner moved to northern Westchester, and while raising her two children dreamed up various business ventures. It was her love of cooking that won out, a talent she inherited from her mother.
In addition to teaching friends how to cook, Feiner’s entrepreneurial endeavors began with a line of jarred soups and sauces, which she continues to make and sell at the restaurant. She quickly progressed to selling her specialties for a cafe that was housed in the former Women For Fitness health club in Katonah. At Myong Private Label Gourmet, a popular take-out shop she ran before establishing her Main Street restaurant two years ago, Feiner perfected her eclectic style.
Myong Gourmet offers customers a sit-down and take-out option for breakfast, lunch and dinner, in addition to a catering service.
A tireless worker, Feiner, who collaborates with her business partner and husband, Rob, starts most days at 6 a.m. and can often be found in the restaurant’s kitchen planning and creating the day’s menu. Her breakfast and lunch cafe items include her freshly baked muffins, three-egg omelets, salads, hot and cold wraps, quesadillas and healthy soups.
“This is known as a healthy place,” said Feiner, who avoids butter and cream in her dishes and uses jasmine, brown or red rice instead of pasta. “I guess you could call me a perfectionist who likes to feed people with great stuff.”
Myong Gourmet is popular with the breakfast and lunch crowd and the dining area, which contains Feiner’s own artwork, is the ideal spot to share a healthy meal. The restaurant focuses on progressive world cuisine, with influences from around the U.S., Europe, South Korea and East Asia.
Her entrees include a variety of gluten-free dishes, like the Hudson Valley Brick Duck, a combination of crispy half duck, apple-cherry red rice, and rum-apple-apricot-chili compote with a cider reduction, for $29; and the Prime Grass Fed Skirt Steak, a chipotle-marinated La Frieda prime beef that is plancha seared and grilled, served with chimichurri, jasmine rice and haricot vert, for $26.
A number of seafood favorites are also on the menu, including the Mango Wild Salmon, which is pan seared and served with quinoa, snow peas and mango compote, for $25; and Mahi Mahi Myong, which is grilled Mediterranean style with sundried tomato, olives, artichoke, capers and served with tri-color cous cous, for $26.
Feiner said the ideas for her tasty creations just seem to come to her.
“I’m thinking all the time,” she said. “I need to make it and taste it to see if it works.”
Myong Gourmet is located at 487 Main St. in Mount Kisco. Cafe hours are Monday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is served Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner is available Monday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m.
For more information, call 914-241-6333 or visit www.plgourmet.com.
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