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By Lilian Peña

Heritage 147 — the inspiration of co-chef’s Alissa Svorka and Richard Perez — snatched up the perfect location in Larchmont after the previous restaurant closed down during the pandemic. Queens was their original destination. Thankfully that did not work out. Since then, the restaurant has transformed, giving it a farmhouse/cabin vibe drawing in clientele from around the tri-state area. What makes Heritage 147 unique is the ability for customers to escape the norm and completely relax in a comfortable environment with some delectable food and drink.

Rich and Alissa met several years ago while Rich was the executive chef at Little Beet in Greenwich. He hired Alissa as his executive sous chef and the rest is history. After working side-by-side for a couple of years and opening up several restaurants in Chevy Chase, MD and Chicago, they realized they had the perfect opportunity to open their own place with all the knowledge and experience acquired over the years. 

Alissa shared, “We worked within the realm of the pandemic and designed our menu around that…keeping in mind the small guys, helping to keep small organic businesses thriving and providing our customers with the best local ingredients possible.” Thus the farm-to-fork philosophy began. 

Alissa and Rich have been toying with the new Spring Menu. There will be small changes as ingredients come and go. Introducing ramps to the menu is an exciting idea. Rich said, “We love all the ingredients we work with.” And Alissa shared that she does most of the forging on the side. This came about during the pandemic. With little children, she went hiking a lot and found interesting ingredients.

The liquor and wine menu has the same idea — small batches, domestic, organic, small producers. 

One of the highlights of their menu are the in-house made jam accompaniments — strawberry, tomato and bacon jam — an especially delicious addition to their Baked Sourdough BLT. 

They utilize the Westchester Farm-to-Chef program and Alissa said, “Even if we can’t touch the produce immediately, we preserve and freeze it for the future. For example, summer tomatoes make terrific tomato jam in the winter, great on the Heritage Grassfed Burger.”

She continued, “Our goal is to make things recognizable to people and at the same time challenge them a bit.”

Although it was a difficult during the heart of the pandemic, Mayor Walsh jumped ahead of everyone and pulled in customers from as far away as Greenwich, Rich remarked.  

Most of the cheeses are from the northeast. Their go-to cheesemonger is Saxelby, one of the finest cheese purveyors in the northeast. An equally exciting aspect of Larchmont is their Farmer’s Market. It opens things up to new local purveyors. Their unique and creative spices come directly from spicemonger — La Boite in NYC. For example, the Honey Roasted Carrots on the current menu were created specifically around certain spices. The dried mango and tumeric make the carrots sing. Rich added, “Again, we had the spices and said, ok what do we do with this?” Shear perfection.

Another delicious dish is the Noodle Bowl, utilizing bean and mushroom water as part of the cooking process. They purchase beans from Rancho Gordo in Napa, California. Alissa says there are great probiotics in the dish as well as being a “no waste kitchen.”

For those foodies that are vegan or others that may have certain allergies, the menu at Heritage if very adaptable. Great vegan choices are the popular Socca (chickpea pancakes) and the mouthwatering Hummus.

A small but very noteworthy comment about their desserts…great thought and care went into the menu, right down to the vintage 60’s and 70’s plates they are served on…an homage as Alissa put it to their heritage.

As the warmer weather approaches, Heritage will introduce at least 12 outdoor dining tables. Reservations are encouraged so that everyone has the best experience possible. Alissa and Rich want everyone to feel comfortable dining at Heritage. 

During the summer they would love to hold at least 3 or 4 live music events. Check on their website for more information.

The name for the restaurant? The whole concept behind the restaurant name came about during the pandemic. Celebrating our heritage — where we come from and who we are. It’s quite evident that Heritage 147 will be around for a long time, sharing great recipes that are thoughtfully prepared with a lot of heart and love.

Heritage 147
147 Larchmont Ave., Larchmont
914-292-5320
www.heritage147.com