China White Brings New Dining Experience to Purchase

Experienced Chinese chefs, imported kitchen supplies and fresh, quality, ingredients are part of the equation Jody Pennette, owner of China White, hopes to use to build a successful new restaurant in Purchase.

China White plans to open on Anderson Hill Road Saturday night, with plans of a creating a fun and healthy new destination for food enthusiasts throughout Westchester County.

"We are trying to be as modern and progressive as we can and still put out a product that is a refreshing approach to the classic," said Pennette, who has helped create hundreds of different venues across the world through his Greenwich-based company cb5, but recently decided to open about a dozen restaurants himself.

"My hope is that for true fans of great Chinese food it will be kind of like a drug," he said with a chuckle.

Pennette said China White won't be a stereotypical "fancy Chinese place". He has gone to great lengths to bring quality dishes typically found in Chinatown, Los Angeles and San Francisco to plates in Purchase by recruiting experienced chefs from outside the area, but said he plans to combine mainstream New York City Chinese establishments with a more traditional approach to bring out real Chinese flavor.

"I got classic chefs from China and just gave them the best chicken and fish and beef you can get with the greatest vegetables and said 'cook the same dishes'," he said.

The new restaurant will open at 578 Anderson Hill Road, a location formerly occupied by The Creek Restaurant. The plan, Pennette said, is to tap into a Westchester food scene void of the authentic Chinese establishments found in New York City. Another China White restaurant is also scheduled to open in Greenwich, CT. this week.

Although he plans to use organic foods and has created a trendy interior dining area, he hopes it will become a place a wide variety of people will enjoy.

China White hopes to draw the from Purchase's corporate crowd during lunch hours, but will also stay open late for the nearby college students from nearby and . Chinese drinks will also be available at the restaurant's sushi bar to go with appetizers and other menu items.

"We're not going to rock it out, but I think both those universities represent kind of a cool, artsy, student," Pennette said.

The difference between China White and most Chinese food establishments in the area will the the restaurant's focus on quality ingredients, Pennette said, as he will avoid MSG and quick-cook options. Some foods found in traditional Chinese takeout menus have even been scrapped completely.

"If there's an item that couldn't curl your toes, we didn't put it on there," Pennette said.

But quality comes at a cost. China White will cost you more than a stop at a strip mall Chinese outlet, Pennette said, but he hopes customers will appreciate his dedication to authentic Chinese plates and appreciate the difference for the cost.

He also hopes people will not only taste the difference, but feel it. The organic homemade options found throughout China White's menu hope to offer tasty food without the fast food calories.

"Most Chinese foods, halfway through eating it you say to yourself 'my God, this isn't good for me'," he said. "Nothing feels healthy or fresh, and yet there's no reason it can't be.

China White will offer takeout, but Pennette hopes to develop a crowd to fill the inclusive venue every day of the week.

For those interested in a new take on traditional Chinese food, China White could become one of the hotter tables to get in the area.