Official Grand Opening of On the Way Café Set for Friday

Rye's On the Way Café is all the way back.

The ultra-popular café off Playland Parkway and Forest Avenue has been open under new management since early May after being shuttered for almost a year.

But the new owners –a young chef at the stove and his financial whiz uncle working the front of the house –have been easing into their official grand opening, scheduled for Friday, July 9.

In preparation for their formal opening, they have been testing new recipes while maintaining old favorites until they felt they had the best possible menu, one that would satisfy the former regular patrons as well as attract a new clientele, according to the new owners, Chef Joseph Mortelliti and George Degenhardt.

During what the restaurant business calls their "soft opening" phase, On the Way Cafe patrons have already made the refurbished eatery a popular neighborhood gathering place for reasonably priced breakfasts and lunches.

Along the way, the regulars and newbies have made suggestions about everything from the menu to the décor, Degenhardt said.

All of which have been taken into account and incorporated into the new/old On the Way Café, still located at 34 Ridgeland Terrace, about a block from Playland.

Only now it has a new look, new awnings, an outdoor table with a colorful San Pellegrino umbrella, flowers in the windows along with a green ATM sign because it doesn't accept credit cards for its breakfasts and lunches.

After giving the interior a spruced up look that is more upscale café than blue- collar diner, Mortelliti, a former stock broker and media consultant from Port Chester who made a mid-career switch, and Degenhardt—his uncle and partner and a business professional/amateur chef from Greenwich—have decided their folksy, out-of-the-way yet homey location is officially ready to celebrate its grand opening, originally set for late April.

"We want to bring a touch of downtown to the Playland area," Degenhardt told Patch then. "We want to take the menu in new directions while maintaining the old familiar staples," added Mortelliti.

Both said they wanted to make On the Way a combination of a restaurant, café and diner, blending all the ingredients into a successful combination that would have something for almost everybody,  gastronomically speaking.

And they have succeeded in doing just that.

Indeed, Patch has been dropping in unannounced for breakfast and lunch and paying our own way while sampling menu items ranging from the Early Bird Special (7 a.m. to 9 a.m, more about that –and other –breakfast choices later) to lunch dishes ranging from the traditional (Philly Cheese Steak Wedge and Fries, $9.50) to the more newly ambitious (Maryland Style Crab Cakes, $15).

Lunches also ranged from various salads (Grilled Chicken, $11; Frisee & Pear, $12) to more exotic dishes (Chicken Milanese, $12; ).

All were uniformly excellent.

Among the things we liked about the menu was the fact that breakfasts featured Feather Ridge Farm Organic Eggs and Coach Farm Goat Cheese and the coffee was a caffeinated combination of three different imported blends. And the wait staff was exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable.

Each day Chef Mortelliti keeps stretching the lunch menu so it includes Southern Italian dishes such as Chicken Scarpariello and salmon dishes as well as the traditional grilled chicken wrap, open face grilled cheese, roast beef, hamburgers and turkey club.

There is also a children's menu (from chicken fingers and fries to butter pasta to short stack pancakes, from $3.50) and prix fix menu ($13) that includes salad and a choice of entrée.

And that early bird special we mentioned earlier included a choice of coffee, tea or orange juice, choice of country style pancakes, waffles or French toast or eggs prepared any way with toast ($7.25). The Prix Fix breakfast ($10.25) included the same offerings plus a choice of bacon, ham or sausage.

Or you could go for more variety with a choice of Banana Walnut or Blueberry Pancakes,  both with whipped cream ($7.50 and $8.25 respectively) or Yogurt Granola Parfait with seasonal fresh berries ($4.50), There was also Brioche French Toast served with bacon or sausage ($8.25) and a variety of oatmeal dishes starting at $3.50 (add 75 cents with berries).

And Mortelliti comes in early to make a variety of luncheon dessert dishes, from Italian cheesecake to puddings to pound cake with ice cream offerings, as well.

All of which has already attracted quite a following of new and old customers.

Rye's Fred Talento, 80, for example, has been coming to On the Way "forever" with his wife, Norma. Both liked the new décor (soft beige and brown accents on the walls, oil paintings of Playland, high backed chairs at the counter, a see through window so you could watch the chef cook, tile work and counter redesign) as well as the blend of new and old items on the menu.

Rye's Bill Green liked the way he, his wife, Rory, and their two young children--Lisa, 1, and Liam, 2--could enjoy a breakfast treat that would include a member of the wait staff immediately handing the kids crayons so they could scribble away on the paper tablecloths adorning the ten tables.

Rory liked the way she could lean over and most likely find a neighbor to chat with about play group and the kids. This time it was Shane Wolford with daughter, Lilia, 3, who quickly declared On the Way was her favorite restaurant and taking her dad to breakfast there was one of her favorite things because she had time with him alone while mom stayed home with baby brother Curtis.

And so it went, from the elaborately coiffed ladies who lunched on salads and didn't want to give their names but said they loved the food choices nonetheless to a lunch counter veteran from Rye who simply wanted to be called Merrill and said he kept coming back for the variety of lunch and takeout choices.

Mortelliti plans to continue expanding the menu choices to reflect his considerable expertise: He is a 2004 graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City; did extensive training under chef and teacher Alex Guarnaschelli at her renowned restaurant, NYC's Butter; worked under three-star Michelin Chef Fortunato Nicotra at the Zagat-preferred NYC Italian restaurant Felidia, and had stints at such Westchester restaurants as Abigail Kirsch in Tarrytown, Port Chester's Nessa and, most recently, Rye's Aurora.

So, Joe, adorned with blue bandana when this Patch writer visited, is a lot more than a ham-bacon-eggs-and-burgers kind of cook. He said he and his uncle, George, always wanted to own a restaurant of their own and now they have.

The familial touch also includes Mortelliti's mom, Sara, who has been a hairdresser at Rye's Casual Hair for 30 years, helping with the décor as well as doing occasional waitressing, and his dad, Joseph, helping with the tile work, counter re-design and kitchen facelift. And George, the charmer working the front of the house, and making everyone feel at home, from the kiddy corps to the dowagers.

Down the line, On the Way may seek a zoning variance that would enable it to stay open to cater to the dinner crowd looking for a change of pace from the downtown dinner scene. But right now they are looking to simply fit in while hoping word of mouth continues to draw attention to their new and improved approach to dining in their unorthodox old location, behind the Sunoco gas station, in front of the new Fine Flowers shop and near Playland Market. There is ample parking out front.

The new owners will also add picnic box lunches to cater to the Playland, Rye Town Park and Oakland Beach crowd. And they intend to be good neighbors to the private homes that stretch from the café's borders and up to Midland Avenue, while the neighborhood gets used to the fact that On the Way Café is now officially back and better than ever.

Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Phone: 921-CAFÉ (2233).