When Ben Gashi, co-owner of Rela Cafe, wanted to open a restaurant, Port Chester seemed like a natural choice. "Port Chester is the culinary capital of Westchester," he said. "The best cuisine is here and people value good food." Gashi's sprawling new Italian-American venture at 25 S. Regent St. marks his second restaurant in the area after Barnwood in Newtown, Connecticut.

The Port Chester restaurant opened earlier this year, in the space of former restaurant Arosto. "This is not just another regular Italian place," Gashi said. "We're no chain."Gashi doesn't like to refer to the restaurant as purely Italian, but rather Italian-American. It's a specific hybrid cuisine that he says helps distinguish Rela Cafe from the village's various other Italian eateries.