Restaurateur Spencer Pingle talks La Maison Bronxville in Westchester
Lohud food and dining reporter Jeanne Muchnick visits La Maison Bronxville in Bronxville Jan. 2, 2026. Tania Savayan/lohud
When it rains, it pours — or so the saying goes — and that certainly seems to be the case for Spencer Pingle. Last January, he opened La Casa Purchase, the second outpost of his popular Mexican restaurant, La Casa Bronxville.
A little over a year later, almost to the day, Pingle found himself doing it again — this time with a third restaurant and a very different concept. La Maison, a classic French bistro, quietly opened its doors Dec. 19.
The move wasn’t part of any master plan. Instead, it was a matter of timing, opportunity, and proximity. For years, Pingle had his eye on the space next door to La Casa Bronxville, the longtime home of Ernie’s Wine Bar. He made his interest known, sensing it was a natural extension of his existing restaurant, but the owner wasn’t ready to sell.
That changed just as Pingle had committed to La Casa Purchase (formerly the Tredici North space), suddenly turning one expansion into two.
“I don’t think I would have done these things quite so close together if I had to do it again,” Pingle said. “But that’s how it worked out.”
Melding two interests together
Pingle lived in in Paris for three years and has been a frequent visitor to the City of Lights so opening a French bistro was always something that was back of mind. He also felt the town could use a French restaurant — and, on a more personal note, he wanted to create the kind of place he’d want to dine in himself. (Mexican and French cuisine are his two favorite cuisines.)
He’s put a lot of what he loves into the small, unapologetically French menu. Offerings include escargots, French onion soup, Salade Niçoise, Ratatouille Provençale, steak frites, roast chicken, and moules frites, with either white wine or saffron chorizo. There are also rotating specials.
Wines lean French — Pingle said they’re still developing their bottles and wines by the glass — but they’re also placing emphasis on martinis. Right now there are four: a Lemon Drop (with vodka, cucumber, lemon juice), Fleur de Sureau (vodka or gin with St. Germain), Sparkling Cosmo (vodka, Aperol, cranberry juice, sparkling wine) and a Vesper, with the French liquor Lillet and either gin or vodka. Bartender Benoit Lamarche, whose first language is French (he’s French Canadian) is still playing with the menu and admitted he likes mixing drinks with cucumber vodka.
Creating a ‘home’
As with the two Casa locations — casa meaning “house” in Spanish — Pingle kept the theme going with the name La Maison, French for “home.”
He’s also carried over the same contemporary, neutral vibe, but with a softer touch. Where the Casa locations go bold — with hanging straw lights and vivid bursts of Mediterranean blue — La Maison is quietly elegant with rattan chairs, café-au-lait banquettes, pale gold walls, and tables topped with butcher paper.
The space has also been brightened, letting the checkerboard floor and white subway tile behind the bar shine. Pingle kept the copper-topped bar and green bar chairs from Ernie’s, but beyond that, everything is new, giving the bistro a fresh, effortlessly Parisian feel.
The biggest change is the removal of the kitchen which gives La Maison space for 10 more tables and a separate alcove that can be closed for private dining. As for where the cooking is done, the restaurant shares the kitchen with La Casa Bronxville and is delivered to the wait staff by way of a pass-through window.
“It’s an unusual building in that it was the original Hotel Gramatan so we have a very large kitchen at La Casa,” said Pingle.
And, as it happens, the La Casa kitchen is at the wall where La Maison starts. “It’s one reason I was thinking about this space for such a long time,” he added. “I always thought it would be fun.”
Other changes include stenciled columns (they’re part of the structure), pendant lighting above the bar and the addition of artwork featuring plants and flowers. There’s also a few posters embodying Parisian flair.
Now that La Maison is open and getting off the ground, one can’t help but wonder if a year from now we’re going to hear more from Pingle.
The answer, for now, he said is “no,” though he admits he’s a “glutton for punishment” and has one more concept he’d like to do someday. “The stars would have to align,” he said. “Right now, I think I’m done for a while.”
If you go
Address: 7 Pondfield Road, Bronxville, lamaisonbronxville.com
Hours: 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with hours subject to change. Lunch to be added in February.
Good to know: There’s room for private dining seating up to 20 (the whole restaurant can accommodate up to 40).
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Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.
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