Exploring Bedford Village: A Coffee Ride to oHHo Café

The Ride

With so many rides behind us traveling quite far for a coffee, I decided to try something a little more local.  My destination for the day was just in the next town over, so the Beeline Moto 2 indicated just 4.9 miles as the crow flies.  See our article on discovering new roads with Beeline.   With such a short ride, I was aboard my bright yellow Vespa GTS 300.

I began heading west on Route 35 and then turned south on Route 121, passing the entrance for the largest park in Westchester County, Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.  This road follows along the eastern edge of the Cross River Reservoir and then passes Pea Pond Road, which heads toward Caramoor, an old Bedford estate turned into a center for music and the arts.

The road bends more to the southwest as it passes the Bedford Post Inn, owned by the Pretty Woman & Officer and a Gentleman actor Richard Gere. It meets up with Route 22, where it turns southeast to become Main Street in Bedford Village. I pass the Bedford Playhouse, a lovely restored cinema that first opened in 1947 and now offers a few small screens to show first-run and art films as well as hosting other cultural events.

I find the old firehouse that is the home of oHHo and find a spot across from it overlooking the village green.  With a mostly direct route, Rever only indicated 5.7 miles for this quick ride. See the route below.

REVER is a mobile app designed to help you track, plan, or navigate your ride. With the app, you can easily plan your route, view maps and directions, and track your distance using GPS technology. The app is an excellent tool for anyone who loves to ride and wants to keep track of their progress and distance.  Check out our full review of Rever.

The Coffee Shop

The oHHo coffee shop, known as the Old Firehouse, is in Bedford Village in Westchester County.  The town was founded around 1680 with a purchase from the local Mohegan Indian tribe.  They laid out a village with a meeting house, a grist mill, a burying ground, and a village green.  That layout remains to this day.  The village green was originally a space for trading of swine and more. The original firehouse that is home to oHHo was built in 1929 sitting right on the village green.

The town grew with additional purchases from Chief Katonah and other Mohegans, resulting in an area of about 36 square miles by 1723. After the battle of White Plains, the town was the county seat for Westchester during the Revolutionary War until it was burned by the British in 1779.

Today the town has three hamlets, Bedford Hills, Katonah and Bedford Village where the firehouse home to oHHo is.  Often called the Hollywood of the East, many celebrities call Bedford and the surrounding towns home.  Chevy Chase is frequently seen up the street at the local cinema along with Paul Schaefer of the Late Show with David Letterman fame.  David Letterman lives a couple of towns away.  Brendan Frasier also calls Bedford home, as does Ralph Lauren, who can be seen driving around the town in one of his many classic cars.  Martha Stewart is closer to Katonah’s hamlet, along with George Soros.  Of course, as mentioned earlier, Richard Gere owns the Bedford Post Inn, which is a couple of miles away.

As you approach the old firehouse, it’s not clear at first glance that it was relatively recently a working firehouse.  A large wood-fired pizza oven is prominent in front of the old garage door.  That garage door is a full width to support two firetrucks, so it’s an enormous opening to the first covered space.  Just behind that is a full-width glass with a door to enter the space.  The space was originally the garage for the fire department, so it’s pretty deep.

A concrete floor, probably the same as originally used by the fire department, gives the space an industrial feel. The concrete walls are painted in two tones: a lighter beige on top and a pastel green beginning on the bottom half. Several wooden tables and metal chairs, along with a pair of couches on either side of a coffee table, provide plenty of seating options.

Music plays on the speakers, and large wicker canopies cover each hanging light in the space. A counter with several stools is also available in case you can’t find a seat in one of the other spots.

During my visit, it was fairly empty, with only a couple of people in the queue ahead of me and a half dozen seated around the space. With such a large space and sparse seating, the space is designed to avoid feeling crowded, which contributes to the feeling of a space to just sit and relax.

All of the traditional coffee options and several tea options are available. Their specials include London Fog, Beetroot Latte, and Matcha Rose Latte. There are also a few pastries and several other juice items. Wood-fired pizza is also on offer and quite tasty, along with some salad options. There are also a number of CBD products and several personal care items. It has a boutique vibe mixed with a coffee shop vibe.

I ordered a cortado along with a plain croissant. There is a good amount of takeout, so the coffee is served in a paper cup with a sleeve featuring the oHHo logo with the subscript “the old firehouse.” I found the coffee to have a smooth texture and a nice balance with the milk. The croissant, delicate with just the right crunch, was delicious and well paired with the cortado.

The coffee alone is a solid offering and worth the trip.      But, if you come around lunchtime, be sure to also try some of the wood-fired pizza.  It has a fantastic light and airy crust with plenty of fresh ingredients to keep the flavor complexities.