Freight House Café Opens in Mahopac

Donna Massaro rings a 19th century bell that traveled along the old Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad when locomotives pulled into stations in Westchester and Putnam. ERIC GROSS Donna Massaro has fulfilled her passion by opening the Freight House Café.

The restaurant that specializes in breakfast and lunch served daily from 6am to 6pm is located in a 19th century building along the old Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad at 609 Route 6 in Mahopac, across from Marco’s Restaurant.

Massaro, a 1990 graduate of Mahopac High School, who was born and raised in Mahopac, attended culinary school in her early 30s, where she found her passion: “Following culinary school my girlfriend and I celebrated the achievement by driving across country. We landed in Lake Tahoe and before we ventured on our journey I had written up a business plan for a coffee shop which I had forgotten about.”

When the gals landed in California, they took a job in a coffee shop that Donna said was the “same place that I had conceived in my plan. A family tragedy forced me to return home, and a short time later I discovered the plan, which was eerie since I had experienced what I had already proposed 3,000 miles away.” Massaro met her future landlord a few months later and the rest is history.

Donna said when she first saw the 1,100-square-foot building she envisioned something special even though it was nothing more than a storage facility for a music store.

Donna, a bubbly and vivacious woman, said her café was open only six days a week: “Sunday is Donna Day. I need the time to ‘vedge’ on the lake and decompress. Otherwise I’ll burn myself out in no time!”

Even the phone number of the new restaurant (628-1872) has an interesting story.

Massaro requested that number from Ma Bell since the building was originally constructed in 1872.

Donna and her staff—Debbie, Cory, Evan, Emily, Miro, Michelle, Amanda, Sara, Elizabeth, Eric, and Warren—whip up some delicious recipes. Donna’s favorites include a veggie breakfast wrap, and homemade granola.

For lunch, the Mahopac wrap is most wanted. It consists of basmati rice simmered with beans and special seasoning wrapped in a flour tortilla topped with avocado, sour cream, and melted cheese.

The turkey twister is another hot item on the menu, along with holy hummus, salad hodgepodge and the Putnam County pucker—a smoothie consisting of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, banana, peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, and cashew juice blended with ice. The ingredients used at the restaurant are mostly locally grown in the Hudson Valley.

The interior of the Freight House is warm and comfortable containing many family heirlooms.

The décor dates back to the early 1900s: “Customers visiting us are strangers when they walk through the door but they leave as friends,” said Massaro.