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Restaurants
The restaurant descriptions that follow reflect the opinions of the editors of Rural Intelligence.
They are editorial content, not paid advertisements, and are organized by county.
Pan Zur in Tivoli offers tapas and then some.
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Bread Alone in Rhinebeck specializes in breakfasts and lunches on artisanal bread. |
Bangall Whaling Company is an archetypal neighborhood saloon. |
Hudson, New York - Columbia County
[See more Restaurants, Listed by County]
Baba Louie’s - Hudson, New York
If Hudson Baba Louie’s is Son of Great Barrington Baba Louie’s, then the kid is both bigger and more beautiful than his dad. But who cares? At Baba Louie’s, inner beauty is what counts. We’ve already raved about the salads, the pizzas, the prices (see Great Barrington, above). Once in a while, you owe it to yourself to change course and try the homemade vegetarian, dairy-free soup ($1.95/$3.95), the delicious panini ($6.95-$7.95) or the invariably good evening pasta ($10.95/$15.95) instead. Bring along a hungry friend; portions are huge.
517 Warren Street; 518.751-2155
Lunch: 11:30 - 3
Dinner: Sunday - Thursday 5 - 9:30; Friday & Saturday 5 - 10
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/12/08 at 04:14 PM • Permalink
Ca’Mea Ristorante - Hudson, New York
Often, going to a restaurant in our area can seem like landing in the middle of Waiting for Guffman—amateurs acting their hearts out badly. Polished, well-managed Ca’Mea Ristorante is just the opposite. Two Warren Street storefronts attractively combined, plus, in season, an enormous garden, it also has a bar that’s great for dining (square, with a central bartender, it invites interchange, making it popular with solo diners and couples who’ve already heard what each other has to say). Upon arriving one Saturday night last summer without reservations, our party of four was surprised that we were able to cadge a table in the garden right away. The place was hopping, so we kept it simple—salads ($7.50) and pastas ($15 - $17) all around—and braced ourselves for a wait. Not at all. Firsts arrived promptly, and within minutes, the steaming bowls came out. Impressive. And the food? Authentically northern Italian, which is to say, delicious, if not the most inventive stuff around.
333 Warren Street; 518.822.0005
Lunch: 12 - 3
Dinner: 5 - 10
Closed: Mondays
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 03/22/08 at 08:04 AM • Permalink
DA / BA - Hudson, New York
Most anywhere in our region it’s a cinch to find a pleasant meal, but to find food that shows evidence of serious culinary imagination married to kitchen competence is much rarer. DA / BA is one such restaurant. The space is pleasantly designed and softly lit—conducive to a relaxed dinner. The menu is varied and, if you are in the mood for an adventure, downright exciting. And the prices are more than fair. Chef/Owner Daniel Nilsson and Executive Chef Ola Svedman, as their names suggest they might, create Scandivanian-leaning modern food (elk filet, $26). All meals start with a free amuse bouche—one recent evening it was a creamy foie gras soup delivered to the table in a holder containing one small laboratory tube-ful for each in the party, with a sliver of soft bread sticking out—delicious and just enough, given its richness. Whatever choice follows is guided by appetite, budget, and mood: DA / BA serves ambitious fresh fare in creative, clean flavor combinations— grilled filet mignon with truffle-scented consomme, vegetables, ginger foam, and sunflower choke puree ($26). And they also serve hearty pub food—a burger with top-notch fries (so easy to accomplish; why so seldom aspired to?). It’s a generous plate of food for $7.
225 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.249.4631
Monday - Saturday 6 - 10
Closed Sundays
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 09/29/08 at 10:53 AM • Permalink
Mexican Radio - Hudson, New York
Don’t let the hardscrabble border-town name and matching décor fool you. This northern outpost of an acclaimed NYC dining spot is not low end. Everything at Mexican Radio is freshly chopped and squeezed, and the value is good (entrees, a cut well above the norm, are mostly under $20), as long as you lay off the $7-$11 Margaritas. But who does?
537 Warren Street; 518 828-7770
Lunch & Dinner: 11:30 - 11 daily
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 01/31/08 at 06:29 PM • Permalink
p.m. Wine Bar - Hudson, New York
You needn’t be an oenophile to get a kick out of (p.m.) Wine Bar, although, for anyone who is, the Red Wine Flight—three reds plus one tapa @ $20—is an offer that’s hard to pass up. But there are so many other delights inside this ancient storefront on the older, quieter end of Warren Street. There’s the witty decor, the tasty tapas (Diablos a Caballo—sundried dates stuffed with Valdeón blue cheese and wrapped in crispy bacon, $9),the sweet owner Kevin Moran behind the bar, and a passel of amusing regulars drinking wines by the glass, $7 - $11; real champagne, $12, or something stiffer from the full bar. Too peckish for tapas? A smallish entree, such as a bowl of delicious Spanish beef stew, $11, is always available. —Marilyn Bethany
119 Warren Street; 518.828.2833
Wednesday & Thursday 5 - 10; Friday & Saturday 5 - 12; Sunday 3 to 9
Closed Monday & Tuesday
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 12/28/09 at 01:06 PM • Permalink
Swoon Kitchenbar - Hudson, New York
Is there another restaurant in Columbia County as New Yorky (in a good way) as this smashing place? Swoon Kitchenbar owner-chef Jeffrey Gimmel, a former top toque at Michael’s, and his partner in all things, Nina Bachinsky-Gimmel, once a pastry chef at the Union Square Café, met while studying cheese making at The Old Chatham Sheepherding Co. All that training shows in the work: an appetizer of house smoked beef tongue with fingerling potato crisps and cauliflower mustard puree ($10.95); an entrée of chicken fricassee with fennel, celery root and leeks ($22.95). And for the culinarily cautious, there’s always the skirt steak with mashed ($19.95).
340 Warren Street; 518.822.8938
Lunch: Friday - Sunday 12 -3:30 p.m.
Dinner: Thursday, Sunday, Monday 5 - 10; Friday & Saturday 5 - 11
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/01/08 at 10:03 AM • Permalink
The Red Dot - Hudson, New York
Anyone who’s curious as to the precise nature and significance of what is happening in upstate New York should check out the bar scene here. Doesn’t matter when: on a blizzard-y weeknight in February, you’ll find a confluence of young and old, straight and gay, rich and poor, town and gown, business and arts. Interestingly, all this barrier-blind conviviality hinges on the larger-than-life personality of the owner, Alana Hauptman, who treats everyone the same—as if each were, on the one hand, a celebrity and, on the other, sorely in need of a severe and profane dressing down. Fortunately, regulars would rather go hungry than leave the bar, so no matter how crowded the Dot appears to be, it’s generally easy to get a table in back. And in warm weather, there’s a garden that’s the soul of charm. Oh, and, by the way, they also serve food. Think: bistro and reasonable. While Chef Jonathan may not be out to re-invent the wheel—chicken pot pie ($14), steak with red wine shallot butter ($24)—it’s pretty #&!^%@! good.
321 Warren Street; 518.828.3657
Dinner: Wednesday - Saturday 5 - 10; Sunday 5- 9
Brunch & Lunch: Saturday & Sunday 11 - 3
Closed: Monday & Tuesday
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/21/08 at 08:02 PM • Permalink
Tortillaville - Hudson, New York
Tortillaville is not a restaurant per se, but it does sell 10,000 burritos per year from a truck parked in a high-profile location on the 300 block of Warren Street. During the winter months, Brian Branigan and Allison Culbertson drive their portable eatery to Big Pine Key and resume business in the Florida Keys. Their fare is tasty, reasonably healthy, and certainly affordable (tacos average $2.50; burritos, $6.50). The 100 days per year they are in town mark “the season” for many Hudsonians. —Marilyn Bethany
347 Warren Street
Thursday - Sunday, 11:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Memorial Day (possibly a couple of weeks earlier) - October 31
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 01/10/11 at 05:58 PM • Permalink
Vico - Hudson, New York
First-rate Italian food: We’ve all tasted a lot of caponata, but we haven’t tasted a lot of caponata ($7) as good as this. Regulars at Vico suffer withdrawal each summer when the lasagna al cinghiale ($23), featuring a ferocious wild boar ragu, goes into hibernation. Add flawless service, and you’d have a great dining experience, but for the harsh lighting and amateurish décor. In Hudson? Where every third pedestrian is a designer? Just open any window and yell, “Help!”
136 Warren St.; 518.828.6529
Lunch: Saturday and Sunday 12 - 3 p.m.
Dinner: Monday and Thursday 5 - 8:30 p.m., Friday 5 - 9:00 p.m, Saturday 3 - 9 , Sunday 3 -8:30 p.m.
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 01/31/08 at 07:30 PM • Permalink
