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.
Flatiron in Red Hook keeps locals coming back again and again. |
Bread Alone in Rhinebeck specializes in breakfasts and lunches on artisanal bread. |
Bangall Whaling Company is an archetypal neighborhood saloon. |
Millerton, New York - Dutchess County
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Harney Tea Bar - Millerton, New York
If you know any Ladies Who Lunch, send them to the Harney Tea Bar, where they will sit side by side with local artists and shopkeepers. There is something genteel but not-at-all fussy about the ambiance and food here, which ranges from fish tacos with chipolte creme fraiche ($10) to a duo or trio of grass-fed beef “sliders” (photo) served with dijon aioli, caramelized onions and celeriac remoulade ($9/$10). The European-style sandwiches and salads are named after members of the far-flung Harney clan and reflect their personalities: The Brigitte ($7) is simply a baguette with prosciutto or ham and French butter; the Mimi ($7), which can be made as a panini, has tomato, mozzarella pesto, and oil & vinegar; the Elyse salad ($9) is a combination roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, Pecorino Romano, oil and Balsamic vinegar. Chef Lee Morton makes sure every plate (many of which are made by local potter Dana Brandwein) looks too-good-to-eat, while Alex Harney bustles around the dining room and outside tables, making sure everyone feels well cared for. Naturally, there’s an extensive assortment of the family’s famous teas and to accompany them there’s a plate of excellent scones ($3) served with clotted cream and jam.
1 Railroad Plaza; 518.789.2121
Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 4 PM; Sunday: noon - 3 PM
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/12/09 at 08:00 AM • Permalink
Manna Dew - Millerton, New York
The other night at Manna Dew, a couple in their twenties played chess at the bar as they sipped Shiraz from oversized goblets, a reflection of this wine bar/restaurant’s hybrid appeal. Manna Dew encourages hanging out (there’s an open mike on Thursdays and live music on Fridays), but it also has serious culinary ambitions with dishes such as truffled mushroom risotto ($19), artichoke crusted salmon ($24), and pan seared duck breast in a pear brandy demi glace ($23). Located in an old Victorian house just a few doors down from The Moviehouse, Manna Dew stays real with a great burger ($11) and a curried tofu vegetable stir fry with coconut basmati rice ($15). No wonder fuzzy faced twenty-somethings and fuzzy-brained sixty-somethings dine here side by side in harmony.
54 Main Street; 518-789-3570
Dinner: Thursday 5:30 - 9:30; Friday & Saturday 5:30 - 10;
Sunday 5:00 - 9:30; Monday 5:30 - 9:30
Closed Tuesday (& Wednesday in the winter months)
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/09/08 at 11:30 AM • Permalink
No. 9 - Millerton, New York
Who would dare open a white tablecloth restaurant in this economy? A young couple like chef Tim Cocheo, 31, and his wife, Taryn, 30, who were half the team behind the now-shuttered Bottle Tree Grocery in Ancram, which had a cult-like following for its $49 prix fixe dinners on Friday and Saturday nights and its decadent Sunday brunch. Now, the Cocheos have opened No. 9 Restaurant and given the dining room at Millerton’s Simmon’s Way Village Inn a Cinderella makeover. From the street (the address is Main Street, but the entrance is on Century Boulevard), the restaurant gives off a golden glow that fills you with optimism. When you walk in the door, you are not disappointed: the dining room feels like a warm embrace—mustard walls with wainscoting painted a Provençal green, brass sconces with silk shades that cast a flattering light, a large, homey patterned carpet (donated by Joan Osofsky of Hammertown Barn), and a state-of-the-art sound system playing the kind of music that makes you feel like you’re at a really swell dinner party. And in a way you are: Cocheo—who cooked in New York at the late, great La Caravelle and Wallse and then at Wheatleigh in Lenox, MA, before moving to the Bottle Tree—is a serious chef. He brings a haute cuisine mindset to country cooking, and he’s put together a small menu with great variety. The first courses include a delicate yellowtail crudo with lemon confit, sea beans, jicama and Tuscan olive oil ($14), an earthy porcini mushroom risotto with truffle foam that’s not the least bit fussy ($13), and Sky Farm field greens with Coach Farm goat cheese ($8). The entrees range from a Herondale Farm chicken ballotine stuffed with wild mushrooms ($23) and grilled Scottish salmon with Champagne sauce ($23) to Weinerschnitzel with lingonberries and potato-cucumber salad ($22) to the No. 9 Herondale beef burger that’s served with French fries ($12). The desserts include a rich, deconstructed ice cream “sandwich” and a light pumpkin souffle served with crème anglaise. This is a restaurant where you want to linger over a second cup of coffee or a third glass of wine, because being at No. 9 gives you that elusive feeling that all’s right with the world.
53 Main Street, Millerton; 518.592.1299
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday 5:30 - 10
Brunch: Sunday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Closed: Monday
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/04/09 at 01:11 PM • Permalink
Taro’s - Millerton, New York
Taro’s is a gentrified pizzeria right next to the rail trail in Millerton, which not only has generous portions but a generous spirit. All of the entrees—eggplant Parmesan ($13.95), chicken rustico ($14.95), veal Florentine ($15.95)—come with soup or salad and a side of pasta as well as a basket of warm bread. My friend the Garden Guru, who eats like a bird, is overwhelmed by the size of the portions so she demurs when offered the soup or salad. But the vivacious waitress tells her, “Then take the soup to go home! You’re already paying for it!” She brings the Garden Guru a plastic container labeled “Minestrone, March 17” so that it is easy to identify in her refrigerator. (The Garden Guru also always orders a side of green vegetables and then takes home half of everthing which becomes lunch for the next few days.) My current favorite is the beef-and-sausage lasagna ($13.95) which is too good not to finish, so I, alas, never go home with leftovers. For anyone who grew up going to family-run Italian joints, Taro’s is a restaurant that feels like an old friend, and it’s so old-fashioned that it does not take credit cards—cash only.
18 Main Street; 518.789.6630
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 03/23/09 at 09:01 AM • Permalink
The Oakhurst Diner - Millerton, New York
The guys who run the Oakhurst Diner—what everyone in town still calls the Millerton Diner—are teases. Since opening quietly a few months ago, they have been handing out a menu with breakfast on one side and lunch & dinner on the other, but they have yet to serve a waffle or an omelette. “We wanted to start things slow and get everything right,” says co-owner John Panzer. They’re doing something right because the diner has been packing them in six nights a week, even without a liquor license that is due soon. The crossover menu is designed to appeal to both the pick-up truck and Range Rover sets—and, yes, that is Ancramdale farmer Jerry Peele eating one of his own grass fed Herondale Farm burgers ($6.99 with homemade fries) at one of the refurbished booths. The late Jill Clayburgh raved about the roasted mushrooms and asparagus with Hollandaise, and Panzer reports that the best-seller on the menu is the prosaic Chicken Dinner ($14.99): half a roast chicken with dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. “It’s all local except the cranberries because nobody does it better than Ocean Spray,” says co-owner Paul Harney. The menu is a tightly focused mix of diner classics like meatloaf ($14.99) and milkshakes ($3.99) and trendy salads such as frisée with bacon and a poached egg ($6.99) and a big bowl of retro-chic iceberg lettuce with cherry tomatoes and chunks of hanger steak accompanied by a bottle of the house vinaigrette ($12.99.) They promise to start serving lunch on August 16, but they are holding off on breakfast until they have both lunch and dinner running like clockwork.
19 Main Street; 518.592-1313
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday: 5 - 9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 5 - 10 p.m.
Beginning August 16:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 5 - 10 p.m.
