Last Chance for Farm Stand Pho Before BBQ Returns at Harvest Smokehouse

If you’ve been meaning to get a bowl of Vietnamese pho at Harvest Smokehouse at Golden Harvest Farm in Valatie, now is the time. The winter noodle shop that has quietly become a cult favorite at Golden Harvest Farms will wrap up at the end of March, giving way to a short spring reset before the smokehouse returns to its applewood-fired barbecue by May. 

For pitmaster Max Murphy, the seasonal pivot has become a way to keep customers interested and well fed: pho through the cold months, barbecue once the orchard wakes back up. “Just three more weeks now—we’re going till the end of March with the noodles,” Murphy says. “Then we take some time off in April to get everything back in shape.” 

Vietnamese Noodles on a New York Apple Farm 

Harvest Smokehouse lives in the oversized vestibule at Golden Harvest Farms, the multi-generational Columbia County orchard that has evolved into a small campus of food projects, including a farm stand, harvest season destination, distillery, and barbecue counter. The smokehouse itself opened in 2021 as a way to transform orchard byproducts—especially applewood from tree pruning—into a distinctive style of barbecue indigenous to the Hudson Valley landscape. 

In the colder months, though, the smokers go quiet and the kitchen pivots to Smokehouse Noods, a curated menu centered around pho and other Vietnamese-inspired dishes, like banh mi sandwiches, served from Thursday through Sunday. 

The concept actually came from the previous head chef on the team who had worked in kitchens in Los Angeles. “He worked at a Vietnamese restaurant, so he really pulled a lot of traditional cooking knowledge from them,” Murphy says. 

Murphy inherited the program unexpectedly when that chef left shortly before opening in the winter of 2024. Rather than redesign the menu from scratch, he decided to keep the concept intact. “It put me in this boat where I was going to be taking over,” he says. “I really had an opportunity to kind of do my own menu…but because of the weight that the smokehouse is carrying on me at the time, I just decided to keep it with the pho.” 

Murphy remembers being unsure whether the dish would resonate locally. “It definitely was a gamble,” he says. “Before we did the noodle shop last year, I think I had only had it a handful of times.” 

But the response surprised him. “We did see a lot of people who showed up saying, ‘I can’t get this anywhere. It’s been so long since I’ve had a good bowl,’” he says.  

The Menu

For regulars and those making a pitstop, getting off nearby I-90, Harvest Noods has been a popular way to fend off this unusually cold winter. The pho comes in three versions, each served with a plate of fresh herbs and condiments—Thai basil, bean sprouts, jalapeños, lime, hoisin, and sriracha—to customize the bowl. The beef pho features a rich beef broth with brisket and slices of rare beef over rice noodles with onions and cilantro ($17). The chicken pho offers a lighter but equally aromatic broth with shredded chicken and rice noodles ($17). A vegan pho swaps in vegetable broth with bok choy and mushrooms for a deeply savory plant-based bowl ($16). 

Beyond the soup, the kitchen rounds out the menu with Vietnamese-inspired comfort food. The bánh mì sandwiches arrive on toasted French rolls with sriracha mayo, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, jalapeño, and cilantro, with fillings like lemongrass pork or curry beef ($16). Peanut noodles—mildly spicy egg noodles tossed in house peanut sauce with crushed peanuts, scallions, and lime—offer a quick and satisfying side or light meal ($8), with optional additions like chicken, tofu, or bok choy. Crispy imperial rolls stuffed with pork and vegetables are served with lettuce, rice noodles, peanuts, and fish sauce for wrapping and dipping ($13), while crispy dumplings filled with chicken lemongrass, pork, or edamame come six to an order with dumpling sauce ($11). Korean scallion pancakes with chili dipping sauce ($9) and bright salads like smashed cucumber with chili crisp and sesame or a chilled chicken noodle salad round out the savory offerings ($12 and $11). For dessert, the kitchen nods back to the orchard outside with apple cider doughnut bread pudding ($8). 

The Smoke Returns

When May arrives, however, the focus shifts back to what made Harvest Smokehouse famous in the first place: slow-smoked meat over applewood cut from the orchard. 

Murphy, who grew up in the area and worked his way up through kitchens including The Flammerie in Kinderhook, says returning to the smoker is something he looks forward to each spring.“I love smoking meat,” he says. “So I’m incredibly excited to get back to that.” 

Sandwiches anchor the board, including smoked pulled pork piled high with cider slaw on a brioche bun—or the farm’s signature twist, two unsugared cider doughnuts—($14). A bratwurst sandwich pairs the house apple sausage with pickled cabbage and Carolina mustard on a French roll ($14), while the over-the-top Hogzilla layers pulled pork, smoked bratwurst, bacon, cheddar, Swiss, slaw, pickles, and barbecue sauce into a towering French-roll sandwich ($19). The barbecue-smoked turkey sandwich stacks hot-smoked turkey breast with bacon, pimiento cheese, slaw, pickles, and sauce ($16). Other options include pulled jerk chicken with spicy jerk barbecue sauce and curry mayo ($14), a smoked mushroom sandwich with marinated portobellos and cider jam ($15), a Texas-toast grilled cheese with cheddar, Swiss, and pimiento cheese ($12), and a brisket-chuck-ribeye hamburger served with lettuce, onion, and tomato ($16). 

For those who want the meat straight from the smoker, Harvest offers applewood-smoked meats by the pound, each served with a roll and house pickles. St. Louis spare ribs or baby backs are available by the pound ($20) or two pounds ($36). Pulled pork comes by the half pound ($14) or full pound ($22), while smoked turkey breast is offered in similar portions ($15 half, $25 full). House apple bratwurst sausages can be ordered as a single link ($10) or two links ($16), and smoked chicken wings—available plain or tossed in sauces like peach chipotle, honey harissa, or pineapple jerk—run $10 per pound or $17 for two pounds. 

The sides carry the same farm-driven sensibility that defines the barbecue. Classic barbecue accompaniments include cider slaw, smoked potato salad, mac and cheese, pit beans, cider-braised greens, and house pickles, available as a single serving ($3), pint ($8), or quart ($14). Hand-cut fries come in small ($6) or large ($8), while jerk fries tossed with curry mayo run $8 small or $10 large, with a fully loaded version topped with jerk chicken, slaw, and curry mayo ($15). Apple cornbread rounds out the table at $5 per piece. Salads include a mixed greens salad with apples, pickled onions, pumpkin seeds, and cider vinaigrette ($12), and a Carolina chopped salad with iceberg lettuce, smoked pulled pork, tomatoes, pimentos, cheddar, croutons, and ranch dressing ($16).

Applewood from Golden Harvest fuels the smoker, while cider and vinegars from the onsite Harvest Spirits distillery make their way into sauces and marinades. 

Murphy likes to think of the result as something distinct. “We never really settled on one kind of style of barbecue,” he says. “They all kind of pull from different regional areas. And the thing that kind of holds it all together would be the apples that we are using so heavily.” 

The Clock is Ticking

For now, though, the smoker stays cold and the noodle bowls keep coming—at least until the end of the month.

If you’ve been curious about the farm-stand pho experiment, the next few weeks are your last chance before Harvest Smokehouse returns to its signature orchard barbecue.