Like Magic, The Gnome Bistro Pops Up In East Chatham's Legendary Cottage
The Gnome Bistro is small in stature but the new incarnation of the restaurant in East Chatham is imbued with local magic.
Photos courtesy The Gnome Bistro
The Gnome Bistro in East Chatham, New York is diminutive and unassuming, but the new restaurant is steeped in local tradition and lore. Located at restaurant at 1267 Route 295, it occupies what used to be The Cottage, a straightforward and beloved stop for locals and tourists coming to the area for camping in the summer and skiing in the winter. After 30 years The Cottage closed and a new tenant moved in, and then another, before accomplished chef and Chatham local Zak Russell, decided to open his first solo brick and mortar here earlier this year. At The Gnome Bistro Russell can flex his culinary imagination while maintaining the nostalgic atmosphere the building has brought to town for so many years.
“I grew up in Copake and live in the village of Chatham now,” says Russell. “I want everyone passing through to feel welcome but I also want the community to know that we are here for them like The Cottage was.”
Zak Russell
The menu is updated comfort food made to modern tastes with some whimsical twists from the gnomes in the kitchen.
The lunch and dinner menu is a varied assortment of comfort food, offering a Cottage Rueben ($17) in homage to the restaurant’s predecessor, but also a West Coast chicken sandwich ($18). There’s also the Thanksgiving turkey club ($17), Alpine prime rib ($28), fish and chips ($17), meatloaf ($17), and a portobello parmesan ($23).
The gnome influence is more pronounced on the all-day breakfast menu, with its Gnomecakes ($10.50), Gnomelet ($9.5), Hangry Gnome stacked breakfast plate ($14) and the Cloud Berry Flowertine ($14), a benedict-like creation with cloudberry jam.
“We’re trying to revamp classics in our theme, being original and creative,” Russell says.
There’s also a full, well-stocked bar, where gnomes peek out from behind bottles and taps of local beer.
Seasonal cocktails with gnome monikers, including the Gno-melon-tail and Gnomarita
Why gnomes, you ask? Russell says he’s always liked gnomes. He wanted to make the restaurant stand out and give the restaurant a theme that makes people smile. The restaurant also happens to be pretty close to the “gnome bridge” at Shillings Crossing in Canaan. Gnomes started appearing on the bridge during the pandemic thanks to nearby resident Hillary Hunt, who says the new tradition started to lift people’s spirits. While the bridge is unrelated to the bistro, the serendipity is certainly appreciated.
The bistro has gnomes hiding all over but doesn’t overshadow the menu or how professionally run this hidden gem is. Russell grew up working in Columbia County restaurants and cooked for many years at Wunderbar Bistro in Hudson. He says he learned so much about cooking and the business of restaurants from founder Imre Vilaghy and when the restaurant sold in 2011 he stayed on to partner with the new owners. Over the years they expanded their brand to Wunderburger, which now provides the food at Chatham Brewing.
With the pandemic, business was hard for the entire restaurant industry, but when a business deal to purchase Brown’s Brewing in Albany fell through, Russell found himself with the opportunity to relocate his resources into reviving the community’s favorite local restaurant. Like its namesake, The Gnome Bistro is a hideaway ready to be discovered on your way to go hiking or skiing, a local secret, and a new beginning for an old county legend — one that now includes mytholoical creatures with white beards and pointy hats.
The Gnome Bistro
1267 Route 295, East Chatham NY
Open 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday
