Motor Your Way To Shadow 66 For French Bistro Fare

After my family moved to Israel in 1973, when I was 11, it didn’t take me long to forget about the broad highways and elephantine gas guzzlers of the States, and become acclimated to the bumpy, narrow, and twisting Israeli roads and the modest European compact sedans that the natives drove like maniacs over them.

Because of scarcity and sky-high import taxes, even those boxlike Fiats and Opels everyone had to squeeze into were big-ticket items. On those uncommon occasions that you’d spot a sleek and swank motor vehicle like a Citroen DS, you’d gape at it in wonder as you might at a UFO just arrived from another galaxy. And if it sometimes seemed that you were as likely to see a Citroen along the shoulder with its hood up as you were to see one zipping along the road  –  they were notoriously unreliable, particularly in Israel, where parts and experienced service were hard to obtain  –  that didn’t matter, because a Citroen was a “luxoos,” Hebrew for luxury.

Although the mint-condition Citroen parked inside the main dining space of Shadow 66 is not moving any faster than those Citroens stalled along the Israeli roadsides of my youth, it still lends an Alain Delon-in-Le Samourai cool to the entire restaurant. The car is centerpiece of the recently-opened bistro in Ghent, its walls adorned with vintage French motoring memorabilia from the collection of owners Patrick and Astrid Jehanno. For nearly 10 years, the Jehannos have operated the popular Le Gamin Country in Hudson; previously, Chef Patrick was executive chef/partner of the original Le Gamin series of restaurants in New York City. Astrid, who runs the front of the house and was our lead server on the night we visited Shadow 66, said that the two have opened and operated 17 eateries over the years.

Beyond the fact that the Jehannos have used artifacts from their own collection as decoration, there is a feeling one immediately gets upon entering the space that Shadow 66 is a passion project. Sited along rural Old Post Road roughly between Ghent center and Hudson, it very consciously evokes the roadside restaurants one might be stumble upon while motoring through the French countryside  –  informal, relaxed, and off the beaten path, yet still serving deeply satisfying French comfort food cooked to a high standard. You have only to compare and contrast an exterior image of the spot’s previous incarnation, The Red Barn, to see how much care (and certainly cost) it took for the Jehannos to achieve this effect over the three years it took to realize their vision for this restaurant.

But the interior of Shadow 66 is what truly makes it. A stylish bar (eternally stylish, not au courant stylish) greets patrons as they enter, and the warm, wood-detailed walls throughout are punctuated by colorful vintage roadside ephemera, including a vintage motorbike and a rotary telephone booth from a bygone era when – yes, children, it was once so – people politely excused themselves to sit in private when making a call so as not to disturb their fellow diners. Attention to detail is everywhere in evidence, down to the Art Moderne-style wastepaper receptacles in white-tiled restrooms that evoke those found in European railway stations. At the back of the restaurant is a fountain-style counter that was not in use when we visited, and there is an outdoor area that could be used for al fresco dining – both very charming and chic. And for the gearheads, the main dining area features not only the aforementioned Citroen, but a pristine 1967 Cadillac DeVille convertible, as well.

The daily menu is just as carefully curated as the décor, offering a compact selection of bistro standards prepared with locally sourced ingredients. Appetizers include classic preparations of moules manières ($17.50), crab cakes ($27), caviar (1 oz., $75), and beef, ($22) and salmon ($19) tartare. My dining companion and I shared an order of the escargot ($14), plump examples of the terrestrial mollusk drenched in butter, but not overwhelmed by too much garlic.

My companion and I ordered off the menu, with my choice being the duck confit ($33) served with greens and delicious frites – a solid and satisfying herb and spice perfumed preparation of the dish, although I would have liked my duck leg to have been a bit richer and fattier. Better still was the hanger steak ($29), perfectly medium rare, tender, and juicy, served with mashed potatoes that could be substituted for French fries if one wants the bistro-classic steak frites. Our crème brulee ($12) to finish was a fine example of the classic dessert, elevated with a heap of ripe berries and other fruit.

While we didn’t get a taste of the colossal scallops off the specials menu, I can attest that said scallops were indeed colossal and that all four diners seated at the table next to ours ordered them. On their previous visit, they explained, only one had ordered the scallops and, after each had a taste, they decided to all return together to Shadow 66 so that each could have their own plate.

I have a strong feeling that Shadow 66 is going to have a host of return customers, plus a lot of new visitors referred by folks who have eaten there before. If you like bistro food and unpretentious bistro dining, be assured that this place is the real deal and, plain and simple, a nice place to enjoy a classic kind of dining experience. Every bit of it reflects its owners’ experience as restaurateurs, and the vibe that with this establishment, two pros are fulfilling long-held ambitions and really going for it with a destination they want to establish for a lasting run of success.

My one concern was about the service — I found myself waiting a longer than I would have liked to place our dessert order and also for the check to arrive after we were clearly finished. The lapse could be attributed to growing pains, but the reason I mention it is that a relaxed meal like Shadow 66 can offer requires a capable waitstaff to execute it seamlessly without tipping off the patrons about the effort involved in creating that experience. While I have no doubt that Astrid Jehanno is more than capable of training a crack team of servers for the job, I wonder if, given the difficulty in finding workers that many local restaurateurs are reporting this year, she’ll be able to find and prepare the staff she wants to work with.

But that is just a quibble, speculative and certainly one that can fix itself. What seems certain is that as the summer unfolds, you’d be wise to plan ahead and make a reservation, because Shadow 66 has too much going for it not to be a very desirable destination.

Shadow 66
47 Old Post Road in Ghent, NY.
(518) 320-8566
Reservations required.
Wednesday-Sunday, 5:30-9 p.m.