A Wine Tasting at le Pavillon, Poughkeepsie, NY

Le Pavillon
230 Salt Point Turnpike (Rte 115)
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Phone: 845 473 2525
www.lepavillonrestaurant.com
Dinner Tuesday through Saturday

This restaurant is currently closed.

Poughkeepsie's le Pavillon first opened its doors in 1980. Its hard to believe, but it has been thirty years. It is named after New York's le Pavillon, the iconic Manhattan eatery which closed in 1971, credited with introducing fine French dining to the United States after the 1939 World's Fair. I recall the buzz surrounding the opening at the time (in 1980, not 1939!), although I don't think the term “buzz” was in vogue back then. The proprietor and chef at the new restaurant was Claude Guermont, who had made his reputation locally as an instructor at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park. He was leaving the classroom to strike out on his own. 

Just this last Wednesday I had occasion to visit with Claude, as I was joining a group for a wine tasting luncheon at the restaurant, and the chef was preparing a meal to accompany the selections, all white Burgundies.

Essex County Toys for Kids Lobster Bake and BBQ

Yesterday our chicken crew had a wonderful time at Sporty's Iron Duke Saloon in Minerva, NY.  The event was the annual Down East Lobster Bake and BBQ, which raises money for Essex County Toy for Kids.  I put that post on our sister blog - NorthCountryBBQ.com.  Read all about it @ http://goo.gl/b/PgMV

Bar Vino - North Creek, NY

barVino
272 Main Street North Creek, NY 12853
518 251 0199
www.barvino.net

Last night, as we were driving from our dinner at barVino in North Creek back to Schroon Lake, we were trying to put our finger on the reason we like barVino as much as we do. We came up with quite a few reasons.

When we arrived for dinner at 6:30 we were greeted by a familiar face behind the bar. Jeremy was working the stick during his teacher's summer recess. We had last seen him when he worked summers at another favorite haunt – The Owl at Twilight in nearby Minerva. We settled in for dinner at the bar, and anticipated the arrival of the evening's entertainment, a Jazz quartet due to arrive at 8 PM. barVino features live jazz on Wednesday evenings. The Tony Jenkins Jazz Trip was featured last night.

barVino opened a few years back, and very quickly became one of our favorites. They specialize in “small plates” - tapas style. The establishment also offers a large selection of wines by the glass and draft beers. A special board on the wall highlights the nightly discounted offerings. Jeremy persuaded us to try a glass of Ca'Donini Pinot Grigio for only $4 per glass. Coincidentally, I had this wine on my shopping list, having been introduced to it last month at Aroma Osteria in Wappingers Falls. I sensed the presence of Greg Taylor, wine merchant for Frederick Wildman, who is the wholesaler for this value conscious label. I think Greg had a hand in setting up the original wine selections at barVino, and you couldn't ask for more knowledgeable guidance. Years ago his Friends Lake Inn wine cellar helped put the area on the culinary map. barVino's list is a wonderful collection of affordable selections focusing on no particular region, but always interesting and very reasonably priced. A retail wine store next to the restaurant offers wine to take home if you find something you like.

Tickets for "A Seat at the Table" are available at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project website. The dinner will be held at the Farm Project fields at Hooker & Raymond Ave in Poughkeepsie. Megan and Charlie Fells of the Artist's Palate are helping organize the event.

Destination - Farmers' Markets

For food lovers one of summer's highlights is the opportunity to cook with garden fresh vegetables, ideally locally grown. For most of us the resource for the summer's bounty is the local Farmers' Markets, many of which started opening last month. We have plenty around the region, and we go out of our way to shop at these markets regularly.

The last of the peas and asparagus were available last weekend. Lettuces and arugula, radishes and summer squash are starting to show. Tomatoes are a few weeks away, and I anxiously await their arrival each year. Few vegetables (yes, yes, I know tomatoes are really a fruit) are so better tasting when available fresh, as opposed to however they grow tomatoes the rest of the year.

Farmers Markets have become the preferred retail distribution for many local and truck farmers who travel from market to market each day. We spoke to some local North Country growers who make the trek to New York regularly and sell at the greenmarkets there. I suppose the prices in Manhattan make it worth the drive and cover the price of gasoline.

The demand for fresh product and the growing "locavore" movement have enhanced the quantity and the quality of the product at at many area markets. Last Thursday we stopped over to the North Creek Farmers" Market, which is opens at 3 PM. The Smith Family from Maple Grove Farm in Putnam Station were there selling free range chickens. We bought two rock cornish game hens for Friday's dinner. We also were happy to run into Deb Morris, proprietor and chocolatier extraordinairre at North Creek's Bark Eater Chocolates. You have not had a chocolate peanut butter cup unless you have tried one of Deb's creations. We have ordered her chocolate truffle selections as holiday gifts in the past, to rave reviews.

This Friday we stopped at the Warrensburg Farmers Market, where they had a wonderful acoustic band playing, complete with a country fiddle player. The market opens at 3 PM. We bought some ground grass fed Angus beef from Rising Sun Farm in Whitehall, NY. They ended up being little fried meatball hors de'oeuvres on Saturday, blended with chives and arugula and Parmigiana cheese. We also scoffed up the last of the asparagus from one grower, and a bag full of summer squash that will end up on the grill tomorrow.

You can find a complete list of markets in the region at the following links:

Adirondack Farmers' Markets

Hudson Valley Farmers' Markets

Farmers Markets are not the same markets that I remember growing up - which were somewhere to go to find inexpensive bushels baskets of tomatoes. Today's markets have evolved to reflect and to meet the growing demand for fresh, locally grown produce and livestock. Eat better. Eat healthier. Support your neighbors and local businesses. Try a local farmers market soon.

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Adirondack Tomatoes - July 4th Update

A real green living tomato.

It has been exactly four weeks since I planted my tomato garden - fifteen plants in all. All of the plants have beautiful little yellow flowers waiting to be pollinated. I am beginning to think that the local bee population, fully aware of my history of failure in tomato growing, has decided to pollinate elsewhere. Why waste all of that energy on a garden that has been doomed to failure for the last eighteen years. I am trying. The timer on the garden sprayer has gone on the fritz. It is supposed to water every twelve hours - at 6 AM and 6 PM. It varies between six and seven and eight o'clock, but it does come on twice a day. We have had a few nice sunny days recently which seems to be helping. I treated the garden once with Miracle Grow to try and move things along. Last weekend I notice one tiny green tomato. This weekend we added one more. That's two potential hamburger helpers, if everything goes as it should. We have lots and lots of buds, but only two tomatoes.

They both survived last night, when the resident bear strolled by on the way to my neighbor Bob's bird feeder. He (or she?) snapped the stakes to four plants, and stomped down the plants, but none had any tomatoes growing yet. In business and in life - and tomatoes - you hope for the best, expect less, but always be prepared for the worst. I am still optimistic.