Kingston Rondout Waterfront
11 Broadway
Kingston, NY 12401
845-339-6800
Lunch & Dinner, 7 Days
www.savonas.com
The re-development of the Kingston Rondout waterfront started long before development efforts got underway in neighboring Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. The Kingston planners did a lot of things right (including easy access and lots of free parking), and the Rondout area draws lots of locals and visitors who can enjoy the river views, the shops, the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and of course the restaurants. The area has more than its fair share of dining destinations, including one of our favorites - Savona's Trattoria. The eatery has been open for a few years now, and has garnered a devoted following of regulars. There is a reason for the line at the door. Savona's offers a an expansive selection of well prepared classic Italian dishes, served in copious quantities for a very reasonable price. We stopped in last Wednesday for dinner and started at the bar with our new favorite bartender, Rachel.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Lakeview House Restaurant Orange Lake, Newburgh, NY
Newburgh, NY 12550
845-566-7100
Closed Tuesdays
www.thelakeviewhouse.com
The Lakeview House Restaurant sits on the eastern shore of Orange Lake, a 400 acre lake just west of Newburgh, NY, off of Route 52. It is a picturesque setting; it reminds me of many of the waterfront eateries I frequented growing up on Long Island, especially if you could throw in some salt spray and a few seagulls. There is a wonderful sense of history here, starting with the lake itself, which was quite the resort destination a century ago. The Great Depression saw the end of the amusement park that was located here, but the Lakeview House lives on.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
How to make the perfect chicken dinner.
First, get a chicken......
Believe it or not, we don't eat dinner out every day, just a few times a week. We usually entertain on Saturday night, and those dinners tend to be "driveway parties" with friends and neighbors and too many courses and too much wine. (Everyone can walk home so we tend to get carried away.) During the week it's a different story. After a full day at the office the last thing anyone wants to do is prepare an elaborate meal. More often than not, we bake a chicken.
Not any old chicken, but an organic, farm fresh, pasture raised bird, preferably from a local producer. Tonight's bird came from Quattro's in Pleasant Valley. I always buy my duck from Quattro's and on my last trip there for confit fixins I also picked up a chicken. It gave me an opportunity to compare it to my favorite chicken, which comes from a farm in Putnam Station, NY, run by John and Mary Anne Smith.
Believe it or not, we don't eat dinner out every day, just a few times a week. We usually entertain on Saturday night, and those dinners tend to be "driveway parties" with friends and neighbors and too many courses and too much wine. (Everyone can walk home so we tend to get carried away.) During the week it's a different story. After a full day at the office the last thing anyone wants to do is prepare an elaborate meal. More often than not, we bake a chicken.
Not any old chicken, but an organic, farm fresh, pasture raised bird, preferably from a local producer. Tonight's bird came from Quattro's in Pleasant Valley. I always buy my duck from Quattro's and on my last trip there for confit fixins I also picked up a chicken. It gave me an opportunity to compare it to my favorite chicken, which comes from a farm in Putnam Station, NY, run by John and Mary Anne Smith.
Monday, September 5, 2011
The Bruynswyck Inn, Wallkill, NY
The Bruynswyck Inn
2162 Bruynswyck Road
Wallkill, NY, 12589
8458951147
Closed Monday and Tuesday
www.bruynswyckinn.com
You might want to file this one away under "hideaways". The Bruynswyck Inn is located just off of Ulster County Route 7, the Bruynswyck Road, which heads south off of Route 44 just west of the village of Gardiner. The road meanders through the orchards and pastures and horse farms that occupy the space between the Wallkill River and the Shawangunk cliffs. A more picturesque setting is hard to find. We stopped in for dinner last month, on a Wednesday night outing with the usual dining crew. It was my first visit to the inn, but Doc and George were obviously regulars judging by the friendly reception from Lee, who was holding court behind the bar when we arrived. Her banter was as welcoming as the location, which has the look and feel of a vintage road house cum neighborhood hangout. All that was missing was the neighborhood. We were clearly miles from the nearest occupied anything.
Lee announced that her significant other - Brittany born Chef Jean Boulidor - was in the kitchen, having recently returned from a day's fishing in the Catskills. He came out to the bar with a platter of freshly caught brown trout, and I knew immediately what I was having for dinner. But the story gets better.....
2162 Bruynswyck Road
Wallkill, NY, 12589
8458951147
Closed Monday and Tuesday
www.bruynswyckinn.com
You might want to file this one away under "hideaways". The Bruynswyck Inn is located just off of Ulster County Route 7, the Bruynswyck Road, which heads south off of Route 44 just west of the village of Gardiner. The road meanders through the orchards and pastures and horse farms that occupy the space between the Wallkill River and the Shawangunk cliffs. A more picturesque setting is hard to find. We stopped in for dinner last month, on a Wednesday night outing with the usual dining crew. It was my first visit to the inn, but Doc and George were obviously regulars judging by the friendly reception from Lee, who was holding court behind the bar when we arrived. Her banter was as welcoming as the location, which has the look and feel of a vintage road house cum neighborhood hangout. All that was missing was the neighborhood. We were clearly miles from the nearest occupied anything.
 |
| Just caught Catskill brown trout |
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Schroon Lake Fish and Game Club Annual Chicken & Lobster Bake
Hoffman Road
Schroon Lake, NY 12870
518-532-7572
Saturday, September 10
Noon until ?
There are certain functions that qualify as being uniquely American activities - the proverbial slice of Americana. Certainly community BBQ's deserve to be in that category. Usually small town affairs, they are often held at the firehouse or the town park, or in our case in Schroon Lake - on the grounds of the Fish and Game Club. The club serves as the community's civic center. It has a dining room that holds a few hundred people. Outdoor pavilions built specifically to hold this annual event, shelter picnic tables that accommodate a few hundred more. With the singular exception of one school reunion, in twenty years, I have never seen them used for any other public function. There's a baseball field and horseshoe pits and the requisite bar, back behind the dining room. Volunteers keep the place ship shape and ready for the next function. Dozens of volunteers will make the place ready for next Saturday, when hundreds of locals gather for our annual farewell to summer.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Chez Pierre Restaurant, Gansevoort - Wilton, NY
979 Route 9
Gansevoort, NY 12831
Phn: 518 793 3350
Closed Mondays
Chez Pierre is just north of Saratoga, hidden away on Route 9 between Northway exits 16 and 17. The website lists their address as Gansevoort, which is really five miles south. The cocktail coasters state that the place is in Wilton. Just outside the parking lot is a sign that welcomes you to the town of Moreau. Confused yet? The website lists a different address for patrons looking to find the place via GPS. I can tell you that my Droid's Google Maps program would have none of it, leading me to a spot a few miles south of the restaurant. I kept driving north on 9, searching for the neon Eiffel Tower, appearing in the mist like a Brigadoon during track season.
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