Table Scraps & Tidbits

First some North Country updates.


One of my favorite restaurants, The Owl at Twilight in Olmstedville, NY, will open for the summer tomorrow. Rich and Joanne are back from Georgia, and plan on serving dinner Thursday through Sunday through August.  For reservations call 518.251.4696. More info about the Owl can be found here.


Ever wonder how an upstate New York hotdog came to be known as a Michigan? If you are a fan of Michigans, or North Country culinary history, or just enjoy a well researched and fascinating read about hot dogs, check out Niki Kourofsky's article in this month's Adirondack Life magazine. Honorable mention goes to Clare and Carl's Michigan Shack in South Plattsburgh, which is well worth a detour if you are on the way north.


This month's Chronogram has a great story about Food Trucks around the Hudson Valley.


And finally, (and having absolutely nothing to do with food) The Adirondack Shakespeare Company will be performing this summer at Schroon Lake's Boat House Theater, North Creek's Tannery Pond Community Center, Indian Lake, Ticonderoga, and Bolton Landing. For the full "Shakespeare in the Park" experience, see them at Scaroon Manor's (State Park) amphitheater. If you have not seen this troupe, you are really missing out. For calendar and advance tickets, click here.  

The Gunk Haus, Clintondale, NY

Gunk Haus Restaurant and Biergarten
387 South Street, Highland, NY 12528
Phone 845.883.0866
www.gunkhaus.com


Serving Lunch & Dinner
Closed on Tuesday


The Gunk Haus Restaurant and Biergarten bills itself as a local gastro pub, which does sound like a New York hiptser moniker for this very traditional village brahaus. The charming eatery is situated beneath the Shawangunk ridge in Clintondale. The view of the "Gunks" from the restaurant's back deck is reason enough to stop by, but the kitchen is the real reason we stopped in last Wednesday for dinner. It was our third visit over the last year, and I am happy to report that the Gunk Haus keeps getting better with each visit. CIA trained chef and co-owner Elizabeth Steckel is putting out some terrific German style platters, using locally sourced, pasture raised, hormone free beef, and vegetables from some of the valley's best producers. The menu includes artisanal sausages from Highland's Mark Elia Meats.

Hudson Valley TableScraps ~ June 2012

TableScraps and Tidbits

36 Main, New Paltz has a new owner - Darren Siegfried, Former Executive Chef at Windows on the World.  Mr. Siegfried is President of the Sommelier Society of America and owner of Red White and Bubbly in Brooklyn.  Judging by his CV, we look for great things, but Kathy will be missed.

Le Pavillon, Poughkeepsie has closed, according to the Zagat.com website.  The reservation phone has been off line since the spring. Chef Claude Guermont has been working with Chris O'Brien at Farm to Table Restaurant in Wappingers Falls.

The new outdoor patio at Ship Lantern Inn

After twenty plus years of talking about it, Mike Foglia has built an outdoor patio dining area at Ship Lantern Inn, Milton.  Located off the cocktail lounge (and one of my favorite Hudson Valley bars), the patio looks out over the restaurant's gardens.

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Email me at NorthCountryJoe@gmail.com

Farm Raised ~ Free Range ~ Eggs

A few years ago, on a chilly November afternoon, we were visiting with one of our "egg ladies", a local lass named Vi, who raises chickens on her property down the road from our house.  As we spoke I noticed that she currently had as many Muscovy ducks as Black Star and Buff Orpington chickens waddling around in the fenced in yards, and I made mention of that fact. "Do you like ducks eggs?" Vi asked. "Well I'm not sure I have ever had one." I responded.  "I'll get you some", she said. Ten minutes later, as we readied to leave with our customary dozen (chicken) eggs, I reminded her that we would like some duck eggs too.  Yes, she said, she would save me some.  "When should I pick them up?" I said.  "Probably next March", she responded.  Such was my introduction to the delicate intricacies and inter-dependencies of fowl reproduction, sunlight, vitamin D synthesis, "pinking up", and breakfast. Silly city boy. Who knew ducks and chickens need sunlight to lay eggs? (Commercial producers add vitamin D to their chicken feed to compensate for the sunless conditions in most caged egg operations.)