Spice Rave in Rhinebeck: Cinnamon Indian Cuisine

Posted on August 26, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

The Hudson Valley’s agricultural bounty has attracted many passionate chefs and restauranteurs, who are offering creative farm-to-table cuisine, mostly riffs on classic American, French bistro or Italian.  Yet for other ethnic cuisines in our region, the experience is often underwhelming, lacking both authenticity and imagination, and little or no use of the local produce. Predictable menus with lowest-common denominator choices predominate. You’ve had such dishes—pad thai, beef and broccoli with brown sauce, chicken teriyaki. Hold the MSG, please!

Not at Cinnamon Indian Cuisine, on Rhinebeck’s southern outskirts. Continue reading →

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Wild Horse (Winery) Rides into NYC

Posted on August 24, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

Wild Horse Winery, a California Central Coast wine operation based in Templeton, CA (near Paso Robles), is best known for its Pinot Noirs…and its familiar galloping mustang image on its bottles.

Last week, I had the opportunity to dine with Wild Horse’s Director of Winemaking, Clay Brock, at Bottino in Chelsea, where we sampled  some of Wild Horse’s nationally available Pinots and Chardonnays.  Continue reading →

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Star of a Stellar Vintage: 2011 Willi Schaefer Riesling

Posted on July 24, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

The dog days of summer have arrived with a thud, and August is still to come. In this hot, sticky weather, you want a wine that’s light (especially on the alcohol), lively on the palate and long on the fruit. A savvy summer choice on all counts? Willi Schaefer, an estimable Riesling producer from Germany’s Mosel region, especially from the current — and highly touted — 2011 vintage.

Continue reading →

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Two Boots Bard: Dude Food, Suds and Tunes

Posted on July 19, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Kathryn Matthews

Two Boots Bard: Annandale-on-Hudson

Meat. Cheese. Crust. Beer.

Righteous pizza attracts most guys—and a lot of girls.  Add live music to the mix, and it’s dude heaven.

Two Boots, a Cajun-Italian eatery founded downtown (the East Village) in 1987, has delivered this winning combination—in New York City (eight locations),  Los Angles, Baltimore and Nashville, too.

This spring, owner Phil Hartman opened a new Two Boots locale upstate: at Annandale-on-Hudson, across from Bard College (where Hartman’s two daughters recently graduated and where he is an honorary alum as well).

Christopher and I have long been fans of Two Boots (downtown).  Curious about its upstate expansion, we decided to pop into Two Boots Bard for a quality check… Continue reading →

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Poughkeepsie’s Culinary Cornerstone: The Artist’s Palate

Posted on July 9, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

Poughkeepsie, NY, a once-thriving river town on the Hudson, but long economically depressed, is often our gateway to upstate New York, via the Metro North train. But when we first bought our farmhouse in Dutchess County, there wasn’t much incentive to linger in Poughkeepsie after a commute. Dinner in Poughkeepsie?  No way:  a culinary wasteland, with a high crime rate to boot.

Fast forward a decade. Poughkeepsie now has a happening dining scene, especially in the historic and gradually gentrifying Main Street district, anchored by restaurants like the stylish Bull & Buddha and Brasserie 292, and Crave (at the foot of the Walkway Over the Hudson).  But they all owe a debt to the first-mover and culinary standard-bearer of the area: The Artist’s Palate.

Continue reading →

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Luna 61: Clean Vegetarian “Speaks” Good Asian

Posted on June 20, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Kathryn Matthews

After a recent meal at Luna 61, a 17-year-old eclectic vegetarian restaurant in Tivoli, New York, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that husband-and-wife owners Debra and Peter Maisel, were able to deliver what I hadn’t been able to find in Manhattan: clean Asian-inspired fare.

Over the years, visiting friends have asked:  “What are your favorite Chinese restaurants in NYC?”  They’re always taken aback when I can’t offer recommendations.  Christopher and I don’t eat at Chinese restaurants anymore.  Not that I have anything against Chinese food!  After all, this is my cultural cuisine: it’s what I grew up eating.  Both my parents were excellent Chinese cooks—the toast of every dinner party they threw—but their food, meticulously selected and prepared, highlighted fresh ingredients.  Most importantly it was “clean”.  Continue reading →

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Chateau Monbousquet 1995: Aging (and Drinking) Nicely

Posted on June 13, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

In our ever faster, more frenetic world, the patience (and pocketbook, for mere mortals) required for stocking a cellar full of age-worthy wines — great Barolo, Burgundy, Brunello or Bordeaux, for example — and then waiting a decade or more for them to evolve into something special , is diminishing. Rapidly. Even among cognoscenti and collectors.

But it only takes one compelling bottle from a superior, mature vintage to remind us why we should wait.  Last week, at the Wine Media Guild’s Annual Hall of Fame Dinner, that bottle was the Chateau Monbousquet 1995.

Chateau Monbousquet 1995

Continue reading →

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Bloom Times in the Hudson Valley

Posted on May 25, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

Every year is different, but as springs go, 2012 has been quite the rollercoaster in the Hudson Valley.

After virtually no winter, March shattered records for warmth, remained unusually dry and generated historically early blooms — plum trees, for example, were five weeks early!  April then cooled off considerably, including several hard freezes that made local farmers extremely nervous (and zapped the pear trees). May has been alternately gorgeous and dry, and cool and wet. But, despite the extremes, late May in northern Dutchess county is bursting out in flower, and is mirrored on our property!   Continue reading →

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Go Down to CrossRoads (in Hillsdale)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews

“Farm-to-table” has become a buzzword for many restaurants in the Hudson Valley — and around the country. And while it’s a great trend to support, using local and/or organic ingredients doesn’t always guarantee a great dining experience.

One Hudson Valley restaurant that gets it right on all counts — quality local ingredients, an attractive, serene setting, informed service and, most important, a truly talented chef — is CrossRoads Food Shop, in Hillsdale, NY, near the junction of Routes 22 and 23.

Continue reading →

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Vegging Out at Liberty…

Posted on April 29, 2012 by upstatedowntown

By Kathryn Matthews

…is not top-of-mind for most who come here.

At the newish Liberty Public House in Rhinebeck, the red, white and blue-themed décor is eye-catching and fun.  And, on a menu that salutes Americana favorites, the “Liberty Burger with Freedom Fries” gets a whole lot of love.

Sliders? Hot wings?  Liberty’s late night menu (we passed)

As I recount in my RHO review−http://bit.ly/LibertyRvw−the burger, itself, is tasty enough.  The beef patty, sandwiched along with melted Manchego cheese, lettuce and sliced pickle in a soft, squishy, sesame-seeded, white bun, with a side of ketchup is eerily reminiscent of a Big Mac−albeit with real meat.  There are other such retro-themed reincarnations, including Buffalo rock shrimp with blue cheese dip, bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese, and fettucini Alfredo—comfort food that ventures into precariously high sodium territory.  As it did with the much touted “Freedom fries”, which Christopher and I found greasy and overly salty.

What I did find unexpectedly appealing and savory, however, contained not a whit of meat: the “stuffed yellow pepper”—even more surprising since I don’t particularly care for bell peppers.  What I tasted was…  Continue reading →

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