Apparently there’s a new chef at the Hudson House. I haven’t called to get the scoop on his name or credentials, but from the few things Irene and I tasted, I’d say we’re in for a treat with his cooking!
This was the Green Goddess salad, which was a little like a greek salad, but more sophisticated. Olives, endive, arugula, onion… all delishy!
The Hudson House is undergoing renovations, so we ate in the upstairs dining room, which is really quite cozy and comfortable. There’s a cute little bar in the back, and a raised area that has served as a stage during performances there (and also was used to seat the wedding party at Sarah and Wilson’s rehearsal dinner!).
Sam and I joined Kelli, Sarah and Hugh for an early Friday supper at the OVI. The kids had cheeseburgers and grilled cheese. Kelli and I had pizza and wings. Sam had milk.
My favorite part of the evening was when Hugh asked me whether I was going to take a picture of his food. Of course Hughie! His grilled cheese, after the jump.
While I’m off work, I’ve been attending a Wednesday morning Mom group that focuses on breastfeeding. (See, this is a food blog, after all, right?) Breastfeeding Arts, a group run by my lactation consultant (and now friend), the incomparable Deirdre, and her partner, Lenore, have organized what’s called the Breastfeeding Cafe and New Mother Support Group. It’s a laid-back, cool place to talk about breastfeeding and other new mom things — and also a nice place to meet other moms. The group meets at a studio in Nyack Yoga @ 42 Main. I’ve loved to just hang for an hour and realize that I’m not alone in this whole new mom thing! Here’s Sam with Alon, whose birthday is just three days before Sam’s.
Maybe it was the rice and beans from Maura’s the night before, but I had a hankering for Harry’s. And the weather was so gorgeous that we decided to make an afternoon of it. We walked down the long way, stopped for lunch, walked a bit more, stopped for coffee, and then headed home. Come along and share our outing!
I don’t have to tell SCF fans how often we go to the Olde Village Inne in Nyack. A ridiculous amount. But since Sam came along, we hadn’t been once. We had to remedy that situation — and fast.
We both had wings. A bad photo of them — and a nice one of Caroline, the owner — after the jump.
Irene’s sister, Carol, is in town for her annual December visit. Kris and I met the sisters for a supper at Velo. The food was so good we all decided we need to go back more often. The cocktails, especially, were super. Irene and I loved our Manhattans and Kris’ martini was out of sight.
We all had rich, hearty, wintery food: short ribs and pastas. Irene’s Handmade Ricotta Cavatelli with Sausage and Fennel Ragu and Grana Padano was especially delishy.
The last time we were at Wasabi was the night before I got pregnant with Sam. We knew chances were I wouldn’t be eating sushi for a long, long time, so we had a bit of an extravaganza. Appropriate, then, that for my first meal out after Sam was born, we should head back to the scene of the crime! Sarah and Kelli came along, and we stumbled into another tasting menu prepared by Doug. We loved every morsel. Here’s the scallop ceviche:
Greg’s prayers have been answered: We now have good Chinese food in Nyack. We couldn’t be happier that Baumgart’s, a Chinese mini-chain from New Jersey, opened at the bottom of Main Street across from O’Donoghue’s. Finally! A place that makes Chinese food with fresh ingredients, good technique and lots of care.
But, but… it’s called Baumgart’s, you say? Yes. Here’s the deal: a family owned a soda fountain in the 1950s. Ice cream, floats, sodas, sandwiches, the like. When they decided to sell, a Chinese family bought it, and brought their recipes to the menu. For a while, they operated as a soda fountain during the day and as a Chinese restaurant for dinner. But then they decided to combine the two concepts. To this day, there’s still an old-fashioned ice cream parlor at each of the four Baumgart’s. Well, make that five, now.
Sounds like it should say Breakfast at Tiffany, doesn’t it? Not quite as luxurious, but every bit as special. No photos of the food today, but here’s a look at the cast. Liz and Susan:
Our friends Janet and Jerry finally got the chance to come over and see the Farm. After a quick tour and some drinks on the porch, we headed down to Cafe Barcel, where the food was as good as the company.
The annual plant sale of the Nyack Garden Club has been a treasure trove for Sour Cherry Farm. We owe our fig tree, bleeding heart, columbine, Siberian iris and lots of ferns to the generosity of its members, who dig up their gardens and divide their plants to raise money for the community projects they do throughout the year.
This year, we came home with several good buys, including herbs from Hook Mountain Growers and rudbeckia, or Black Eyed Susans, for the new bed we’re planning by the driveway. And this year, Irene came away with a fig tree, too!
Edward Hopper, famous for such works as “Gas” and “Nighthawks” —
— was born in Nyack and lived here during his formative years. The Hopper House Art Center — which is celebrating its 40th anniversary — has an exhibit this summer charting Hopper’s development as an artist before he left his hometown for Paris and New York and really left his mark on the art world and America itself.
Open Days is an ingenious fundraiser for the Garden Conservancy. You pay $5, which goes toward helping “preserve exceptional American gardens,” and you get to go behind the garden gates of some really fancy, and also very inspiring, private gardens. This Sunday, we visited two gardens. One of them was Pretty Penny, the Nyack house famous for its famous residents. For many years, Helen Hayes and Charles MacArthury lived there; more recently, Rosie O’Donnell owned it for a spell.
After a trip to Home Depot to buy a new faucet, we found it was 8:30 and we had no dinner in the works. So we sidled up to the bar at Cafe Barcel. We ordered a few things, and were gifted a couple of dishes, too, including this lovely halibut atop fennel and cherry tomatoes:
The Goatherd book club is reading “Heart is a Lonely Hunter” this round, and Greg and I will be hosting dinner. We thought it might be fun to meet up at Carson’s grave and toast her great talent.
We found, unfortunately, that the cemetery closes at 5 p.m. during the winter — way too early for us to meet there, even surreptitiously and with flasks under the cover of darkness. We thought we might meet, instead, in front of her home on South Broadway. Turns out, on the day of the meeting, it was raining, so we did neither.
But our trip to Oak Hill was not without reward. After driving around aimlessly and doing a little research on the phone, we finally found the grave, and now know it’s exact location. If you’re looking at the cemetery from 9W, it is as far right as you can possibly go, about halfway up the hill, behind the blue condos. FindAGrave says it’s in the High Lawn section, but I seem to remember that’s not exactly the right name, but it is close. More photos, after the jump.
Are you sick of us going to Art Cafe yet? At least we tried some new dishes this time — and we had some new faces, too. Karen, Tasha and Shannon. No matter who is dining with us, though, we have to get the coffee. It’s still the best cappuccino on the planet.
We went on a little bit of a sushi extravaganza on Friday at Wasabi. We didn’t mean to, but we’d ordered our meal and then chef-owner Doug Nguyen came into the restaurant and sent out a bunch more stuff. We gave it a valiant effort, I must say. This tuna tartare with fresh wasabi was a highlight:
Sometimes when we get on a jag, we really get on it. It seems to happen often with Cafe Barcel, where we found ourselves on another Friday night, ending up with another tasting. It started with this lovely fried fish slider with housemade pickles.
Kris and Tom began a custom last winter of heading to the Hudson House during snowstorms to enjoy old fashioneds. This time, they couldn’t join, but Irene and Greg and I found ourselves at the Hudson House bar anyway, sipping cocktails and dining on mussels, which came highly recommended by Jim, and cassoulet, which was perfect for a winter’s night.
There are many things to like about Wasabi — any time of the year. The food is always terrific, the wines are easy-drinking and the atmosphere is fun. What I like so much about going there on New Year’s Eve is that they don’t muck up the experience by putting on a show with a three-course, prix fixe menu you’re stuck with. Nope. On New Year’s Eve, even, you can order just what you like. Even if that includes a single piece of uni.
The other good part about Wasabi on New Year’s Eve? It’s walking distance from the Farm. We made the short journey with the neighbors, Tasha and Shannon. But not before a little pre-champagne champagne at the house.
We somehow found ourselves back at Cafe Barcel, starting another long weekend with a nice relaxing meal. We got to talking to the new chef, Tim Trombley, who said he had just finished prepping for his New Year’s Eve dinner the following evening. He brought out this little tasting of tuna tartar —
— and then told us about some of the other dishes he’d be serving the following evening, including a root vegetable soup with a little hint of truffle oil. Would we like a tasting?, he asked. Why, certainly!, we said. And off Tim went to the kitchen. We looked at each other. Then we looked at Ozzy, the bartender. Did we just order a tasting menu? I think you did, said Ozzy. And so we did. But it was one of the most retrained, easy-going tasting menus we’d ever seen. Really, just a few tastes. Come and see, after the jump.
On the night before the night before Christmas, no one was stirring — a pot, that is. We knew we’d have enough cooking coming up over the next two days, so we took to the pub. And Olde Village Inne has some of the best wings out there:
We found ourselves on Wednesday night with a fridge full of food and nothing to cook. It was all for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So to kick our long holiday weekend off right, we went out. To Barcel, which we hadn’t visited in a few months at least. The food was as good as always, right down to dessert.
