Hudson River Valley, NY

[MugZ77]

I'm heading up to the Hudson River Valley for the long July 4 weekend. Any recommendations on where to eat and drink while I'm up there? Restaurants? Wineries? Can't-miss holes-in-the-wall?

Thanks,

Michael

[Keithstg]

I'm heading up to the Hudson River Valley for the long July 4 weekend. Any recommendations on where to eat and drink while I'm up there? Restaurants? Wineries? Can't-miss holes-in-the-wall?

Thanks,

Michael

Where? Close in (to NYC) there is Blue Hill at Stone Barns...

[Demetrius]

If any of the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) restaurants are open over the holiday weekend, I would highly recommend eating at any of them.

[Al Dente]

The Bear Cafe was very enjoyable when I was up there about a year ago. If it's a nice night, you can sit outside by the stream that runs through the property. It's up near Woodstock.

New World was also excellent.

Sorry I don't have a more detailed memory of the meals, but I remember being impressed by both.

[Gubeen]

As I remember, there is a place called Stissing House close to Stissing Pond near Rhinebeck which is very good. The town of Rhinebeck has an old pharmacy that has been converted into a restaurant that has good character and great milkshakes. Try also Grier farm for fresh goodies from the region. Rhinebeck also has a Saturday morning farmers market.

Ask a local about the Firetower hike (near Stissing Pond) which provides an excellent view of the Catskills, Adirondacks and Hudson River Valley.

None of the wineries are exceptional.

Hope this is useful. I realize I don't have the particulars but Rhinebeck and Stissing are small towns and folks should be able to point you in the right direction easily.

Enjoy!!

[DC in DC]

Any updates? I'll be in Hudson, NY at the end of this week-- recommendations for casual lunch / dinner? Thanks!

[Robert Rymarz]

Any updates? I'll be in Hudson, NY at the end of this week-- recommendations for casual lunch / dinner? Thanks!

I have not been but have heard good things about Mexican Radio. May fit your needs for a casual spot.

http://www.mexrad.com/hudson.html

PS. On a side note my four year old daughter is bouncing off the walls over your avatar.

[ol_ironstomach]

In need of road food somewhere in the Adirondacks, CrescentFresh pointed us (through the miracle of cellular telephony) to the memorably named Poopie's, located in Glens Falls just beyond the southern edge of the park. There's nothing like a popular small-town diner! Most of the dishes would fit right in at any American family reunion picnic. I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with classic heavy metal though, lest you incur the wrath of the proprietor.

Ozzy Osbourne pairs excellently with a fake-crab-salad sandwich on white bread. Word.

[brettashley01]

Not sure exactly where Hudson is, but I'm from Westchester and could recommend lots of great places there, plus in CT, Putnam, and a bit further upstate if that's the area you'll be in!

[crazeegirl]

I am planning a birthday weekend around dinner at Blue Hill Stone Barns next month. I would love to get some recommendations on where else to dine, wineries to visit and hotels. Thank you very much in advance!

[seanvtaylor]

We spent a week in the Catskills and were nicely surprised by what we found in Saugerties. Alleyway Ice Cream is the real deal. It's a funky little hole in the wall, dutch-doored and looking like it is the size of a walk-in closet, with good amounts of outdoor seating. The ice cream is great; we tried Belgian chocolate (as a milkshake!). It was deep and bitter, too hardcore for our 4-year old. The Madagascar vanilla was as close to perfect as vanilla ice cream could get for me. The sour cream/blueberry was more sour creamy than it was blueberry, and I liked it very much that way.

There is an O&Co. on Partition Street, and I ducked in to look around and talked myself into a piece of freshly baked peach pie. I suppose somebody could make a bad peach pie, but this wasn't it.

Deli-cioso was a small cuban restaurant with a great cubano sandwich. I really wanted to try the mofongo, but there were no plantains available in Saugerties that day, so no luck. That cubano sandwich was great, with nicely roasted pork, shaved upon preparation of the sandwich, and both spicy mustard and an aioli that gave it just the right amount of creaminess.

We stayed closer to Woodstock, but if we return we might well end up closer to Saugerties--there were at least three other restaurants that looked worthwhile.