This year we left the epicenter for celebrating New Year's Eve for a small, quiet town that felt closer to the 50s than ringing in 2013. Last minute, literally on NYE afternoon we decided to rent a car and head north on the Hudson to Rhinebeck. It was a wonderful winter escape that took under 2 hours on a beautiful scenic drive.
We stayed at
Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn located on Main Street in the center of town, which we found out is
America's longest operating inn (hit the link to the left for the history of the inn which amazingly enough was host to George Washington and played a major role during the American Revolution). Upon entering the lobby is a welcoming fire place with leather couches and wooden beams. So comforting and rustic, like all you want to do is read a book in front of the fire with a hot cup of tea or in my case a hot toddy.
Since our dinner reservation wasn't until 9:30 that night, which also included dancing to a live jazz band playing 20s/30s swing, we decided to walk Main Street and pop into a few of the remaining open shops. When we left the inn we heard live music outside that sounded so beautiful, and to our astonishment under a lit tree on the street corner was a saxophonist. After we tipped the talented musician and crossed the street we saw an old-fashioned department store with wonderful window displays of clothing. A few doors down was a toy shop, antique shop lined with old sleds on the sidewalk and many exquisite restaurants that feature farm to table cooking, small cafes and good-looking bars. As far as Charles and I were concerned we found our little slice of heaven in the country a quick drive outside of the city.
We only had a few hours before heading back to our room to sit by the fire and start to get ready for dinner, so we walked into
Liberty Public House, an inviting bar with perfect ambiance. The dining room was set up for dinner with glamorous candelabras and chandeliers all over, yet Red, White and Blue as the color scheme with decorations and artwork -- think Americana meets Marie Antoinette (thanks Charles -- nicely put). The bar side to the right, was an old-world saloon with wooden booths and cowboy looking bar, with awesome old prints of presidents, inventors and nature scenes hung all around, and the occasional moose head plaque or old model airplane. We only had one drink there before taking a fellow patron's recommendation to try out
The Local. And wouldn't you know the two couples next to us were so nice to pay for our round! Can you believe it?!?! That only validated that we left the big city for nice people telling the bartender, "We got this round to welcome our guests in town." Thank You Rhinebeck, Mission Accomplished, We felt Welcomed!
So off we went to
The Local Restaurant and Bar which was small and scrumptious. Known for its local products, regional recipes with seasonal changing menu, and acclaimed wine cellar -- one can easily deduce that the owner is also the chef de cuisine. I have to get right to it, the FRIED OYSTERS with BLACK TRUFFLE AIOLI were UNBELIEVABLE!!! I mean so good I need to get the recipe for you my loyal readers or else I won't feel right. Please Chef Wes Dier do me that one favor... How did you make that delicious truffle aioli? (To be continued on the recipe -- hopefully I can share it with y'all). I would take a stab at what was in it, but with the rest of the champagne that followed that evening it has blurred my tasting experience other than remembering how phenomenal it was!
Fast forward through a fun dinner at Beekman's, yet with all the talented, local dining establishments I wouldn't recommend the Beekman Arms for dinner. Sure why not have a drink in their great bar feeling like your swilling some ale where the revolutionaries debated what should go into the Declaration of Independence. Maybe even enjoy lunch or brunch in their beautiful front glass atrium, but compared to the other restaurants in town the dining there wasn't up to par. So fast forward: dancing, martinis, midnight kiss, champagne, great discussion, wine and late night partying at the underground bar at Liberty (go figure small town Rhinebeck parties until the wee hours, 4AM WHAT! We lasted to 2AM) we get to New Year's Day.
Other than a great cup of tea in front of the fireplace at Beekman's reading
Silent Spring by
Rachel Carson (highly recommend you read this monumental book authored from an inspirational woman of the 60s who created what we know today as the environmental movement), went straight to
Samuel's for a great cup of coffee. Nothing like coffee to help a hangover, let alone mixed with penny candy and homemade chocolates (cute coffee shop for adults and children alike).
We headed to
Arielle's for New Year's brunch. We figured the food would be wonderful because it smelled so good from
a few hundred feet away that the aroma beckoned us over to the French provincial restaurant. A charming setting to sip on a mimosa or bloody Mary with natural light infusing through the front windows on the plank floors and wooden beams of the ceilings. Glorious artwork hung throughout the restaurant, an overall aesthetically pleasing atmosphere for lunch or dinner. Since we were starving and couldn't wait for our main course, we ordered Pommes Frites. Fantastic! They were accompanied with another delicious aioli.
Although we ordered the crispy, skinny French fries to have something to pick on prior to our meals, the meals themselves came out fairly quickly even with a full dining room. They were offering a very reasonable prix fixe which for $14 included several choices for your entree and either a mimosa, Bellini or bloody Mary. Of course I got the Eggs Benedict and couldn't possibly wait for a picture before diving right in for a bite. Than I collected myself and realized I would be blogging about this meal and tried to tidy up the plate (hence the picture below). Absolutely delicious Eggs Benedict, the Hollandaise Sauce was light and fluffy but full of flavor and the accompaniment of mixed greens went well with the richness of the rest of the plate (granted I already enjoyed my potatoes). Not too mention the service was attentive and fast.
After brunch we took a short ride throughout town which was nice to see all the farm land of Dutchess County and the properties sitting right on the Hudson, which includes another well-known hotel called
The Rhinecliff with beautiful views of the mountains across the way and the river below. We were happy with our decision though to stay at Beekman Arms since everything you need whether for one or two days visiting is conveniently located in the center of town on Main and Market Streets.
We made it back to an old independent movie theater called
Upstate Films, which was playing
Hyde Park on Hudson starring Bill Murray. It was the perfect movie to see in Rhinebeck during this brief escape from hectic modern day living, not too mention that FDR's home was only a 15 minute drive away. It's a lovely film that showed the beauty of small town America in the 30s and 40s, and the decorum of politicking before the 24/7 news cycle and some of the fanatics that take office today. It showed how authentic the experience was living somewhere without strip-malls and suburban sprawl, rather local shops where people knew your name and cared to know how you were doing (although it's 2013 I still got a similar notion that Rhinebeck has kept some of those qualities today).
Before finally getting on the road to head out of this wonderful enclave, we went into the local
Rhinebeck Smoke Shoppe to savor a rather luxurious Christmas present,
Arturo Fuentes Opus X Cigar. We learned that the smoke shop was there from 1929. We had a spirited discussion on the state of America with a fellow who welcomed us in and could have been the proprietor, but probably wasn't. Shook hands and bid farewell for now, as we drove back to Manhattan.
One of my favorite parts to Rhinebeck was its overall unpretentious, laid-back style even though its clearly an affluent community with a hip restaurant scene, high property values, beautiful views and an assortment of anything one wants from salons to boutiques -- heck even
Chelsea Clinton got married there.
Onto the last find which was certainly well worth the manhunt and hours-long search. Christian Constant may be considered the world's best chocolatier. My husband has the patience like no other willing to wander neighborhoods in Paris trying to find this small chocolate boutique near Luxembourg Gardens. We had left the apartment quickly and I didn't write down the address. Meanwhile, I thought anyone in the neighborhood would know where the "World's Best Chocolate" is... except that wasn't the case for this hidden gem, and there was no wifi to even find the address! After a few hours of roaming around asking each shop along the way with my best Fresh accent, which is pretty bad, we finally found it! Christian Constant is serious about chocolate, as a "Scholar of Chocolate History," writer of three books on -- you guessed it -- chocolate!
