Brasserie 292 - A bit of France in Poughkeepsie

The city of Poughkeepsie is slowly becoming the food mecca of the Hudson Valley. I have been hearing and looking at pictures of friends dining at Brasserie 292 on Main Street and finally went there on Thursday for dinner.

The decor was very upbeat and lively.  For a moment I thought I was in a Brasserie in Paris, or in NYC in the 1920's.  It was a great feeling, one of nostalgia, where you can get caught up in the atmosphere and forget that you are in downtown Poughkeepsie.  I liked the white tiled walls.  (the only drawback is it reminded me of my grandmothers bathroom in her NYC apartment that was built in 1908 and still had the original tiling in it when she passed 5 years ago).  The staff at the restaurant was friendly and the service was very good.

We began our experience with sour dough bread and french baguettes, a Chardonnay and a Syrah.  Although the oyster specials sounded fabulous, I love oysters, but they don't love me, we ordered the Warm Camembert wrapped in phyllo with arugula, apples and a fig-balsamic vinaigrette and spinach salad with grilled asparagus, red onion, poached egg and lemon-caper dressing. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture because the plate was so inviting, I just began to eat.  My dinner could have been compete after the Camembert course.  I really enjoyed that.

Along came my main course which was the Rib Eye special with cannelloni in a sage sauce.  The steak was the tastiest I've had in a long time.  Cooked to perfection, juicy and savory with lots of flavor. The pasta was equally as good, with hints of fall spices in a incredible sauce.  The pasta alone could have been a dish.  I can't leave out the greens that accompanied it.  I wasn't that thrilled with my wine of choice, it seemed a little grapy, but overall went well with the rib eye.

I was so busy with my plate, I never asked Paul for a taste of his Salmon.  However, he did clear the plate and left nothing.  He said it was very good as was his Chardonnay.

Even though I had absolutely no room for dessert, It was my birthday, so I had to order something.  The Milk Chocolate Creme Pot de Creme sounded fantastic, but I knew I wouldn't be able to eat it by myself.  Being that Paul isn't a dessert person I ordered the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee.  I don't know where I found the room, but I ate it all!

I am looking forward to returning to Brasserie 292.  I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.  One note...if you ask for a "doggie bag" they hold it in the back until you are completely finished.  Just make sure you remember to ask for it when you receive your check. I left and figured they tossed my leftovers.

I also want to applaud Brasserie 292 for their use of social media. Not many local restaurants actively use Facebook and Twitter.  Being the Social Media junkie I am, I get annoyed when restaurants have a FB page or twitter account and don't interact with the public.  They use it as a one way medium.  NOT Brasserie!  I posted on their FB page about my doggie bag, but tweeted to them that I had a wonderful dinner.  They tweeted back that they were sorry about the doggie bag and offered to make me lunch and deliver it to me.  That is going far beyond any call of duty. (although I really wanted my leftover steak and pasta)  I felt that the customer service went far beyond any other local establishment. (No I did not take them up on their offer.)

You can find Brasserie 292 at 292 Main Street in Poughkeepsie on the web, facebook and twitter

Restaurants of the Hudson Valley

I don't think I will ever make it as a food critic.  Although, I did enjoy eating out during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, I think I put on 5+pounds.  What I really enjoyed is going to new restaurants, trying different food and best of all, I didn't have to cook. I will touch on the restaurants and what I liked briefly.

We began the week dining at Crave with my freshman year college roommate who just moved to Poughkeepsie. Disappointed they didn't have any local wines on the menu, but they did have some selections from the Finger Lakes. I had a hard time deciding between the Short Ribs and the Lamb.  The Short Ribs won and they were outstanding.  Paul's Glenora Riesling Poached Pair won the best for presentation.

Then we tried a restaurant right down the road from us called The Villa.  We haven't eaten here in years and it's so close. I was glad to see they had both Millbrook Winery and Whitecliff Winery on the menu.  We ordered Whitecliff's Awosting White and my mom really enjoyed it.  I will have to remember to purchase a few bottles for her.  This was your typical Italian restaurant, but with a flare.  They really tried to make an impression during restaurant week.  Their homemade Ravioli was excellent!  The cheese plate for dessert knocked us off our seat.  The Mostarda on the Sprout Creek goat cheese was to die for. We will definetely be back.

Melanie wanted to go to the Melting Pot, so to make the experience real fun we invited my parents.  We all had a great time.  I won't go into detail because you can read my post from Monday about our experience



A restaurant I've been wanting to try for years..The Backyard Bistro in Montgomery. This lived up to all my expectations.  The way the restaurant is situated you feel like you are going over to a friends for dinner and dining in their backyard. They had Whitecliff and Millbrook wines on the menu too.  The food was outstanding!  They gave us a 'special' appetizer to try, Duck Heart.  Although I am sure it was good, I had to give mine to Paul.  It's a mind over matter thing with me.  The Sprout Creek Farm Camus Cheese and Polenta was great and there was a wide variety of choices for the main course.  Once again I couldn't decide between Beef Shank and Lamb.  I did choose the Lamb 3 Ways and it was delicious.  The winning dessert was the White Chocolate & Coffee Semifreddo.

A drive out to Pine Plains landed us a the Stissing House. Pine Plains is a cute little town, I wish I had more time to explore it. I was glad to see they had Millbrook and Oak Summit wines on the menu.  It's very rare we see one of John Bruno's wines on a wine list, so of course we ordered it.  Paul had the Vegetarian Plate which he said was very good.  I had the Horseradish Crusted Salmon which was a great choice for me since I've been eating a lot of red meat lately.  For dessert I ordered the Flourless Chocolate Cake, but it looked and tasted more like Chocolate Molten Lava Cake which was heavenly.

I did get to eat lunch out one day at Cathryn's Tuscan Grill in Cold Spring.  It's a half way point for my friend Catherine who lives in Westchester.  We usually meet at Cathryn's for lunch every now and then, so it was a great excuse when we saw they were participating in Restaurant Week.  The Pea Shoot salad was delightful.  I ordered the Sweet Onion Crepe which was very good, while Catherine had Rabbit.  I did taste it, it tasted like chicken. For dessert Catherine ordered the Sour Cherry Sorbet, that sounded good but the waitress cajoled me to try the Carmel Ice Cream with Sea Salt.  I was a great choice!

The last restaurant stop was the Red Devon in Bangall, NY. Their wine list had Millbrook Wines on it, including their just released Tocai. Here I opted for the hand made Cavatelli which was tasty and the Lamb with Gnocci.  The lamb was so tender!  Paul actually didn't order off the RW menu and he ordered the Beef Bourguignon which he said was outstanding!  I think it was better than my Bourguignon...that's okay.

Overall I had a wonderful two weeks of dining out.  We ate at some outstanding local restaurants. We will be visiting these restaurants again, you can count on it!

Meet Marcus Guiliano and Aroma Thyme Bistro

Last week I received and invitation from Marcus and Jamie Guiliano to attend a Dr Frank wine dinner on Friday night at Aroma Thyme Bistro.  I had planned on working on my blog posts since I had a busy weekend ahead, but...something told me, when the owners reach out and make a special invite to you, you go.  So after a long day at the day job, we drove the hour across the bridge and over the mountain to Ellenville, New York to enjoy a 5 course wine pairing dinner at Aroma Thyme Bistro. The dinner and wine will follow in an additional post.  I think it's important that I tell you about Marcus, Jamie, their restaurant and philosophy to prepare meals from organic or sustainable food sources.

When I was first introduced to Aroma Thyme Bistro it was during the "Best of the Hudson Valley." I stopped at their table for a taste and was quite impressed.  That was about 4 years ago, and I have to come clean - we always say we would make the trip but the first trip out to the restaurant was this May.

Marcus has quite an impressive looking resume working / cooking at the Depuy Canal House, Mobil Five Star properties like the Greenbrier and Broadmoor.  Working in one of the top 25 French restaurants in the world - La Tante Clair and many prestigious Country Clubs. He was on the fast track!  What changed all that?  His health.

When your overweight, have high cholesterol and facing an operation for acid reflux, you seek out a change and that is what Marcus did. It is this change that he brings this philosophy of organic and sustainable food sources to his restaurant.  Marcus began purchasing free-range, pasture-raised and certified organic meats from ranches and small farms.  He even encouraged fruit and vegetable growers to cultivate crops specifically for restaurants like his.  He does NOT use butter or heavy dairy products, white flour products or refined sugar.  In speaking with Marcus Friday night, I learned quite a bit about the co-ops restaurants purchase from versus purchasing from small individual farms, farmed talapia, wild Scottish salmon and the entire industry.  I will never buy talapia and guess what - there is no such thing as wild Scottish salmon, it's farmed.

Marcus has a great You Tube Channel - Healthy Chef & Gourmet Food where you can see why I won't purchase or eat talapia anymore, and he is author of  the Healthy Chef Blog.

Marcus and Jamie's philosophy behind Aroma Thyme Bistro is something everyone needs to pay attention to. It will make you re-evaluate your eating habits and make you aware of what your purchase and where it comes from.  I wish  Marcus and Jamie the best of luck in their future endeavors and look forward to more trips to Aroma Thyme Bistro!