Hudson Valley

Robin and I have wanted to explore the Hudson Valley for some time, and we finally made plans for the week of October 22.  Poughkeepsie, NY was to be our base of operations for the first two days, and we left early Monday morning having targeted the Storm King Art Center as our first stop.  Near Newburgh, NY, the Storm King Art Center displays large sculpture in an outdoor setting of more than 500 acres with meadows and rolling hills. The day was beautiful, we were fortunate that the autumn colors were still there.  We delighted in sculpture by Calder, Moore, Noguchi, Nevelson, and so many others.  Large abstract forms were viewed first from a distance and then close up.  We had never visited a museum of this kind.

It was a short drive to our Poughkeepsie hotel, and we had dinner at an excellent restaurant on Main Street, the “Artist’s Palate.”  On Tuesday the rains began, so we decided to drive north for three miles to visit Hyde Park, the home of FDR.  This is not a mansion like so many of the great estates along the Hudson, but rather a home lived in by a very well-to-do family.  No great reception halls or state dining rooms here, rather comfortable living quarters which were visited from time to time by famous historic figures like Churchill and King George VI of England.  The National Park Service tour is excellent, and we learned many factoids such as the way the staff folded Roosevelt’s legs, removed his braces, and scuffed his shoes when visitors came, to give the impression that he could walk.

For fun we decided to have lunch at the Culinary Institute of America (“CIA”), which was just up the road.  The CIA now has four campuses - Poughkeepsie, Napa Valley, San Antonio and (this year) Singapore.  Here in New York, the CIA has about 3,000 students on campus, all dressed in their checked  pants and white chef-shirts and deeply engrossed in all aspects of food.  They are the chefs for the four CIA restaurants as well as the staff, and one feels the energy and enthusiasm of the students.  The food may sometimes be “off,” but the setting more than compensates.  

Our lunch was at the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe, where we waited in line with others to select items from a menu and a display case of beautifully baked goods.   After our order was taken, we were given a number to be placed on a stand on our table, and waited for the food to be delivered.  Robin’s quiche had a superb crust, but her salad had a vinaigrette without soul (and too much salt).  My turkey sandwich was so cold I needed gloves to hold it.  But wait a minute!! - the desserts.  Robin had the “not an Oreo” which was chocolate sablee pastry crust with white chocolate ganache, and I ordered the lemon merengue tart, which had lemon curd and vanilla pastry cream with a caramelized italian merengue inside a crisp almond tart shell.   Sublime!!  We checked out the Vanderbilt mansion up the road, and then nap time beckoned.

Wednesday we headed north to Bard College to see the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts designed by Frank Gehry.  We were surprised by the very large and beautiful college campus with low-slung buildings surrounded by tall trees.  Gehry has designed a dramatic building from the outside, with large flowing pieces of metal that seem about to move - and then a well-designed concert hall on the inside.  Our next stop was Olana, the home of Frederic Church, one of the major figures in the Hudson River Landscape School of painting, known for the light which emanates from the interior of his paintings.  He designed his home after a trip to the Middle East, and it is an eclectic structure with a strong Persian influence.  Olana is perched on a hill overlooking the Hudson River, and its 300 acres are filled with ponds, trees planted by Church, and walking paths, which he designed as well, that meander through this beautiful  property.

Next, we headed for the town of Hudson, NY, which is rapidly becoming the restaurant capital of the Hudson Valley.  Warren Street has a great many choices, and we selected Cafe Le Perche for its charm, salads and baked goods.  We returned to Rhinebeck, NY where we stayed in the main building at the Beekman Arms, which has been around since 1766.  They claim to be the oldest continuously-operated inn in the United States. 

Dinner that evening was at Escoffier, the top restaurant at the CIA.  Our reservation was for 6:30, and Escoffier has been moved to the St. Andrews building, as its former space is being transformed into a new restaurant to be called “Bocuse.”  Sadly, Escoffier will now only be the name of a  dormitory at the CIA.  As at Apple Pie, the staff was charming and energetic but only moderately skilled and barely knowledgable, such that they had to revert to the two senior maitre d’s for answers to our questions.  Our Kir Royales were the best ever.  The sommelier recommended that I try a glass of sauterne with my pate de fois gras, which was a brilliant suggestion to replace the “champagne goes with everything” response one usually gets.  Robin’s green bean salad was fine, but my braised lamb shoulder in a ginger-carrot puree was over-salted, and Robin’s filet of beef was more well than medium.  However, our friendly sommelier came through again by recommending a glass of Chateaux Trintaudon (2006) which went perfectly with our food.  For dessert, Robin’s tarte tatin was a big lump of baked apple rather than thinly sliced while my pot de creme was so densely chocolate that it consumed my chocolate quota for the next three days.

Our final day was reserved for Dia Beacon, an art museum in a former Nabisco box factory, which overlooks the Hudson River at the town of Beacon, across the river from Newburgh.  The town has been given new life both by the museum itself but also because of a local developer who acquired most of the west end of town and has attracted many small shop owners and new restaurants to the area.   The museum itself is composed of many large spaces with installations of very different post-modern art.  There are wall installations by Sol Lewitt, one of which is composed of 24 squares with interior lines in varying mathematical compositions, repeating but NOT repeating.  Another artist dropped thin lines of thread from the ceiling which give the illusion that they are lucite frames.  (There is even a sign which says “Please don’t lean on the art.”)Also, there are huge dramatic steel installations by Richard Serra.  All of it is so impressive and challenges the expectations of the museum goer.

Our trip concluded with a family visit to Sharon CT, and we were back in DC Friday evening preparing for Sandy.