INTEL: Where to eat in Rosendale, N.Y.
Rosendale is enjoying something of a restaurant glow up. Its position between New Paltz, Kingston, Stone Ridge + High Falls - just an hour from Albany - seems to have attracted young city transplants, and the recent opening of several chef-run eateries only adds to the appeal of catching a movie at the vintage Rosendale Theatre. Like Chatham and Kinderhook, Rosendale may have been the sleepy town nearer bigger attractions, but it’s quietly become a destination of its own. We have 3 spots you should try.
3 spots to know in Rosendale, N.Y.
Restaurant round up: Susie Davidson Powell
Contributors: Nina Young, bartender/beekeeper + restaurateur, Anton Kinloch Lone Wolf, Kingston.
Bistrot Le Chat Barbu
434 Main Street | Rosendale | website: lechatbarbu.com | IG: @le_chat_barbu
A bearded cat logo, large bowls of steamed mussels, hearty French coq au vin or beef short ribs. Welp. The arrival of Bistrot le Chat Barbu in Rosendale, in a revival of the space that for over two decades was Rosendale Cafe, has brought a comfy brasserie to town without fuss or fancy airs. Chef-owner Devin Delgado, a former private chef in New York City now living full-time in the Hudson Valley, has re-imagined the corner eatery for his French-inspired bistrot taking inspiration equally from the French countryside as French IndoChina taking notes from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to Canadian poutine and the colonial fan-faves of New Orleans.
During its spring renovations, we peered through the large storefront windows admiring dark blue walls and framed French amaro and digestif posters, but it was an enthusiastic tip from chef-owner, Anton Kinloch, of Lone Wolf in Kingston who put this squarely on our radar. With Delgado butchering and utilizing whole ducks for his duck leg confit, duck wings confit, magret de canard and stock, the approach is authentically French, along with a beef-brandywine French onion soup, and either classic wine or spicy fra diablo moules frites. You might be in time for the Pyrenees menu spanning Toulouse to Basque Country. Think Savoie tartiflette, artichokes barigoule, bouillabaisse, cotes de boeuf braisées (beef short ribs), a vegan Ariege bean stew or beef cheeks hachis parmentier, a French version of British cottage pie. No matter what, save room for fruit galettes and cafe presse.
Go for dinner (Weds to Sunday), weekend brunch for croque monsieur, French omelette and mimosas, or a daily happy hour from 4pm-6pm with cocktails and bar snacks. The bar is small with just a few seats and a clutch of cocktails, but with French food, you’re probably knocking back wine. Trivia night is alternate Tuesdays with an extended happy hour till 7pm. Seasonal rear patio garden.
Well Nice Wine Bar
407 Main St, Rosendale, NY | wellnicewinebar.com
To anyone familiar with Brit-speak, “well nice” is an enthusiastic compliment, so Well Nice Wine Bar gives away British roots in its name. Although a wine bar in its narrow bar-hugging shape and eclectic wine list, you’ll be suitably excited by the hearty pot pies, chip butty, bacon sammy and thick-cut fries on the menu. A closer look reveals Hungarian roots too with a northerly white Gal Tibor Egri Csillag bursting with grapefruit and wildflowers notes or Tokaj region Lenkey Pinceszet Holdvölgy furmint fragrant with beeswax, citrus and honeyed apples, among the pages of a beautifully written menu. Sit back and read for stories of wine production, tasting and terroir in between wines organized by theme.
Married sommeliers Zoe Wilkins — who was born and raised in Wembley, London, but worked hard to lose her British accent after moving to the United States as a teen — and Joe Barron, whose varied career includes stints as a cheese maker at Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont and a butcher in a Los Angeles shop run by Michelin-starred chefs are behind Well Nice. The pair met at Terroir in New York City and ran the front and back of house at Bella Dea, a small-plates natural wine bar from the team behind LA’s Crudo e Nudo.
Like the wine list, Well Nice’s snacky small-plates menu constantly rotates. Wilkins’ Polish roots show up in crisp pierogies of the week in flavors from chicken Parm and cacio e pepe to a Big Mac and a weekly lacto-fermented vegetable in homage to Joe’s enthusiasm for pairing of pickles and wine, thanks to the acid in each.
The wine list tells a story of wine styles alongside sherry, craft beers and a full page tea service, with loose-leaf teas by the pot. Best of all, when your curiosity is piqued by wine on the bottle list, they’ll open it if you commit to buying two glasses. The remainder is then listed on a chalk board for other curious drinkers to order by the glass. Small tables are set with mismatched antique floral china, but locals soon fill all the seats at the bar.
Montauk Catch Club - seafood shop, restaurant + bar
2608 Route 32, Rosendale | montaukcatchclub.com/ | IG: @montaukcatchclub
Regulars at the Troy Farmers Market spent the summer delighting in the fresh seafood from new vendor Montauk Catch Club which made a post-Covid name in the Hudson valley by pivoting to bring fresh catch from dock to consumer in NYC and upstate. Montauk Catch Club was launched by CIA-graduate chef Savannah Jordan (Le Bernardin, Mary’s Fish Camp) and fisherman Parker Hollinger, who met while Jordan was working at Ruschmeyer’s. The new brick-and-mortar combined fishmonger-and-restaurant in the former Cuties strip club in Rosendale feels like a delightful repurposing of the boxy space. Now you can ogle fresh fish or order at the bar and settle back to dine in the coastally-inspired dining room (complete with shell chandelier) with a glass of wine from a selection curated by sommelier Ryan White whose white-centric menu includes seafood-loving Euro stars that are minerally, crisp and saline-bright.
The Catch Club model limits their fresh selection to fish caught or bought in Montauk and cleaned or butchered in-house, cutting out the middleman and getting a dozen-plus fresh weekly selections - from wild-caught U5 white Gulf shrimp to tuna steaks and sushi-grade fillets – swiftly into customer hands. The space includes a “wet room” for a peep show of fish prep, while the dining room offers a cozy option for the weekly chalk board menu. Order a superb lobster roll, grilled head-on Gulf shrimp skewers, ceviche, crudo, tuna BLT, fish tacos, grilled octopus or, of course, oysters on the half shell. Or pick up housemade sauces + prepared food to go. Don’t miss the weekend brunch deal of the MCC Bloody Mary with 3 large shrimp for $25.
