Bruce Kazan and the Main Course staff are celebrating 30 years in business. (Photo by Lauren Thomas)

When Bruce Kazan first opened Main Course Marketplace in New Paltz, 30 years ago this May, the farm-to-table movement had not yet arrived in the Hudson Valley. “Back in the day, catering up here was a tray of ziti and a tray of meatballs,” he says. “The Hudson Valley had not come of age yet.”

The revolution in the way we eat — a product of the combined efforts of local farmers and chefs along with the considerable influence of the nearby Culinary Institute — was still in its formative stages in this region in 1990. “Very few chefs here at the time were concerned with sourcing locally, but we were doing it from the very beginning,” Kazan says. “I was making connections with as many people as I could locally, figuring out what they were growing, and how I could source the products from them. I didn’t start that evolution, but it was gaining steam in our area at the time. And I wanted to drive that, I wanted to grow with that; I was willing to put myself out there.”

The first iteration of Main Course Marketplace was a few blocks north of its current location at 175 Main Street, where the business was relocated 12 years ago. Initially slanted more toward catering than the café — a 70-30 ratio at first — the focus is now more equally balanced, with 60 percent of the business catering events and 40 percent devoted to the “market,” the on-site eatery and take-out operation. And while readers of Hudson Valley magazine have voted Main Course their favorite caterer in the annual competition every year since 1994, “The market can definitely stand on its own,” says Kazan. “And I think part of it is that the concept really works in today’s times, where people are not willing to compromise the integrity of the food that they’re putting into their bodies.”

The food he serves is “clean,” Kazan explains; nutritious, low in sodium and saturated fat, enhanced with aromatics for flavor. Ingredients for the globally-inspired menu items are sourced locally from more than a dozen farms in the area, with some of the farmers collaborating with the chef each spring to grow specific products for him.

And the casual, self-service approach to dining at Main Course is designed to make eating out more affordable. Orders are placed at the counter and picked up when ready, plated on china and accompanied by “real” flatware. Coffee is self-service, too, from a beverage station with ceramic coffee cups provided, and patrons bus their own table when finished. According to Kazan, the do-it-yourself approach saves customers somewhere in the range of 40 percent from the cost of full-service dining.   

Take-out — an online ordering option speeds the process up — is especially popular with working adults who want a restaurant-quality meal but don’t have the time or energy to shop for food, cook at home and do all the clean-up, too, Kazan notes. “Having our concept, where people come in and get what you’d pay $28 for in a fine dining restaurant and only pay $16 for here, hits the right market for people who are working and want a nutritional meal. With most take-out, it’s very high in salt and saturated fat. Whereas here, everything we make is from scratch, so everything you’re going to put into your body is coming from a very healthy standpoint. And the fact that we’re sourcing it locally, lowering the carbon footprint, just makes the person feel better about what they’re putting into their stomachs.”

This philosophy has been the strategy at Main Course from the beginning, says Kazan. “I think that’s why we made it to 30 years; we’re not looking to compromise our integrity for money. Money is important, don’t get me wrong; but so is feeling good about what you’re producing and doing things that are healthy for people.”

Kazan also credits the longevity of his business to the fact that he is both chef and owner. “We’re not just somebody who had money and decided to open up a restaurant and hire chefs. When you’re the chef-owner, you’re driving the culinary program, so you can give it a consistency. You can give it some direction and create what you want to create. Me and my co-workers here are constantly looking for what’s the latest and the greatest, because we want to be sure that we’re not falling behind. We try to go to New York at least two or three times a month just to see what we’re missing; or if we’re missing something. And what that does is open our eyes up to different things that might be coming, if we want to do something that’s a little out of the box.” 

Raised in Flushing, Queens, Kazan first came to town to attend SUNY New Paltz and graduated from the Culinary Institute in 1981. He met his New Paltz-raised wife, Vicky, during his first year at the CIA. (They’re celebrating 35 years of marriage this year, and raised a daughter, who works in government in Washington, DC, and a son, currently a high school senior headed off to study computer sciences in Boston this fall.) Vicky was still in college when they met, studying to establish her own career in social work. 

After graduation, the couple moved to Manhattan, where Kazan worked as an executive sous chef for New York Hilton Hotels before moving on to work for the Restaurant Associates group as director of catering at Lincoln Center, serving up pre- and post-performance dinners for 500 people at a time. “That was when I got the bug for catering,” he says. “I knew this was something I really enjoyed doing.”

Anticipating a move back to New Paltz, Kazan began advertising catering services in the local newspaper a year prior to actually relocating. The response to the ads was immediate. “We had to keep saying, ‘Sorry, we’re booked,’ because we weren’t really up here yet. But by saying we were booked, it created an interesting buzz, because people thought we must be really good at what we do. So when I opened my business in May of 1990, we already had people interested in us.”

It had been a good experience working at Lincoln Center, Kazan notes, “because the companies I worked for were really into the catering side of the business. It gave me a good idea of what the expectations were for the New York City clientele; the level of services they were looking for. But I liked the idea of being up here, and I knew there was an opportunity here, with the Culinary only being eight miles away. I knew there was a passionate labor force just waiting, and the area was becoming ripe for the evolution of food.”

The Hudson Valley has also offered Kazan opportunities that he says he’s not sure he’d have had in New York City, where the pool of caterers is much larger. He does all the catering for the Roosevelt estate, and has fed presidents (Bush and Clinton), princes, and politicians (Boris Yeltsin, Hillary Clinton and former Governor Pataki), not to mention the numerous actors and entertainment luminaries who make their way up to the mid-Hudson.

Looking back over the past 30 years in business, Kazan says it’s gone by “in the blink of an eye.” It’s been fun, he adds. “This has been the best time to be in the food business in the Hudson Valley, because we watched it come of age. And New Paltz is a great community to have this type of business in, because people here are intellectual, and very food-savvy. And I’d like to thank the New Paltz community for supporting us the way that they have; I couldn’t ask for a better experience and hopefully they feel that we’ve offered something to the community as well. I could not appreciate them more, and I thank them all for getting me to my 30-year anniversary.”

Going forward, Kazan says he doesn’t plan on doing anything differently in the near future. “I have a great team here, and they’ve helped grow the business at least 20 percent each year. We’ve outgrown this space to a certain degree, but you know, I can see doing this until I’m done. But I’m nowhere near being done.” ++

Exec Pat chooses Mayor Pete 

Ulster County executive Pat Ryan has thrown his support in the 2020 Democratic primary behind fellow veteran and thirtysomething Pete Buttigieg. In a January 14 statement, Ryan cited the former the South Bend, Indiana mayor’s military service, his “bold progressive vision,” and his “moral leadership.”

Buttigieg, 37, is one of top-tier candidates in the rapidly shrinking pool of Democrats seeking their party’s presidential nomination. According to an average of national polls complied by The New York Times the former Navy Reserve intelligence officer is running a close fourth behind senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and frontrunner and former vice president Joe Biden.

“At a time of great discord and division, I feel compelled to endorse Pete because I know he is the right leader to unify and heal our country again,” wrote Ryan. “I am confident he will guide the return of our nation to smart, effective and compassionate leadership.”

Woodstock to renovate offices

Woodstock’s Comeau Drive town offices are slated as the town’s next infrastructure project with a $2.3-million renovation of the main building and supervisor’s cottage. The project will bring departments to the first floor, where they will be accessible to the handicapped, freeing up the second floor for meeting and conference space.

The town plans to bond $2 million to cover the major costs. Engineering, furniture, construction management and other incidental expenses total about $300,000. Supervisor Bill McKenna said the town will hold a public vote on the bond in February. 

A model and project description will be available for public viewing. Designed by Walker Architecture of Woodstock, renovations to the main building will include a 2500-square-foot addition in the rear to house department offices, including the planning, building and assessor’s offices and an employee lunchroom.

Construction is planned to begin in May or June.

Previewing this weekend’s Chili Challenge at Water Street Market are Michelle Walsh of the Mudd Puddle, Seth Antona of Clemson Brothers and Matthew Sweeney, Chris Hosch and Theresa Fall of The Parish. (Photos by Lauren Thomas)

The humble bowl of chili con carne was once the province of mid-19th century cowboys and the incarcerated in Texas. Designed to stretch out the cheapest cuts of meat into something edible, the savory stew is now mainstream, devoured with gusto by most of the population coast-to-coast. (The cowboys, by the way, made dried bricks of chili, hydrating it on the trails as they traveled, and the prisoners apparently enjoyed the stew they were served so much they were known to write the prisons for chili recipes after their release.) A century later, the first chili-making competition was held at the Texas State Fair in 1952, and ever since, chili challenges have warmed up community gatherings. Here in the Northeast, January and February are chili competition season.

The Local Ingredient Chili Challenge at Water Street Market in New Paltz
Sunday, January 26 from noon to 3 p.m.

First out of the gate this year is the 12th annual running of the Local Ingredient Chili Challenge on Sunday, January 26 at Water Street Market, 10 Main Street in New Paltz. Admission to the event is free. As many as 20 competitors will set up in the courtyard with at least five gallons of their best chili ready to dish out in two-ounce portions. Attendees purchase tickets to sample the chili at a cost of $1 each, 12 tickets for $10 or 25 for $20. All proceeds raised benefit St. Joseph’s Food Pantry. The event typically raises between $1,000 and $3,000 for the organization.

In support of the local economy, each chili must contain at least five locally sourced or grown ingredients. The more local ingredients used, the more weight it carries with the judges. The chili-makers will compete for first and second place in the categories of Best Overall, Best Vegetarian, Best Professional (made by a restaurant or professional chef), People’s Choice and Most Original. Home chefs must have the use of a commercial kitchen to make their chili.

The competitors in the Local Ingredient Chili Challenge put a great deal of thought into their creations, with returning chili-makers often making a different chili for each year’s challenge. The standard recipe for chili includes meat and vegetables as the foundation, simmered with tomatoes, onions, spices and sometimes beans, but chili-makers might include unexpected ingredients, too, such as beer, coffee, lime juice, carbonated soda or chocolate. 

The mouthwatering scent of simmering chili permeating the marketplace during the event makes it hard to resist sampling all of the different varieties available. Attendees are advised to get there early, as some competitors sell out before the event is over. For weather updates, should conditions be iffy, visit Water Street Market on Facebook prior to attending.

Best of Fest Chili Competition at WinterFest on the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in Highland
Saturday, February 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Eva Meyer of Highland samples chili at Highland’s WinterFest last year.

The annual WinterFest held at the Hudson Valley Rail Trail Depot in Highland, is co-sponsored by the Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association (HVRTA) and Highland Rotary Club. Admission costs $2, with children age six and under getting in free. Proceeds benefit the maintenance of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail.

This will be the 23rd outing for WinterFest, first conceived by locals Jerry and Geri Luke, then-owners of a bed-and-breakfast who wanted to help support maintenance of the Rail Trail. With the annual event now firmly established in the Highland community, the permanent home for WinterFest is the Highland Rotary Pavilion adjacent to the circa-1915 train caboose on the Hudson Valley Rail Trail at 101 New Paltz Road in Highland.

The family-friendly event offers attendees tractor-pulled wagon rides, roasted chestnuts and toasted marshmallows, light snacks and refreshments, woodcarving demonstrations and activities for children. But the centerpiece of WinterFest is the Best of Fest Chili Competition in the pavilion, in which chili-makers compete for first, second and third place bragging rights as Best of Fest.

The chili is served up in two-ounce cups purchased by tickets sold at 50 cents each or a “try-them-all” ticket available for $8. Approximately 20 pots of spicy or mild, meat or veggie chili varieties are donated by chefs that include home cooks, professional restaurateurs, community organizations and local fire departments. Voting is “blind,” with chili pots numbered and even the volunteers dishing out the samples unaware of who created the chili they’re serving. For updates on WinterFest, visit the HVRTA’s Facebook page.

Chili Cook-Off fundraiser for Gardiner Fire Department and Parks & Rec
Saturday, February 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The chili competition fundraiser to benefit Town of Gardiner Fire Department and Parks & Recreation is a new entrant into the field, taking place on Saturday, February 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gardiner Firehouse, 2349 Route 44/55 in Gardiner. The Parks & Rec department maintains the 25-acre Majestic Memorial Park in the hamlet, which includes a picnic pavilion, toddler playground, softball field, basketball and handball court, fishing pond and nature trail leading to the Wallkill River. The Gardiner Fire Department and EMS answered 548 calls in 2018 and 496 as of mid-December of last year.

Attendees at the newest chili competition will pay $8 per person to sample chili and vote for their favorite (kids under age 12 pay $3). Professional chefs and amateurs alike are welcome to enter the cook-off at no cost, with entry forms available at gardinerfireandrescue.org.

Women’s Studio Workshop Chili Bowl Fest fundraiser at SUNY Ulster
Saturday, February 29 from 2 to 7 p.m.

The Women’s Studio Workshop will host their 23rd annual Chili Bowl Fest fundraiser in the dining hall at the SUNY Ulster campus, 491 Cottekill Rd. in Stone Ridge, on Saturday, February 29. Early bird attendees, who get first crack at the one-of-a-kind, handmade ceramic bowls the chili is served in, pay a $10 admission fee with later arrivals at the event getting in free from 4-7 p.m.

This is a very well-attended event each year, with the number of ever-increasing visitors necessitating the move in recent years to larger quarters at SUNY Ulster. The Chili Bowl Fest fundraiser offers nearly 1,000 handmade ceramic bowls, mugs and tumblers for purchase, each of which includes a heaping serving of homemade chili in meat and vegetarian varieties, donated by local restaurant chefs. (For those who don’t want to eat out of their bowl at the event, paper bowls are available, as are paper bowls of chili at nominal cost for those not buying ceramics.) Live music heightens the camaraderie and raffles are offered.

There’s also a companion event related to the Chili Bowl Fest: Community Clay Day on Saturday, February 1 at the Women’s Studio Workshop, 722 Binnewater Lane in Kingston. Three sessions open to all ages from noon to 1 p.m., 3-4 p.m. or 6-7 p.m. welcome participants to make pots or decorate pre-made bowls to be sold during the annual Chili Bowl Fest. All bowls made or decorated that day go to help raise funds for WSW, but admission to the workshops is free and fun. An RSVP for those wishing to participate is required; email info@wsworkshop.org or call (845) 658-9133 to reserve a spot.

Janet and Darryl Greene’s new Trolley Stop Cafe in Highland. (Photo by Lauren Thomas)

One of life’s simple pleasures is having that great little place in your neighborhood to go to for breakfast or lunch. It feels cozy and familiar, with décor that charms and the warming aromas of coffee and comfort foods made with fresh ingredients. You run into friends and neighbors there; people you saw just yesterday and those you haven’t seen in a while, but are happy to catch up with. And you get to know the owners; they’re the ones who welcome you in, stopping by to chat tableside at some point, or at the counter, if that’s where you’ve settled yourself.

Janet and Darryl Greene’s new Trolley Stop Cafe is that kind of place. Located in the heart of the Highland hamlet at 58 Vineyard Avenue, just off of Main Street in the downtown area, it’s a family business, with Janet running the front of the house and Darryl in the kitchen. Daughters Alanna and Geneva provide table service and son Nathan helps out when he can. No strangers to the hospitality business, the Greenes were longtime owners and proprietors of the now-defunct Inn at Orchard Heights in New Paltz, a bed-and-breakfast housed in an antiques-filled, 1888 Queen Anne Victorian in the village

Guests of the B&B often gave the Greenes five-star reviews online for their friendly hospitality and raved about the quality of the hearty breakfasts cooked by Darryl, who began cooking in a local Italian restaurant at age 14 and worked with John Novi at the Canal House back in the day. And the guiding principle behind the menu at Trolley Stop Cafe will be that same focus on quality food prepared with fresh ingredients.

The fries are hand-cut and the sausage and corned beef hash are house-made. There’s even a made-fresh-to-order mac-and-cheese on the lunch menu. House-fermented sauerkraut tops the Reuben, and a red cabbage kraut adds to the “chicken in a biscuit” entrée, also topped with crispy onions, thinly sliced pickle and garlic aioli. Classic BLTs and grilled cheese are on the menu, but so are unique options like the chicken francese dip; thinly sliced, battered chicken with shaved ham and provolone on garlic bread, served with horseradish mayo and francese dipping sauce.

The Trolley Stop Cafe serves breakfast and lunch six days a week — they close on Wednesdays — opening at 8 a.m. daily except on Mondays, when they open at 10 a.m. Lunch service begins at 11 a.m. and breakfast is served all day, until closing time at 3 p.m. Any item on the menu is available for take-out.

The 22-seat dining room is cozy and inviting, with a counter that seats four. The Greenes bought the building in 2018, but Darryl had to do a complete renovation of the space before they could open. Interior walls were covered with wood paneling that when stripped away revealed handsome beadboard original to the building, and the striking front door, with its stained glass insert, was an antique Darryl reconfigured to fit the space. He also made the tables for the cafe from wide planks of pine (milled by his brother C.J., who also milled a black walnut tree felled in Rosendale 20 years ago, which Darryl made into the countertop). Running alongside opposite walls of the interior are salvaged church pews that provide bench seating on one side of the tables. The backs of the pews have been utilized, too, mounted in a hallway as racks for brochures about local attractions. When warm weather arrives, the couple hope to add a few tables outside.

The Trolley Stop Cafe takes its name from the eatery’s location and its role in local history. A century ago, the building at 58 Vineyard Avenue was Frank’s Fruit Market, in front of which the Highland-New Paltz trolley stopped to pick up passengers. The line was in operation from 1897 to 1925, and brought major economic and social changes to the region. It was successful because there was little competition from buses or cars and roads were poor or nonexistent then. 

The walls of the new cafe are adorned with framed images of the trolley, enlarged from the vintage postcard collection of local historian Vivian Wadlin (Janet credits Viv’s husband, John, for coming up with the name, “Trolley Stop Cafe”). In one of the images, the viewer can place exactly where they’re standing now in relation to where the trolley stopped.

A number of the passengers were tourists. After disembarking from steamboats at Highland Landing, they took the trolley to boarding houses along its route or continued on to New Paltz, the stepping-off spot for carriage rides up to Shawangunk Mountain resorts. Other riders were locals, who used the trolley as a way to get to work. With the Mid-Hudson Bridge not completed until 1930, a smaller trolley pulled by a locomotive across the Poughkeepsie railroad bridge — now Walkway Over the Hudson —  brought passengers from the other side of the river to Highland, where they could transfer to the main trolley. People also rode the line to attend classes at New Paltz Normal School — now SUNY New Paltz — or for evenings out at The Casino in New Paltz (now P&G’s), opened in 1900 and so popular that additional late-night trolley service was added at some point to take guests and the musicians back to Poughkeepsie. Milk was even delivered via the trolley, as was mail.

When the Greenes acquired the space at 58 Vineyard Avenue, it hadn’t been used for anything since 1970. After the fruit market eventually closed, the building housed a penny arcade for a short while, but nothing else for the last half century. The Greene family is getting used to the fast pace of running a restaurant there — “It’s completely different from the bed-and-breakfast,” says Janet — but are looking forward to getting established in the neighborhood. “We have been received by this community in such a big way,” she adds. “We’re very happy about that. And I’m glad we opened in the winter, to have time to get to know the locals before the tourists get here. People are loving our food, and telling us we’re the talk of the town! It’s all good.”

For more information, visit https://atrolleystopcafe.com.

The Food Network has named Mexicali Blue’s short rib burrito as One of Best Burritos in the country. Pictured is owner Chris Nicolosi. (Photo by Lauren Thomas)

Food Network is one of the most influential culinary resources available; their website, magazine and television shows the go-to for an estimated 100 million people. This past December, New Paltz’s own Mexicali Blue brought the focus local when their short rib burrito was featured by Food Network as one of the country’s best burritos.

“It’s all the fresh ingredients in it that make it so good,” says Mexicali Blue owner and chef, Chris Nicolosi. His passion for putting complex flavors together is reflected in the tortilla’s filling: fresh vegetable rice, black beans, coleslaw, fresh guacamole, pico de gallo, onion marmalade, a sweet chili sauce and fresh cilantro.

But the star of it all is the tender, juicy, short rib; de-boned, seared with butter, marinated overnight in Modelo Negra beer and seasonings and then cooked slowly in the oven for up to seven hours. The entire process takes 26 hours from start to finish, notes Nicolosi, which means that when they run out of the meat, there are no more short rib burritos until the following day.

And running out of the special burrito has become a distinct reality at both the New Paltz Mexicali Blue and its other location in Wappingers Falls. The nationwide commendation has created a bit of a feeding frenzy for the short rib burrito, which Nicolosi says wasn’t even that popular before it made the Food Network list. “Now I go through probably 100 pounds of short rib a week. And Wappingers goes through even more, maybe 300-400 pounds a week. It’s a bigger location, but still; we didn’t think it was going to get this big.”

The short rib burrito is on the menu now at the Wappingers Falls Mexicali Blue, but in New Paltz, it’s still just on the specials board, though Nicolosi says he has a feeling the item isn’t going anywhere any time soon, no matter how much work it takes to create them.

The burrito was selected as a “best” by Food Network after it was submitted for consideration by Chris’s brother, Tommy, co-owner of the Wappingers Falls Mexicali Blue along with their dad, Sal. The three jointly own the Mexicali Blue brand. Other Nicolosi family members are involved in the business, too, with older brother Anthony handling marketing for the company and Chris’s wife, Dana, working with him in the New Paltz location. As the company’s resident chef, Chris says he works with the cooks on the line in Wappingers to make sure the product is consistent across both locations. “I’m very hands-on with everybody; everything goes through me before it goes to customers.”

The short rib burrito was included on a list of 34 best burritos nationwide, presented in no particular order. Burritos from two other eateries in New York were also selected, one in Binghamton and the other in New York City (https://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/photos/best-burritos-in-the-country.)

Last year Mexicali Blue won for “Best Taco” in radio station 101.5’s “Battle of the Best” competition, a designation Chris says they’re also proud of. Decided by the listeners, Mexicali Blue received 22 percent of the vote. “My tacos are very elaborate,” he says. “Nothing is simple; I don’t like simple.”

(When asked if Chris cooks at home, too, his wife, Dana, says he does. “And nothing simple there, either!”)

Mexicali Blue will have been in its New Paltz location at 87 Main Street for 14 years this March. It’s small, seating a max of 10 people — and that’s if they don’t mind sitting close to one another — so the business is primarily take-out, with an app and online ordering available and delivery through Carry Out Kings. The Wappingers Falls location on Route 9 was opened seven years ago. The larger site accommodates full-service dining with beer and wine and a larger menu along with live entertainment.

When Chris and his dad, Sal, first opened the New Paltz location, it had already been operating as a small taco/burrito place called Mexicali Blue. Chris, who says he’s known he wanted to be a chef since he was 12 years old growing up in Pleasant Valley, was just weeks away from graduation at Connecticut Culinary Institute, so was all in when Sal discovered the business was for sale and asked his son, “Want to open a restaurant?”

“We came in, redid the place, and created the menu,” Chris says. “We sat down and brainstormed, cooking every idea we had, testing and tweaking them.” Sal didn’t have a restaurant background, but he enjoyed cooking, and like most Italian families, food had always been the glue that held them together.

The menu adopted reflects a California-style approach to Southwestern cooking, with the emphasis on fresh and natural ingredients. Tacos are wrapped in flavorful blue corn tortillas made especially for the restaurant, and burritos have a nice texture, seared on the bottom after being filled to ensure the burrito doesn’t fall apart when picked up.

Mexicali Blue also makes their own hot sauce, available in nine varieties that include blueberry, pineapple, coconut, and chipotle, each made with fresh ingredients. Eat-in and carryout customers can help themselves to the sauces, but they’re also available bottled. Labeled with the restaurant’s logo of a friendly, fish-taco-bearing skeleton wearing a serape and sombrero, the bottles are sold only through the two restaurant locations. (Regulars have been known to buy a case at a time.) No co-packer is involved; on nights when Nicolosi makes the sauce, they fill 1,000 bottles at a time right in the small New Paltz kitchen.

Mexicali Blue is open seven days a week. For more information, visit Mexicali-blue.com.

Peotter began the process of coordinating the efforts of the New Paltz Climate Smart Task Force by doing “a deep dive into research,” she notes, learning what the certification process was all about. She got some help from a few SUNY New Paltz interns, and “together we all learned a lot and then got rolling . . .

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Summer seems a long way away in the midst of winter, even in this relatively mild one we’re having (knock on wood). But if you’re a community-minded individual who wants the Independence Day celebration to return to New Paltz this July, it’s time to step forward . . .

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Longtime New Paltz residents who associate the cavernous space inside 58 Main St. with the college student hangout “Cafeteria” located there for so many years will find quite the transformation in what is now home to Pho Tibet, a serene and relaxed atmosphere in which to enjoy authentic Vietnamese and Himalayan cuisine . . .

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New Paltz native Alyssa Boss jumped at the opportunity to open Indigo and Velvet at 73 Main Street on “Small Business Saturday” in late November, albeit at 5:30 p.m. The boutique offers women’s clothing, vegan leather handbags, fair-trade brass jewelry and naturally derived body and home products . . .

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A focus on community comes naturally to James Janso, newly appointed Chief of Lloyd Town Police. A lifetime resident of the town he serves, the 30-year veteran of the department has worked his way through the ranks as police officer, investigator, and for the past seven years, lieutenant. He succeeds former Chief Daniel Waage, who retired at the end of January . . .

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The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “maple syrup” is probably pancakes. Or waffles, or French toast; whatever your breakfast food of choice that’s enhanced by butter and syrup is. But Debra and John Corey of Highland have other ideas when it comes to maple syrup. Why can’t it take its place at the dinner table, too . . .

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The interior of Crust & Magic at 19 North Front Street in New Paltz is as exuberant as its proprietor, Alexa Floresta, who talks fast and laughs easily; her enthusiasm for what she’s doing with her shop is contagious. “I want the space to feel like it’s a celebration,” she says. “It’s about the energy and the vibe that the brand exudes, this raw sort of slimy, crusty realness matched with the magic part: the glitter, the glam, the decadence. This is a place to be yourself, to have fun and embrace who you are.”

One wall of the shop is covered in lime green faux fur, accented with a pair of neon-lit red lips. Visitors have their choice of sitting on a lime green chair shaped like a giant hand or a graphic black-and-white, faux-leather, low-to-the-floor sleeper sofa in the center of the room, presently unfolded like a giant ottoman. And everywhere one looks, there is merchandise that’s been hand-painted or embellished in some way to reflect the edgy Crust & Magic sensibility.

Thrifted denim jackets hang on the brick accent wall, each painted with evocative words or the store’s name and often one of Floresta’s “characters,” the unapologetically warts-and-all people — often nude — seen on most of the merchandise in the shop. The imagery is inspired by “a celebration of self-ownership,” she says. The characters are not meant to represent specific people, but rather a type of person, a “rooted-in-themselves” individual who is comfortable with themselves, “no matter how slimy or crusty they are.”

There are characters painted on skateboard decks and characters painted on “pillow pals,” soft, shaped forms hand-painted with graphic images on their canvas side. But most of the characters appear on clothing, either secondhand garments given new life with hand-painting or new merchandise that includes g-strings and t-shirts. For these, Floresta prints out her quirky watercolor illustrations on transfer paper and then heat-sets the images onto fabric, tie-dying the t-shirts first. Recently she began teaching herself to sew, and she’s excited about the possibilities that will add to her output.

All of this first came about when Floresta was thinking of ways she could put her artwork on functional items. She began painting images on furniture, and that evolved into painting on things like skateboard decks and then on clothing. “I wanted to make stuff people could use,” she says. “I love clothes, and a lot of this stuff I bought for myself. I need to downsize, so I gave these things a new life, made them special and put them out there again.”

The 2015 SUNY New Paltz grad grew up in Farmingdale on Long Island. She arrived in town to attend the college, earned a BFA in photography, and liked the area so much she stayed. Floresta, 26, opened Crust & Magic this past May, trying the concept out first in a pop-up shop she maintained at Water Street Market for six weeks last winter in a trial run to see how a brick-and-mortar would work.

Having her own shop has “definitely been in the back of my mind for a while,” she says. “I’m really happy to be here. And I try to keep it affordable and accessible. But what I’m really, really passionate about is creating an environment, creating a space. So to have something like this to invest my energy in to do that, is really special.”

Floresta splits the space (and the rent) with a friend and fellow SUNY New Paltz grad, vocalist Chris Owens, whose shop in the back is separated from hers in the front by a curtained doorway. His business is “Cee Ohhh,” selling thrifted garments.

She still practices her photography, producing zines of themed work, and says she enjoys having different creative outlets like that “to switch in and out of.” In chatting with Floresta recently, we asked her a few questions about what’s involved in a day’s work as a shop owner who also creates her own merchandise.

Was there a learning curve in figuring out how to do this?

Definitely. I’m pretty much figuring it out as I go. I also do a lot of farmer’s markets – I’ve been doing the one on Church St. since that started – and pop-up events, where you reach people that maybe otherwise wouldn’t come directly to the shop. I just did one on campus recently, which is an important demographic to tap into for this funky stuff.

What is the most challenging thing about what you’re doing?

I’m running a business, so I have the normal financial stuff, and then I’m making everything, so I have to make sure inventory is kept up with. And there’s a handmade element to every single piece, so there’s an involved process to it, and it’s a lot. But it feels amazing to be doing this. 

What part, then, would you say is most enjoyable?

I get to work for myself, and I’m in charge of what I want to be making. And just curating a vibe, creating an energy, and meeting all these fun, cool people. The positive reception I’m getting back has been amazing. When I started making merchandise like this, I was thinking about ways to get my art out into the world in a way that was living and breathing, living a life; it wasn’t on a gallery wall. And I really wanted to make work that was accessible to the people that I felt like I was making it about and for. And I don’t really know a lot of people who have the financial means, or the space, or own homes, that can invest in an oil painting. I have work like that, more traditional fine art pieces, but with merch and clothing and stuff, it can reach a different type audience, which I think is really special.

What would you be doing if not this?

I worked for years as a server and bartender at Bacchus, which gave me the sort of flexible lifestyle to pursue doing this. I’d probably be continuing to do that while trying to market stuff on the side and do gallery shows. I don’t know what’s going to come next, but I’m trying this and hopefully it works. If not, on to the next thing!

What would you like to see happen with Crust & Magic down the road?

Doing this same thing but large-scale; huge! I’d have a bigger space and I’d have literal sculptures of my creatures. I would just want it to be the crust and magic universe one day; a funhouse where you could come in and it’d be a real party, with events. Just, you know, the next level.

Does running this business give you a good work/life balance?

Definitely, yeah. I’m doing what I’d be doing anyway, so I definitely can’t complain. And I’ve wanted this for a long time, so, here I am! Which is awesome. I love it. And being here [in New Paltz], so close to the city, so close to my family… I can take a beautiful stroll on the River2Ridge and then go to my shop and meet all these cool people. It’s definitely a place to feel grateful for all this.

What attributes does a person need to run a business like yours?

Definitely passion. That’s the number one thing. You have to be super passionate about being here and doing this and excited… I don’t think this sort of energy would read well if you weren’t genuinely invested in it. And I really believe in this; I want everyone to feel what I’m feeling, so, as long as I love it, I’ll do it, I think. ++

Crust & Magic at 19 North Front Street is closed Wednesdays, open Thursday through Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m. For updates, check Instagram or Facebook, or visit alexafloresta.com or the Crust & Magic online shop at https://crustandmagic.storenvy.com/.

The post Alexa Floresta creates quirky merchandise and the vibe to match at new shop in New Paltz first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

It’s the Rondout Creek that runs alongside the newly-opened Creekside Bar & Bistro that gives the Rosendale-based restaurant its name. But the heart of the new business comes from its owners, who each have nearly two decades of experience knowing how to make restaurant patrons feel welcome. Juan Galvan and Reshma Ramoutar will be familiar faces to anybody who dined regularly at the original Gilded Otter in New Paltz, before it was sold to its present owners. The husband and wife team worked at The Otter as servers — she for 16 years and he for 18 — with his roles also including a stint in the kitchen and his final role there as a manager. The quality of service the two provided their customers over the years was outstanding, an authentic kind of caring that this reporter will vouch for as a regular of many years at that eatery. 

Galvan is the extroverted half of the couple, easy to talk to and extremely personable, but Ramoutar, while possessing a more understated personality, is just as nice in her own way and equally kind. The couple met at The Otter and were together for 16 years before their recent marriage in September. They share a four-year-old son, Naveen, who as it turns out, was indirectly the reason his parents find themselves new restaurateurs at the location most recently occupied by Matsu Japanese restaurant, directly across from the Stewart’s on Route 32 North.

And it was all set into motion because of pizza. Over the years, the couple had talked about opening their own place, but their plans always remained “just kind of a dream,” says Galvan. But things at The Gilded Otter began changing under its new ownership, and ultimately, Galvan resigned as manager. “That was on a Monday,” he notes. “On Tuesday, we [he and Reshma] decided to get pizza for dinner. Our son likes pizza, and usually we get it from Rino’s and bring it back home to eat. But for some reason, that day Naveen insisted on coming to Antonio’s [the pizzeria next door to the new Creekside bistro]. Usually he’s happy to eat whatever we have, so I was surprised; I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ And he insisted. So we live about three minutes from here, and we pull up, and they had just put the sign up on the door at Matsu saying they’d closed.”

Calls were made, meetings were set up, and friends who know about the restaurant business were called upon to offer advice or opinions, including former Otter owner, Rick Rauch, who, Galvan says, took one look at the space and told them they should take it. A few months of negotiating the lease ensued, and Creekside Bar & Bistro opened the last week of November.

The menu is not unlike that at the old Otter, which is no surprise given that the chef is Darrell Tidwell, also a veteran of that eatery. The style of food is basically “American bistro,” Galvan says. “We didn’t want to limit ourselves on what we can do, if we stuck to just one type of food. But with American bistro we can do just about anything we want to. Our basic menu is going to be hand-pressed burgers, New York strip steaks, cordon bleu sandwiches, nachos, stuff like that. And that’s the food we know; the best advice we got from restaurant people is to ‘stick with what you know.’”

Starters on the menu include a hummus platter ($9.95), panko-covered fried shrimp ($12.95) and chicken fingers with barbecue sauce ($8.95). Salads include a Caesar salad ($9.95) that can be topped with chicken, shrimp, salmon or steak (for an additional $4-$8), and the Creekside Lumberjack Stew is a blend of tender beef, carrots, celery, onions and potatoes ($9.95). Entrees include boneless grilled pork chops ($15.95) and Cajun grilled salmon with a tequila-lime sauce ($17.25). There are several burgers available ($10.95-$13.95) and sandwiches that include a chicken cordon bleu ($12.95) and a salmon BLT with pesto mayo ($13.95).

Specials will be offered on the weekends, and the couple hope to bring back some of the themed nights that The Otter was known for, such as the weekly lobster bake. “We’re thinking about doing Taco Tuesdays, Friday night fish ‘n’ chips… We’ll see what works and if it’s not working, we’ll change it,” says Galvan. “We’ll listen to the people, too, and see what they want.” 

Happy hour at the bar is from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and signature cocktails made with fresh ingredients are offered. “We’ll also have beer and shot deals, local beer on tap, cans of other beers and a frozen drink machine to do all kinds of things from frozen rosés and Pina Coladas to kids’ smoothies.”

From the outside, the location is unassuming; a small storefront painted bright blue, sandwiched in between a liquor store and a pizzeria. But anyone who never ventured inside the place in its former incarnations will be surprised by the spacious interior that extends back some 2,500 square feet. There are large booths along the wall with table seating at the back, opposite floor-to-ceiling glass doors that let in lots of natural light and a view of the Rondout Creek flowing by outside. Tall blackboards are next to the tables, offering a place for kids to scribble while waiting for their food, and outdoor dining on a patio is planned for the spring.

The bar, which was once the sushi counter at Matsu, seats more than 20 people and features an attractive “live” edge on the wood. Diners are welcome to eat at the bar, and there are also small bar tables at the front of the restaurant. One of the things Galvan says they are particularly pleased about with the bar is an area with a small “cut-out” making it handicapped accessible for diners who wish to eat at the bar. 

Creekside Bar & Bistro is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with the exception of a 9:30 p.m. closing on Sundays. The new restaurateurs plan to be there every day, with Juan behind the bar and Reshma managing the front of the house. Her brother, Vishal — another former Otter server — will work there, as will other servers from that establishment, at least to help out while the new restaurant is being established. “We definitely want to have staff that will stay with us for a long time so we can have that family atmosphere again,” says Galvan. “That’s a big thing for us when we do the hiring.”

Overall, he says, the couple’s goal is to create a family-friendly environment while welcoming a good bar crowd, too. “We want to make it so anybody can come and feel like this is a spot for them. That’s basically what we’re going for. Families, people that just want to sit down and have a drink and quick food, or you’re getting off work and you want to stop by and have a quick plate of nachos and a beer. Very similar to the Otter atmosphere, where everybody’s welcome.”

Creekside Bar & Bistro is located at 1128 Route 32 North. in Rosendale. For more information, call (845) 658-2000 or visit Creekside Bar & Bistro on Facebook or at https://creeksidebistro.com.

The post Longtime Gilded Otter employees open their own place in Rosendale first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

Visiting a professional picture framer can be an intimidating experience, standing at the counter in a store looking up at a wall covered in framing samples and not knowing where to start. But at Valentina Custom Frame & Gallery in New Paltz, it’s a different story altogether. 

The new business recently launched by New Paltz resident Valentina Veranes is located in a comfortable, sunlit, studio-like space on the lower level of the home she shares with her husband, Andres — a professional decorative painter and faux-finisher with his own business — and their daughters, Alicia, 13 and Violeta, 9.

The very gracious and welcoming Valentina offers an intimate setting in her shop, in which the client sits down with her at a table within arm’s reach of more than 3,000 colorful moulding samples. Some of the frame corners are mounted on displays around the room, while others are casually grouped in baskets on the floor, which enhances the feeling of a hands-on, collaborative experience. But the customer new to the picture-framing experience need have no worries about having any prior knowledge of the fine points of displaying art and objects; with more than 20 years of experience as a professional framer and as an artist herself, Veranes is well-equipped to guide her customers through the process.

She works with each client to determine not only what color and style of frame would look best in each situation, but what type of framing suits the person’s personal style. “I ask them, ‘What kind of environment do you live in, or what kind of environment do you want to create?’” she says. “We start with, ‘What kind of frame do you like,’ and I help them from there.”

And preservation of the object or artwork being framed for posterity is equally important. In addition to the huge selection of framing options, Valentina Custom Frame & Gallery offers more than 200 museum quality archival mat choices and multiple glass selections with UV protective glazing. “I only like to work with 99-percent UV-protection glass,” says Veranes, which protects the item framed from the ultraviolet light that permanently damages photographs and artwork as well as fragile mementos. “If you’re framing something that you want to keep for the rest of your life, you deserve the best.” The shop also offers a selection of readymade tabletop photo frames that come with UV-protective glass.

Veranes began her framing career in her native Cali, Colombia, where she earned a master’s degree in fine arts from the Popular Cultural Institute and certification as architectural draftswoman and interior decorator by the Academy of Professional Design. After moving to the United States, she honed her skills first in Baltimore and then in New York City, where Veranes was the only woman framer at the legendary but now-defunct Pearl Paint in SoHo. She is a Master Certified Picture Framer through the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) and certified in frame restoration services, able to repair frames and restore paint or gilding. 

When Valentina and Andres moved to New Paltz in 2016 to raise their family — “Manhattan is a difficult place to raise children, and our girls are our first priority,” she says — she found work in a framing shop in Westchester’s Bedford Village. Working closely with the female sole proprietor of that business inspired her to open her own business in her home.

But as comfortable as that environment is for her customers, Veranes plans to relocate the business to a storefront in the Zero Place building when that opens next year on Route 32 North. She has big dreams, she says, that involve creating an environment where people can come in and not only get their framing done but experience a community of local artists and crafters participating in workshops and exhibits; a legacy in the community Veranes can give to her daughters.

But until the move to a storefront happens, she plans to continue in her home-based business. On the horizon are workshops for artists, to be held in either her own space or at nearby galleries, on the importance of proper framing to preserve and present artwork. “We have a lot of artists in this area, and they don’t have to use my framing services, but I want to get across the idea that you have to invest in your art in the same way you invest in your property. If a curator sees art in a well-made frame, it makes the art more valuable.” Veranes also offers a selection of beveled stretcher bars for painters, which unlike the “value” product available in craft stores, protect the artwork by raising the canvas away from the surface of the wooden bar.

And she has exhibited her own art widely, with an extensive CV of shows here and abroad. She is particularly influenced by pre-Colombian imagery, she says, and has a side business painting portraits from supplied photographs. But framing is more than a job for her, Veranes adds. “When I decided to become a framer, it wasn’t just an option for getting a job. It’s something I really, really love, and I offer my customers my passion for what I do.”

Valentina Custom Frame & Gallery is located at 7 Taylor Street, New Paltz. Closed on Sunday and Monday, the business is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Drop by or book an appointment by calling (845) 419-2647 or visit www.valentinacustomframe.com.

The post Framed to last: Valentina Custom Frame & Gallery in New Paltz first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

“I love irreverence,” says Chris Owens, 27, whose “Cee Ohh” shop on North Front Street in New Paltz features thrifted streetwear hand-painted in a funky, graffitied urban style. “I try to put my personal touch on it and hope that it’s stuff that people kind of get a kick out of. I just want people to feel comfortable, wear something that makes them feel cool and funky and awesome, and walk out of here having felt good about what they saw. It’s clothes and merch for people who just don’t take themselves too seriously.” 

Cee Ohh, the shop name a derivation of Owen’s initials, currently sells mostly men’s clothing, but there are also gender-neutral and women’s selections available, and Owens says he’d like to see it all become unisex at some point. The store also has the beginnings of a collection of new t-shirts and other garments featuring pop culture-inspired graphics that Owens is commissioning local artists to create. “It’s good to collaborate,” he says. “And it makes me feel good to be able to commission something that the artist will know is going to be selling in stores. It’s a step of legitimization that a lot of artists never get to.”

If any of this seems vaguely familiar, that’s because we profiled local shop-owner Alexa Floresta several weeks ago, whose Crust & Magic brand of thrifted hand-painted clothing is sold in the other half of the shop shared with Owens at 19 North Front Street Owens and Floresta run their businesses separately. But sharing the retail space, divided into two distinct halves, allows the two to cover for one another when one needs time off and it makes the rent more manageable.

Cee Ohh is building its own identity apart from Crust & Magic’s style, but the vibe is similar enough that the two shops appeal to the same customers. Both brands cater to individuals who don’t want to dress like everyone else and who embrace an edgy, gritty/glam street aesthetic. Owens says he’s also proud that the local drag queen collective in the Hudson Valley is a strong supporter of their shops. “I love when they come in. They’re very uplifting and make us feel good, and they also support us financially, buying jewelry and clothes. I also do a lot of fan art [personalized, frame-able ink drawings] for the drag queens, too. I’m actually trying to give them material to sell; I don’t need a cut of this, but as a gay man, I just want to try and support the queer community here.”

Owens earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at SUNY New Paltz and then worked in advertising for two years, buying ad space on radio and television. With the job located in the city, he went back to Long Island to live for a time, but came back to New Paltz every weekend to do gigs and practices. “Eventually I just moved back here full-time,” he says, “and since I’d been here every weekend, I felt like I’d never left.”

He got into retail by happenstance, when a jaw injury put the brakes on his music career for a while. As lead vocalist with the well-received, New Paltz-based funk and soul band, The Other Brothers, Owens garnered reviews that lauded his emotive vocals and strong stage presence. (One reviewer wrote that he had “the contagious kinetic energy of an early David Byrne, the subtle yet fiery coolness of Eddie Vedder and the sex appeal of Jim Morrison.”) After the band broke up, Owens had just begun doing solo work when he was injured. 

“The jaw injury made me not able to sing or perform and my balance was off,” he says. “It was weird, because I was on a high at the time. I had just done a drag performance for the first time, three days before I got injured, and suddenly I was just sitting at home in a funk, in and out of the hospital. Eventually I started going on morning walks just to get out and start doing things again, and that’s when I saw the ‘for rent’ sign on the shop.”

Owens met Alexa Floresta when the two were students at SUNY New Paltz, and in the years since graduation they’ve stayed friends. Both are from Long Island — she from Farmingdale and he from Levittown — and he says he was one of the first people to really get behind her brand. “I’ve always seen myself as the original brand ambassador for Crust & Magic! I used to wear it exclusively for gigs and video shoots when I was with my band, and I’d make sure it was tagged if I was wearing it, and things like that.” Last winter when Floresta opened the first iteration of Crust & Magic as a pop-up shop at Water Street Market, Owens spent a lot of time there, “and that’s where we got the idea of the two of us doing something together.”

The two shops opened on North Front Street this past May. A part-time job at Huckleberry on Church St. helps pay the bills these days for Owens, but now that he’s starting to feel better and is recovering from his injury, he’s focused on getting back into performing, moving toward more of an R&B hip-hop vibe, he says. And he plans to turn Cee Ohh into a brand that will encompass his music along with the merchandise. “Moving forward, my plan is to turn this into a headquarters for my art, my music, everything. I’ll have CDs, and keychains and prints and all kinds of things. But the main thing is to provide a place where people can listen to local artists and bands.”

Cee Ohh has an outdoor patio where they’ve done a few informal acoustic shows, but the space isn’t a performance venue. When asked how people will listen to music in the space, Owens says he’s thinking of getting an iPad with playlists of local performers and links to where they can be found, in order to support local artists. “I love this town, but I feel like it’s slowly but surely giving up on the arts and there are no spaces for it,” he says. “It’s taught me that you need to support local. Honestly, at this time I feel like New Paltz is on the downswing of art and creativity. We’ve lost four music venues, and no one is coming to replace them. And I get frustrated with this town, because they like to say they’re an artists’ haven, but it used to be way more open to performers and musicians and artists and putting on events, and now they leave it up to every other town in the Hudson Valley.” 

Owens says he’s proud to have opened a space “that eventually will be a place where you can find fashion that is local, art that is local and music that is local. And it might not be perfect, but at least I’m doing something in terms of keeping this town with a chip on its shoulder, which is what I always loved about New Paltz, and what brought me up here and kept me here. I want to bring that back, because I feel like now we just cater to tourists; we don’t care about locals. It’s all about making sure that they have the best cocktails and best Airbnbs. I get where people want to make money, and obviously that’s something I need to think about, as well, it’s just that I wish they were doing it in a way that is not so Brooklyn.”

Cee Ohh at 19 North Front Street is closed Wednesdays, open Thursday through Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m. For updates, check Instagram or Facebook, or stop by.

The post Local vocalist adds retail to the repertoire at Cee Ohh in New Paltz first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

The city of Boston gets the credit for coining the term “First Night” to refer to an alternative New Year’s Eve celebration that nixes the alcohol and puts the focus on family-friendly activities. That was back in 1976. And their inaugural event was so successful organizers went on to form “First Night International” and trademark the phrase “First Night,” so now any community that wishes to organize an event under that name must pay them a substantial fee.

Few communities have the resources to do that, but you know, a rose by any other name is just as sweet. New Paltz’s family-friendly New Year’s Eve celebration is called “New Paltz Eve,” scheduled to make its sixth annual appearance on Tuesday, December 31 from 1-7 p.m. All activities are free of charge to partake of, thanks to support from the local businesses and organizations listed below. Most of the fun happens indoors, so the party will go on regardless of the weather.

New Paltz Eve kicks off at 1 p.m. at two locations this year. Teens (and families with younger children) may visit the New Paltz Youth Program’s Teen Scene headquarters at 220 Main Street for a scavenger hunt from 1-3 p.m. Alternatively, families with children age six or older can see what the “Fun Fest” is about at the New Paltz Community Center at 3 Veterans Drive. A family folk dance, corn hole games and indoor miniature golf, among other activities, will be offered from 1-4 p.m.

After the scavenger hunt ends, the New Paltz Youth Program will offer a video game tournament from 3-5 p.m. for ages 11 and older. Smash Brothers and Mario Kart 8 are promised, with prizes to be won. Children ages 3-5 may attend a special holiday story and craft hour from 3-4 p.m. at Elting Library, 93 Main Street, in the children’s room, followed by “Story Magic” for all ages from 4-5 p.m. Professional storyteller Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi will present “Starlight and Snowflakes: Stories for a New Year’s Eve.” Hartin-Gelardi is a performer, emcee and workshop presenter, author of Wisdom in the Telling, the 2008 winner of the Storytelling World Resource Award for Special Storytelling Resources. Listeners at Elting Library can expect to hear tales of a boy who battles the wind and a squirrel that loves muffins.

The community dinner at the New Paltz United Methodist Church, at the corner of Main and Grove streets, will offer continuous seatings from 5-7 p.m. The menu includes baked ziti, homemade chili – beef, turkey or vegetarian varieties – rice, cornbread, beverages and dessert, including a gluten-free option. The dinner typically draws nearly 200 people who end the year by enjoying a meal in the company of their neighbors.

All activities officially end at 7 p.m. But for those who want to keep the party going into the evening, how about a movie? Anybody who participates in any one of the New Paltz Eve activities will receive a coupon that may be exchanged for a free movie ticket at the box office of New Paltz Cinema, good that evening only and while supplies last; one per person. Coupons may be redeemed from 6:15-7 p.m. Movie selections and show times have yet to be announced.

New Paltz Eve is put on through a collaboration between the Town of New Paltz and the Greater New Paltz Community Partnership (GNPCP), with generous donations and support from the New Paltz Department of Parks & Recreation, Elting Memorial Library, New Paltz Police Department, New Paltz Reformed Church, New Paltz Central School District, New Paltz United Methodist Church, New Paltz Youth Basketball Association, New Paltz Youth Program, Ulster Prevention Council, Village of New Paltz and the Woodcrest Bruderhof Community.

For more information, call Phoenix Kawamoto, the town’s community education coordinator, at (845) 256-5014 or email her at pkawamoto@townofnewpaltz.org.

The post Family-friendly New Year’s Eve in New Paltz first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

When longtime Gardinerites Melissa and Greg Gagne opened Grazery at Water Street Market in New Paltz this past August, they found a way to combine their background in the food business with their love of plants and flowers, all while preserving a beloved local cheese shop.

Grazery has an unusual concept: a self-proclaimed “cheese, plant and lifestyle boutique,” there are four components to the business (five, if you count the seasonal workshops offered). As a cheese shop, they sell domestic, cut-to-order artisanal cheeses. As a café, the Gagnes’ cheese-centric menu features items such as fondue and grilled cheese sandwiches. But the business is equally devoted to the sale of greenhouse plants — and cut flowers or holiday greens, depending on the season — in varieties not always carried by the usual places one buys house plants. And accompanying all this is a carefully curated selection of gourmet food products and home-related gift items that will enliven a cheese plate or serve as a hostess gift; items that range from unique spices and sweets to candles and handmade soaps.

Before they launched Grazery, the Gagnes owned and ran the Red Rooster Café in Gardiner (in the space now occupied by Café Mio.) With four young children at home — currently ages 20 months to 12 years old — Melissa stayed home with the kids while Greg managed the café. But when the couple felt the pull of starting their own business together again, their idea was to open a café and flower shop, incorporating plants into the mix.

The two are avid growers, able to supply Grazery with their own stock of cut flowers in season; dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias, lilies, peonies and roses, among others. Most of the house plants come directly from greenhouses in Florida, which, Greg notes, means savings passed on to customers since there’s no middleman involved in the process.

Opening a cheese shop wasn’t part of the original plan, but when customers of the site’s former tenant, The Cheese Plate — founded in 2002 — were distressed at losing their special cheese shop, the Gagnes decided to incorporate the longtime local favorite into their new business venture. “We didn’t want to disappoint their loyal following, so we decided to become stewards of it,” Greg adds. “We felt an obligation to keep it going.”

The café menu will change seasonally. Currently sandwiches include the Mountaineer with cheddar, pesto, prosciutto and hot sauce ($8); the Dutch with cheddar, apple butter and dark ale mustard ($8) and the house grilled cheese sandwich, a blend of Swiss and cheddar cheese on focaccia ($7), available with a number of add-ons such as prosciutto or olive tapenade for $1 extra. There are cheese boards ($12-$16) with charcuterie added for an additional $5. The traditional raclette fondue ($12) includes dippers and a baguette, and scones or buttermilk biscuits are paired with jam and brie cheese ($6) or hot honey and parmesan ($5).

Gift items available are intended to be “not run-of-the-mill,” says Melissa. At the high end are sheep pelts ($190) from Gardiner’s Willow Pond Sheep Farm, which can be used as rugs or decorative accents, and food items include things like dried guava chips, gluten-free crackers and Turkish oregano buds packaged in their own grinder.

Customers familiar with The Cheese Plate will be on familiar ground when entering the Grazery, viewing the deli cases filled with delectable-looking cheese selections. But all resemblance to the former shop fades away as an awareness of the abundance of plants in the shop and café areas takes over the senses.

Visiting the Grazery is as much an experience as it is a shopping destination. (And its location at Water Street Market seems particularly well-suited to the venture.) With so many varieties of foliage so artfully arranged, it takes some time to take it all in. But that’s okay; the coziness and beauty the plants provide makes one want to hang out there for a while, with all that greenery imparting the sense of well-being that only nature can provide. The experience of going into Grazery has, in fact, inspired some customers to ask if the plants are for sale, says Melissa; apparently the ambiance created is so distinct people haven’t been sure if the plants weren’t there just to provide atmosphere for the café.

The plants are definitely for sale, though. Seasonal paperwhite bulbs grow in mossy wooden boxes and there are terrariums and topiary ivy plants. People inexperienced with plants will find varieties they’ll have no trouble growing, but there are also some unusual varieties that even plant-people will not necessarily be familiar with.

Particularly striking are some unusually large tillandsia (air plants), Brobdingnagian specimens quite sculptural in affect. Also quite interesting are some examples of Kokedama (co-keh-dah-mah) created by Greg. The Japanese art form involves encasing the roots of plants in moss — the word kokedama means “moss ball” — which is then wrapped in twine or something similar to secure the whole thing. Kokedama can rest on a surface or be suspended for display, like the ones at Grazery incorporating staghorn ferns.

A number of the plants are sold in handmade pots carefully sourced by the Gagnes from ceramicists around the country. The pots are also sold individually without plants, as are the macramé plant hangers made by Melissa’s mom, Cathy Gordon.

Learning how to make a macramé plant hanger is one of the winter workshops being offered at Grazery. The class will be held at the shop on Friday, January 31 at 6 p.m. The cost is $75, which includes the supplies, a plant and instruction by Lindsey of El Marie Macramé. Earlier in the month, on Sunday, January 19, an all-day course on making a willow cachepot will be offered at Grazery from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a cost of $115. Basic weaving techniques that serve to hide a plant pot and its saucer will be covered. Instruction is provided by Willow Vale Farm.

Previous workshops on making holiday wreaths and centerpieces filled up fast; signing up early is recommended. Winter hours for Grazery are Sunday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, call (845) 255-2444 or email grazerynewpaltz@gmail.com.

The post Still cheese, but more: Grazery at Water Street Market in New Paltz offers an unusual mix first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

Leftover household paint is one of those things that can easily be donated for recycling or reuse but seldom is, according to New Paltz-based sustainability advocate Wendy Toman. “Much of it is trashed because people don’t know where to take it, or they think nobody will want this old stuff. But people do want it, and they need it.”

The New Paltz Paint Swap founded by Toman in 2017 is a simple enough proposition: those with unwanted paint may donate it and those in need (or want) of a little paint can have it for free. Located in the lobby on the second floor of Village Hall at 25 Plattekill Avenue in New Paltz, the Swap is a permanent fixture at the site, run by Toman as a one-person volunteer effort at no cost to the village.  

To “swap” implies that one must bring something to take something, but that’s not the case here. There are a few rules, a complete list of which may be found on the village website. A waiver must be signed when donating or picking up, and only water-based paints and stains are accepted. (An exception is made for artist-quality tubes of oil paint, because they are claimed so quickly when donated.) Painting supplies such as rollers, brushes, buckets and drop cloths are available at the Swap, as are sketchbooks and other fine art materials. Even clean, empty paint cans get a second life, used to transfer paint into from donated containers too crusty to close properly.

Donations may be made only on the second Tuesday of every month from 4-6 p.m. Pickups are allowed any time the doors of Village Hall are open. The Swap is open to everyone, with no residency requirement. TerraCycle bins are also available at the site to recycle items not allowed in regular recycling programs.

Part of a bigger picture

In founding the New Paltz Paint Swap, Toman consulted with the Product Stewardship Institute, an advocacy group concerned with passing “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) laws that require manufacturers to manage their products more responsibly from beginning to end of use. When it comes to household paint, the PSI estimates that 80 million gallons, or ten percent of what is purchased every year, goes unused. The EPR laws require paint companies to develop and manage stewardship programs that make it easy for consumers to donate their leftover paint to be used by someone else or recycled into new paint or related products.

It’s difficult to estimate exactly how much paint has been rescued in New Paltz because people don’t always record the amount they’re taking when they sign the waiver, says Toman. But in reviewing her records she estimates the amount to be as much as 700 gallons since August 2017. And as she points out, not only does the program keep potential contaminants out of the environment and eliminate those associated with new manufacturing, the Swap is a money-saver for those picking up the donations at a time when the cost of paint has skyrocketed along with everything else.

Future plans

Toman launched a number ofreuse programs during her tenure as coordinator of the Gardiner Transfer Station, including an early iteration of the Paint Swap. “To not waste the Earth’s resources, to reuse and recycle, is part of my moral compass,” she says.

Her next venture is planned for later this summer at Zero Place on N. Chestnut Street in New Paltz. The aptly-named “Second Nature” will be a refillery shop designed to help reduce single-use plastic consumption, providing a place where customers will bring their own containers to purchase refills of personal care products, household products and pantry items such as nuts, rice and seeds.

The time frame for opening the shop is still very much up in the air because the proposed business still has to go through the initial stages of approval from the Village Planning Board and undergo a public hearing before construction on the interior can begin. While the apartments at the site are finished and occupied, the business spaces at Zero Place are still a blank slate waiting for new business-owners to install plumbing, electrical, and interior fixtures. With a public hearing projected for August 2, Toman hopes to begin that work shortly afterward.

The Zero Place location was chosen for its visibility and good parking as well as the building’s alignment with Toman’s earth-friendly philosophy. Her aim is to keep prices competitive and offer products that are not only packaging-free buteco-friendly with a low impact on the environment.

For more information about the New Paltz Paint Swap, visit https://www.villageofnewpaltz.org/new-paltz-paint-swap/. To learn more about additional local paint collection sites, visit https://www.PaintCare.org/faqs.

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Looking at the trees that surround us, it seems there could be nothing in nature more solid and immutable. But in New Paltz-based photographer Nora Scarlett’s Trunks of the Gunks, first published in 2016 and revised for 2022, the forests of the Shawangunk Mountains are revealed as dynamic. We see a constantly changing landscape, one shaped by time and the environment where trees companionably intertwine limbs, twist and turn as they reject the darkness and thrive in the most improbable of locations.

The new edition of the book includes 49 additional photographs along with the original content, including a rather startling sequence of images from 2010 to 2021 showing a dramatic change in the relationship between one particular Castle Point maple tree and a trail marker. A prelude written by Peter Del Tredici of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard has been added to the 2022 revision, accompanying the original foreword by Mohonk Preserve’s Paul Huth and an introduction by Scarlett.

The photographs are presented thematically, with each section focusing on a different idea. Many have a humorous aspect. In “Move” trees appear as if in motion, hastily scrambling up a rock wall or slithering across a mossy boulder, and in “Dine” trees appear caught in the act of digesting something. The “Smile” section features tree formations that resemble faces and creatures that Scarlett notes were revealed “through a unique combination of light, shape, texture and even blemish. I do not like cutesy images, and these could easily have become that. But (the images) found me.”

The Trunks of the Gunks project began back in 2005, when the photographer was walking in the woods one day and noticed a tree that appeared to be “kissing” a boulder. Intrigued by the sight, Scarlett returned home for her camera, studio tripod and accessories. “With my interest piqued, I wondered what other amazing trees were hiding in plain sight, and so began my search.” Already an avid outdoors enthusiast, she now had a mission on her hikes, perched in precarious situations looking for the best angles and out in all types of weather.

The photographs document nature as she found it. The only manipulations made on site were minor things like removing a fallen branch from the scene or tweaking the placement of a leaf that got in the way of the tree roots she really wanted to photograph. Many times she went back to photograph the same scene to get the right lighting. Scarlett does spend a great of time with the images after shooting them, using computer software to subtly bring out the lights and darks and color contrasts, but only to bring out its best qualities.

Scarlett grew up in Palo Alto, California, discovering photography in high school. While attending UC Berkeley in the early ‘70s, she worked as a photojournalist for the campus press and became hooked. After moving to New York City in 1976, she learned her craft in the studios of several well respected photographers, including a stint as a print spotter for Irving Penn.Inspired by large format cameras and studio lighting, Scarlett developed her own workcreating still life photographs and maintained her own commercial studio for more than 20 years, with numerous clients that included Gap, American Express, Chanel and IBM. Certain qualities emerged that still define her work, she says: a bold use of color and light, elegant yet sometimes quirky compositions, a fascination with making ordinary objects beautiful and developing concepts that result in a series of images. Scarlett moved up to New Paltz in 1998 and spends part of each year in Utah. 

Trunks of the Gunks images have been exhibited along the way and some are now featured hanging in the great room of the new Grove Lodge addition to Mohonk Mountain House. The new hardcover edition of the book is available in the gift shop and visitor center there as well as local retailers. 

The 2022 edition of Trunks of the Gunks (Black Dome Press) has been expanded to 144 pages and features 135 full-color photographs in an approximately nine-inch square format. More information is available at norascarlett.com. 

The post A visual odyssey through the Shawangunk Mountains first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

The Elverhoj Arts and Crafts Colony began with high aspirations, as all such utopian ventures do. Established in 1912 on a hillside overlooking the Hudson River at Milton-on-Hudson, Danish-American founders Anders H. Andersen and Johannes Morton envisioned an Arts and Crafts Movement-inspired cooperative modeled on the 1902-founded Byrdcliffe Colony in Woodstock but on a greater scale. Given the same name as a well-known Danish play, in which Elverhoj (pronounced “El-ver-hoy”) translates as “hill of the fairies,” the implication was that the colony would be something magical.

But while Byrdcliffe endures to this day – albeit in a different form – Elverhoj would find only modest success and end in bankruptcy after 20 years. Its legacy would fall into obscurity, with few living today who have even heard of it.

That changes now with the recent publication of Elverhoj: The Arts and Crafts Colony at Milton-on-Hudson by William B. Rhoads and Leslie Melvin (Black Dome Press, 2022).Thoroughly researched and meticulously documented with primary source material, the book’s 218 pages and more than 160 illustrations reveal a fascinating story of local history. The authors provide not only the first comprehensive study of this little-known Hudson Valley art colony but detail the lives of the principals post-colony and take the story out into the larger world, exploring the role the women of the colony eventually played in their influence on craft as both cottage industry in the region and cure in the form of occupational therapy.

The story begins just before the turn of the 20^th century, when the colony’s primary founder, Anders Andersen, arrived in the U.S. in 1894 at age 20. Heading for the Midwest, a prime destination for Scandinavian settlement at the time, he moved to Iowa and began a course of study at the Art Institute of Chicago, refining his blacksmithing skills into those of a silversmith and designer. Andersen then went on to initiate several art colonies in Wisconsin and Michigan that would serve as precursor to Elverhoj.

The search for a permanent home where the colonists could live and work together in rural harmony took years. Elverhoj was very nearly settled in a different location until Andersen found the site in Milton at the last minute, with his fellow colonists “all packed and ready to move” elsewhere. The beauty of the Hudson Valley as well as its history moved him, as did learning that landscape painter George Inness had lived and worked nearby.

While Inness was never a part of the Elverhoj colony, publicity for the group brought up the artist’s name a number of times over the years and it seems they enjoyed associating themselves with the painter. Andersen told one reporter that a structure at the colony had used material from an old barn that had been the studio of Inness, and was therefore “blest by his memory.” 

Bill Rhoads, co-author of Elverhoj: The Arts and Crafts Colony at Milton-on-Hudson, says this isn’t so surprising. “Perhaps as Danish immigrants they wanted to link up to American tradition, to sort of create a certain legitimacy to occupy the same site as Inness. Danes were generally not ostracized the way southern Europeans and Jews of the period might be, but they were still considered a little foreign. So to link up with acknowledged people such as Inness was smart.”

The Elverhoj colony had one main building that had been the mid-19^th century home of a Captain Sherburne Sears. It was used as a residence (probably Andersen’s) as well as guest housing, exhibition space and offices. The artists of the colony built the other structures at the site, including a studio up the hill from the Sears house and rustic shacks for colonists. Farming the land themselves was also a part of the plan.

Etcher Ralph Pearson and painters Joseph Popelka and James Scott were prominent members of the colony, as were Scott’s younger sisters, Bessie and Henrietta Scott, who specialized in tapestry weaving. The primary output of Elverhoj was jewelry and metalwork based on the forms of nature, although pieces were seldom signed by their designer, a practice that probably contributed to the reputation of the colony fading over time.

Elverhoj did have a national reputation prior to World War I, however, attracting visitors such as C.R. Ashbee, a leader in the English Arts and Crafts Movement who was apparently pleased by the colony’s view of the Hudson and the swimming it afforded but was dismissive of the colony’s quality of work. (One man’s opinion: the illustrations in the Rhoads/Melvin book show otherwise and the colony as a whole received a gold medal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.)

Successive chapters in the book explore Elverhoj’s efforts to attract visitors through promoting summer art school classes at the beautiful site, and its connections with Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, a type of bond unique to an art colony. The association seems to have begun in 1916 when colonist Ralph Pearson married a Vassar grad, and in time the college’s president and some faculty became patrons. Students were colony visitors, the Scott sisters taught at the college and Elverhoj artists exhibited there. 

The colony was always advertised as a year-round venture, and for some it was. According to Rhoads, however, Elverhoj was mainly a summer colony. “It was year-round in theory, but Andersen actually lived – although he didn’t publicize it – a good bit of the time in Poughkeepsie.” He adds, “Every story is complicated.”

It is, indeed. As the country became enmeshed in World War I – colonist James Scott was drafted for combat service in 1918 – and as interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement faded in the 1920s, Elverhoj’s story became more about attracting those seeking entertainment. A theater was built in 1924 and performances with Broadway connections were covered in the New York Times. The Sears house was converted into a “Moorish dining terrace” for theater-goers, but the Depression dealt the final blow to the colony despite efforts by Eleanor Roosevelt to find a New Deal program to rescue it.

In 1938 Elverhoj became home to an evangelical group headed by Father Divine, a charismatic African-American leader. The site today is privately owned and not open to the public.

Rhoads is professor emeritus of art history at SUNY New Paltz. He has written a number of books on the history of the art and architecture of the Hudson Valley, and it was while teaching a course on that subject that he was first introduced to Elverhoj by a student, Bruce Weiss, whose family purchased the site of the former colony in the ‘70s and who co-owns the property today.

Rhoads already had a strong interest in the American Arts and Crafts Movement thanks to Robert Judson Clark, a pioneering scholar of the movement. “He was an older graduate student at Princeton when I was a younger graduate student and he became friends with Sally and me.” Rhoads says he and his late wife Sally collected objects from the Arts and Crafts Movement from the late ‘60s on. 

Co-author Leslie Melvin is an academic technologist at Bard College. Prior to that she earned an MA in art history and museum studies and worked in academic image libraries. Melvin joined the Elverhoj research group while on the board of the Ulster County Historical Society, and is responsible for the extensive timeline in the book and the chapter on the women of Elverhoj, an exploration so thorough it warrants an entirely separate article from this one. 

In this section of the book, Melvin establishes foundational links between the American Arts and Crafts Movement and the establishment of the occupational therapy profession in the U.S., a discipline that benefitted veterans of World War I among others. “Teachers College was specifically recruiting skilled craftspeople for their occupational therapy programs and local hospitals were hiring professional occupational therapists,” Melvin notes. “I think Bessie (Scott), as a member of this Arts and Crafts Movement colony, was surely an ideal candidate as practitioner, educator and true believer in the transformative power of handiwork.”

Several talks by the authors are planned. Both will be present Sunday, October 9 at 4 p.m. at Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz. Bill Rhoads will speak on Saturday, October 15 at 1 p.m. at the Plattekill Historical Society (plattekillhistoricalsociety.org). Admission is free.

There is also an exhibition that includes work by Elverhoj artists at the Ulster County Historical Society at the Bevier House, 2682 Route 209 in Kingston. A guided tour followed by a reception will be conducted on its closing day, October 15 at 2 p.m. RSVP is requested to the museum at (845) 377-1040. Admission is $15.

The post New book brings to light a fascinating history of a largely unknown art colony of a century ago first appeared on Hudson Valley One.

Lee Reich is indisputably the guy to go to for information on fruit-growing. His numerous books on such topics as growing fruit naturally and growing uncommon fruits are practical how-to guides backed by academic credentials and years of in-the-field experience. And his 30-plus years of writing newspaper columns about horticultural matters have introduced him to a local and a national readership.

So when the people at Abbeville Press decided to add a book about fruit to their Tiny Folio series last year, it’s no surprise they approached Reich to write it. Having just completed his latest book at the time, he wasn’t really planning on starting something else so soon. But this one resonated with him and he felt connected to the project for a number of reasons; this one was meant for him, he says.

The newly published Fruit: From the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collectionby Lee Reich (Abbeville Press, 2022) is a fusion of art, science and history in a 4.4” x 4.7” hardcover volume of 288 pages. The pocket-sized folio is like a miniature coffee table book, a celebration of fruit-growing in an earlier America with a wealth of historical context and scientific information provided by Reich. The first half of the book is devoted to a range of apple varieties, many with unfamiliar and quaint names; most of these cultivars now lost to time. Subsequent chapters cover pears and other pomes, stone fruits, citrus, berries and miscellaneous fruits such as avocados, pomegranates, persimmons and nuts.

The vintage watercolor illustrations are beautiful, satisfying to peruse in the way that good botanical prints are; that blend of clarity and reality softened and given soul by the artist’s hand. Reich selected 250 illustrations for the book from more than 7,500 commissioned by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) between 1886 and 1942.

The illustrations were created for educational and promotional purposes. As Reich explains, fruit-growing in early America was largely carried out by individuals to either feed livestock or ferment into beverages until around the mid-19^th century, when Americans became interested in growing fruit for human consumption. To do that commercially required the development of a fruit-growing industry with communication between growers, so Congress established the USDA’s Division of Pomology in 1886.

With the aim to promote fruit-growing and to ensure consistency across varieties, artists were hired to create watercolor illustrations of the different cultivars, which in printed form were distributed to farmers and gardeners through USDA pamphlets and publications. Fruit samples for the artists to illustrate were sent in by growers from all over the country, from backyard amateurs to professional nurserymen.

The majority of the watercolors were done between 1894 and 1916. Some 21 artists were employed in total, but most of the illustrations were created by just eight artists, six of whom were women. Three of those women – Deborah Griscom Passmore, Amanda Almira Newton and Mary Daisy Arnold – did approximately half of the paintings. Among the male illustrators, the work of Royal Charles Steadman stands out.

The original botanical illustrations are now housed in the USDA’s Rare and Special Collections within the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland, which brings us back to why Lee Reich felt such an affinity to the material when approached to do this book.

From 1979 to 1981, Reich did his doctorate research at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, which is located directly across the street from the agricultural library. While he didn’t see these particular watercolors at that time, he says, he was familiar with books of other botanical illustrations and he remembers visiting the library often, where they kept wax replicas of fruit the USDA had also commissioned. “When I’d walk into the research lab, the replicas were in a case off to the right; they looked so real you’d want to take a bite of them.” 

While earning his PhD in horticulture, Reich worked at the USDA Fruit Laboratory and later as a research associate for Cornell University before switching gears to devote his time to writing, lecturing and consulting. He grows fruits, vegetables and nuts on his New Paltz “farmden” – more than a garden, less than a farm – with an emphasis on unusual varieties and experimental growing.

In discussing the disappearance of many of the old apple varieties featured in Fruit, Reich says thatsome are actually still available to grow – he grows old varieties himself – they’re just not commercially viable. “Unfortunately, I think fruit today is a commodity. It’s mostly about how it looks and how it ships, and it has to store well. And I think people are missing out on some really good-tasting fruits.”

Reich notes that he’s not a fan of the typical apples available in supermarkets today. “They all taste the same. They’re very crisp and they’re sweet with maybe a hint of flavor, whereas if you taste some of these old varieties, the flavor is really quite distinctive.”

Fruit: From the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collectionis available on Reich’s website along with access to his blog and his previous books. Visit the farmden at http://www.leereich.com.

The post Local author’s new book is a celebration of fruit-growing first appeared on Hudson Valley One.