Palate Wines and Spirits Newburgh NY

palate-wine-shop-newburg

We’ve been very curious about the buzz on what’s happening in Newburgh to revitalize this once vibrant city.  Having passed through town on our way north or south on 9W, Visited the waterfront, and gotten mixed messages.

A little research for an afternoon jaunt brought us to charming Liberty Street home of  Ms. Fairfax,  Washington’s Headquarters, Wherehouse bar and a new Bistro, Liberty Street.

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If I was opening a wine store it would be very much like this.

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Wines and liquors I love with reasonable prices.

Opened in May of last year by former Brooklynite Philippe Pierre who carefully selects every bottle here. The shop is small but adequately diverse, you can be confident you’ll enjoy the wines you’ll find here. In fact, I expect to be back for a case in a couple of weeks, and I was.

We found two wines from Puglia we really loved. A Fiano and a Primativo.

Trip to Puglia 

Palate Wines & Spirits

115 Liberty St, Newburgh, NY 12550
(845) 419-8466

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Doug’s Pretty Good Pub, Is a Lot More than Pretty Good

dougs-pretty-good-pub-cold-spring-ny-bar-and-beer-taps

Our fourth visit to Doug Price’s heart-warming, Cold Spring, local bar that brings steady pleasure for those looking for a welcoming old school place to have a good glass of beer and some flavorful bar food in a relaxed comfortable setting.

We met Doug this time and learned that we might have been shoulder to shoulder in one of our favorite old Tribeca, NY bars of the early 80’s like good old Puffy’s or Barnabas Rex.  We worked and played down there, oh what fond memories.  It is sure different now.

Doug’s place brings back those great feelings in a place that has been a bar since the 1800’s. It has that beautiful old atmosphere but is current with great local craft beers…

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and fresh tasty well made bar food. Like this crisp garden salad.

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Three types of chicken wings.

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And several delicious burgers, this is the classic. The unique Japan Burger, and the Bleu, Swine and Tears are favorites. The burger  options span the glob with flavor, and don’t worry there is a vegetarian burger too. There is more on the menu check out the website below.

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Of course Guinness is always on tap.

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Doug’s Pretty Good Pub

54 Main Street Cold Spring, NY 10516
845-265-9500

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Highlands Current Article

Tribeca Memories

 

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Thanksgiving Cocktails are a Generational Tradition

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That we carry on from our parents to our children.

This year’s cocktails.

Fall Figroni

love the flavors of dried fruits in the fall, love figs all year round, best when they’re fresh but much more richly flavorful when dried.

To make this cocktail I muddled sliced California Calimyrna Dried Figs in an ounce and a half of the vermouth in a cocktail stiring pitcher, let that sit and marinate for awhile.   Then add very good ice, an ounce and a half of a mild gin and an ounce of a wonderful Amaro, Cynar.

The gin we purchased at Palate Wine and Spirits in Newburgh

Also सफेदgroni Bianaca Negroni

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Inspired by Indian cuisine, flavored with Cardamom this white Negroni called by the Hindu,  सफेद, Saphed, or Italian Bianca it tests the boundaries of what rightfully can be called a  Negroni. Yes purists would protest loudly but we love this drink nonetheless.

Created with a very smooth and harmonious Catskill Distilling Company Peace Vodka More

 

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Newburgh Brewing Company a Place for Fun, Family and Friends

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I have to admit the thought of going to Newburgh has been a little intimidating with the reports of crime you read about.  We had been to the waterfront district with all its restaurants and places to walk and boat, it’s very safe there. But it did not really appeal to us. Seemed too corporate. We like more charming areas.

We had heard about Liberty Street and the historic district which seemed appealing so we decided to venture over and are going back tonight for dinner with friends at Liberty Street Bistro.

After a walk down Liberty where we found two great looking restaurants, a European coffee caffe, and a fabulous wine shop, along with a Washington’s Headquarters, we headed over by car to Colden Street in the East End Historic District to Newburgh Brewing.

Did you know that the “City of Newburgh has the second largest historic district in New York State. over 4,000 buildings of historic interest.” newburghonhudson.com

Newburgh Brewing is in a building built over 110 years ago and was once the Newburgh Paper Box Factory. The signage you see pays homage to historical value of this place.

Step inside and the theme continues, with an inviting wide open space and bar that warmly welcomes family and friends. newburgh-brewing-dining-and-playroom newburgh-brewing-barMy interest in Newburgh Brewing comes from my own family as my daughter Nell who is quite steeped in the world of fine craft beer first introduced me to their fine Brown Ale. Fact is that when my son Pierce and Nell come home to Garrison for Thanksgiving we plan to stop by Newburgh Brewing for some fun food and drink Wednesday evening.

Beers of the day are on the chalk boards behind the bar, nothing quite as good as freshly brewed beer.

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The appealing food offerings are on another chalk board.

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Can’t wait to get back there again.

Read more about Newburg Brewing here: Newburgh Brewing Company

88 Colden St, Newburgh, NY
(845) 569-2337

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Sweet Reminiscence of Puglia, Yet Home in the Hudson Valley

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A favorite wine we found at the engaging Palate Wine and Spirits shop in Newburg, NY inspired this dinner. A Fiano from Puglia (Apulia) one of our very favorite parts of Italy. Puglia is the “heel of the boot” of Italy, the lower south east peninsula wrapped by the Adriatic and Ionian Seas.

Wine made with the Fiano grape is very popular, In this part of Italy,  a bright and flavorful wine. Yet the grape can be hard to grow and has low yields. It is rarely farmed outside of Italy. We fell in love with it on a wine pilgrimage to Italy in the fall of 2012. It can be hard to come by in the US so we were delighted to find this wine in here at wine store in the Hudson Valley.

This one is by Masseria Li Veli a winery founded in 199 by the Falvo family who also owned the fine Avignonesi estate in Tuscany.

The fresh ingredients for the dinner we made came mostly from Dan Madura Farms a regular vendor at Cold Spring Farmers Market who had gorgeous yellow cauliflower, onions and abundant fresh parsley this week.  With this produce we made a dish from Tal Ronnen’s fabulous vegan Crossroads Restaurant recipe book, “Cauliflower With Olives and Sun-dried Tomatoes.” Other ingredients came from our own Cold Spring Foodtown and Adams Market in Wappinger.

For the pasta dish I  created my own recipe for Orchietta, the classic Purglian pasta.  We bought some exceptional Italian sausage, that Chris of Marbled Meat Shop has just made. Sauteed it with escarole and onions, EVO, Kosher salt, and hot red pepper flakes, some white wine, veal stock and as a last step a tablespoon of arrowroot to thicken the sauce.

These dishes with a nice baguette from Marbled and fresh herbs from our own garden as well as freshly ground cheese, and of course accompanied by a perfect wine, were an inestimable culinary luxury.

Here’s More:beautiful-sommelier-500luncheon

Masseria Li Veli

Palate Wine and Sprits

Crossroads: Extraordinary Recipes from the Restaurant That Is Reinventing Vegan Cuisine

Our Trip to Puglia  

Marbled Meat Shop

The Cauliflower Recipe  by Kris Carr.

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The “GW Six Oh” a Very Special Hudson Valley Cocktail for a Very Special Birthday

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We drank and ate and laughed and played,  a weekend of fun and friendship at cherished Long Beach Island Loveladies beach, with best friends Gail and Marc, part of a year long celebration of Gail’s 60th birthday.

Of course an original cocktail just for Gail Wagner was in order. “I love your cocktails,” were Gail’s words, “but they are too sweet for me.” Well ok, I can make dry cocktails, and crafted this Sherry Martini with Hudson Valley Tuthilltown Spirits Indigenous Fresh Pressed Apple Vodka, Lustau Almacenista Fino Sherry from, Artisan Wine Shop, Beacon, and the very fine 1830 Antoine Amédée Peychaud bitters, accented with raw almond stuffed black olives. The result … ” Yum!  Very delicious and not sweet!” called the GW Six Oh!

The recipe:

For each cocktail

2 oz  Tuthilltown Spirits Indigenous Fresh Pressed Apple Vodka

1/2 to 3/4 oz Lustau Almacenista Fino Sherry

Canned Pitted Black Olives Stuffed with Raw Almonds

3 drops of  Peychaud Bitters

  1. Chill a martini glass or four with ice and water or in your freezer
  2. Stuff a bunch of good black jumbo olives, the pitted kind in a can with raw almonds put two on a toothpick
  3. Add ice to a shaker and the vodka and sherry and shake well
  4. Let it sit for a moment as you empty the ice water from the cocktail glasses or   pull them from the freezer and place the stuffed olives in each glass
  5. Gently pour the cocktail over the olives and add three drops of the bitters
  6. Toast sip and smile

Blogs and Pages

My 60th Birthday Celebration

Tuthilltown Spirits

Made with 100% Hudson Valley apples grown at selected local orchards, it is so smooth and delicious.

Sherry and Vodka Available at

Artisan Wine Shop Beacon

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At After Ella’s There Are Great Cocktails

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If you know Beacon, then you must know Ella’s Bellas the fabulous gluten free bakery and cafe, but you may not know what happens at night, after 6:00, at “After Ella’s.”

It is fun and chilling,  “a collaboration project between Ella’s Bellas and More Good featuring craft cocktails designed with More Good Syrups & Mixers” by the master Jason Schuler.

We’ve been here twice and enjoyed the drinks and the casual easy vibe.

The bartenders are alert and cordial ready to dive into conversation and booze. There are small plates to be enjoyed, savory or sweet, from Ella’s kitchen and accomplished staff.

Some nights there is more actions with DJs or Oyster-men. All good fun.

After Ella’s

418 Main St
Beacon, NY 12508
(845) 765-8502

Drink More Good

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Sip and Savor at Brunette Wine Bar Kingston

Brunette Wine Bar Kingston Market Radish, Chevre Cheese, Malson Salt

Try anything, everything here and you will be very pleased.  Open about a year now Brunette has been on our must visit list for sometime. At last a trip to the Rondout section of  Kingston brought us here.

Brunette Wine Bar Kingston Sip a Rose

The curators and owners, Tracy and husband Jamie Kennard are the most gracious and interesting hosts. Deeply dedicated to presenting very fine local, natural, genuine food and wine. Our conversations wove through all sorts of topics as we carefully savored each sip and bite.

Brunette Wine Bar Kingston Trout Roe Nachos, Creme Fraiche, Kelle Chips Brunette Wine Bar Kingston Smoked Salmon plate, creme Fraishe, pickled onions

Along with the food we enjoyed some very nice wine and will be back soon for more.

Brunette

33 Broadway, Kingston, NY

Brunette Wine Bar KingstonRead More

Something Special in Downtown Kingston: Brunette Wine Bar
Brunette, a New Wine Bar in Kingston

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Cure for the Way Too Cold!

Dinner Oveja Blanca

If there was ever a day for a hot homemade chicken soup today is one.  With this magic potion all sorts of ills are cured and Subzero temperatures are soundly turned to happiness. A bright salad and a crisp wine makes warmer days seem well, not so far off.

A perfect pairing is this dry muscat, created at Bodegas Fontana in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, by the wine making team of oenologist Tomás Buendia and Master of Wine Sam Harrop. Two men who I think would find themselves very much at home here in the Hudson Valley.

Discovered at Dylan’s Cellar in Peekskill, the wine is of Fontana’s  “Oveja” (sheep) series. These wines are created out of  a reverence to the region, “single bottlings of exciting experiments” meant to show the “potential of the area and grape varieties.”  Much the way many of our Hudson Valley winemakers craft their vino. And we do love our Hudson Valley sheep.

We liked this wine so much that we bought a heard on our next trip to Dylan’s.

A Heard of Sheep

“Intensely aromatic and expressive, with aromas reminiscent of lychees, grapefruit and rose petals. Light bodied, very fresh on the palate, the fruit is perfectly balanced by the crisp acidity and a dry, mineral finish.” Winery

It really knocked our socks off! Well no, those socks are staying on. But astonished “Wows!” were on our lips as we savored this precious wine.

If you love bright sauvignon blanc, crisp pinot grigio, or unoaked chardonnay you will love this wine.

Muscat is an ancient grape with 200 varieties. Some studies suggest it is the oldest domesticated grape, taking us back millennia.  Here in New York State a variety called Valvin Muscat is grown and made into very nice wine.

It can be found in dry, sweet and sparkling wines. All so very delightful.

Dylan’s Wine Cellar

Bodegas Fontana

Hudson Valley Sheep Festival

 

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Happy at Healy’s Corner Bar

Healy's corner restaurant and bar, tapsEvery couple of months we make the trek up to the big beautiful DeCicco & Sons market in Brewster.  It is a forty minute drive, which for us, who used to live in Montclair, NJ  no more than 10 minutes from six great supermarkets and countless specialty shops, is a ways.

DeCicco’s has a great selection of all sorts of gourmet delights so it is worth the drive. On our latest trip we decided to check out Healy’s Corner Bar in nearby Carmel.

Healy’s is relatively new, opened in 2011, but it feels like it has been here forever, a friendly neighborhood type place that I loved growing up. Great places like this seem to have disappeared over the years as corporate chains baited diners and drinkers away with what looked like the next big thing.  We have never favored corporate dining and are delighted when we find a place like this.

Hear you’ll find a full bar with a good number of beers on tap, half are rotating craft, the rest major brands.  For your dining pleasure there is a nice menu of American dishes including, creative salads, enticing sandwiches, entrees called “Healy’s Signatures” with steaks, chicken dishes, fish and chips, and more.  On the menu you will also find homemade Italian from “Curzio’s Kitchen” who ever that is, sounds authentic.  And burgers! 12 varieties, or build your own. Last year, voted best burgers in Putnam. They are served with a choice of  homemade French or sweet potato fries, potato salad, garlic mashed, cole slaw, side salad, or vegetable of the day. For those who need there are gluten free options. Eat at the bar or in one of the two dining rooms.

Served by one of the genuinely friendly bartenders I have ever met, Jason, we enjoyed some good beer and burgers.  What’s on tap can be found on Beer Menus. I won’t be looking for wine here.

I devoured the special burger of the month, January, “Mac and Cheese Burger” with very tasty French fries.

Healy's corner restaurant and bar, burge special mac and cheeseDiana enjoyed the bun-less “Shroom Burger” with portobella mushrooms instead of bread. She picked the sweet potato fries, which she did not like as much as my French, said they weren’t sweet enough.

Healy's corner restaurant and bar, burger shrooms

There is a happy hour and events and specials during the week, live music, more info on Healey’s web site.

Thursday is $2 Taco night, and your are invited to take the “Taco Challenge” which I understand to win you’ll have to eat more than 21.  I had two, good, not the best, but a good cheap bar bite.

Healy's corner restaurant and bar, thursday 2 dollar tacos  The bar has a lot of TV’s and I imagine Healy’s get quite crowded on  major sport days.

Nothing much to look at from the outside, yet Healy’s is a friendly neighborhood place with good food and drink for reasonable prices. As it is mean to be. Lovingly owned and operated by Stacey & Ryan Healy.

Healy’s Corner Restaurant
474 Route 52
Carmel, NY 10512
(845) 306-7087

 

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