Volume 39, No. 1
January 19, 2018
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Huckleberry: A Treasure Across the Bridge BY: Catherine Elsaesser, Reviewer
I have been anxiously waiting to venture to New Paltz to explore the business district and dine at some of the restaurants in the area. Some friends recently suggested we travel across the river for a weekend meal. We decided upon the restaurant Huckleberry, self-described as a “cozy cocktail bar with craft beers and a fresh twist on house made pub food”. Our experience could be described as just that, finding the warmly lit establishment on Church Street, just off of the bustling main street in New Paltz. There were several outside tables with a decorative bar station and twinkling lights that would create a perfect patio space in the summer time, after the current piles of snow melt away. The lower level of
Huckleberry showcases a long bar with stools, where one can order off the menu and sit to eat, in addition to a few tables. On the upper level, there are larger tables that offer more traditional restaurant service. There were Christmas lights hung around the windows and a fireplace glowing at the far end of the room. Some of the tables were separated by repurposed doors, creating a booth-like feeling while adding rusticity to the homey atmosphere. We began the meal with drinks. I tried the house rum punch, a delicious mix of blended rums, peach, meyer lemon, and angostura bitters served in a large coupe glass. The drink was a pretty peach color and was not cloyingly sweet. My friend tried the mocktail version of their drink called the Nervous Nellie, (originally con-
taining Old Forrester bourbon) which was tart and bright with strawberry mint shrub, lemon and plum bitters. For an appetizer, we chose one of the specials of the evening, which was a flatbread topped with roasted butternut squash, broccolini, pesto, and garlic béchamel. Unfortunately I was unable to detect the sauces; thus,the flatbread was a little dry. In addition, some of the squash pieces were a bit hard due to their uneven sizes. For my entrée, I chose the special of slow-roasted pork butt served in a bowl with sauerkraut, roasted fingerling potatoes, and a brown gravy, garnished with green onions. The dish was hearty and comforting, and the sauerkraut provided nice acidity to balance the dish. However, I wish the potatoes had been
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photo courtesy: Julie and Billy Gunk
Michelin Stars Are Not Shining Bright BY: April Johnson, Managing Editor
photo courtesy: Michelin
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The Michelin Guide has been around since 1900, bringing guests from all over the world to eat at restaurants with their acclaimed Michelin-Star ranking. What was originally designed to promote tires, the Michelin Guide turned into the key for the world’s best restaurants. In consideration of the rise of online reviews, changes in the industry, and the intense amount of pressure for chefs to gain and/or maintain Stars, is the Michelin Guide still relevant? The Guide helps to provide chefs with a goal to reach, along with popularity for the restaurants that land within its ranks. Some question if the amount of pressure on the chefs of these restaurants can become too much or unnecessary. In 2003, Chef Bernard Lois committed suicide because of the pressure he was under to maintain his 3 Michelin Stars at Relais Bernard Loiseau. Another
chef in 2016, Benoit Violier, also committed suicide from the pressure of maintaining his third Star. Another reason that people question the relevance of the Michelin Guide falls on the lack of specificity regarding how a restaurant earns its rankings. One Star indicates “high quality cooking worth a stop,” two Stars indicate “excellent cooking, worth a detour,” and three Stars indicate “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.” Michelin keeps their reviewers and rating methods top secret, which leaves many to question the credibility of the reviewers and just what exactly separates one restaurant from another. Do the same critics review the same establishments each year, and if not, are all critics are trained uniformly? People question what exactly restaurants must do to earn a third Star, since moving up to a higher ranking proves to be extremely difficult, almost out of reach. For example,
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Patrick O Connell’s Inn at Little Washington, has been trying to garner a third Michelin Star for years, and with the 2018 Guide out, he still has not managed to move up to a 3-Star ranking. In America, the restaurant scene has changed. People want more food for less money. Patrons also want food to be served quickly, causing more Americans to underestimate the value of a fine-dining restaurant experience. Consumers now have the power to write their own reviews online with Yelp and other forms of social media, allowing other consumers to gather information and form opinions about a restaurant before walking through the door. With this change in technology and easy access to guides that rank restaurants based off of hundreds of reviews rather than a
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