reviews: By Jan Greenberg and Evelyn Kanter, Hudson Valley Magazine, september 2007
Best New Restaurants: madalin’s table
hip hotel hosts
It’s official. The Hudson Valley has arrived as an international dining destination. Master chefs, many trained right here at the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America in Dutchess County, are wooing locals and tourists alike with inventive cuisine, locally grown ingredients and seductive spaces.
Considering that we’ve done no advertising, you can’t find us in the telephone book, and our Web site only gives our phone number, we’ve done surprisingly well,” says Joseph Cicileo, co-owner (with brother Anthony and partner Domenic Scarpulla) of Madalin’s Table.
It’s as though the “effortlessly hip” Tivoli crowd (as actor Griffin Dunne described them in a recent New York Times article) was just chomping at the bit for the new restaurant and bar to open its doors last May.
The three partners spent more than two years restoring the century-old former hotel in the Dutchess County village, which was once a busy railroad stop midway between New York and Albany. (It is once again a hotel, with 11 comfortably appointed rooms.) The result: “just gorgeous,” in the words of a recent visitor. And the crowds — including a smattering of local celebs whose identities we won’t reveal — keep coming.
The building’s ambience helps pull them in. The large wraparound porch comfortably seats up to 80 people. An inviting entrance hall leads either to the white-tablecloth dining room or the more-informal tavern. In the latter, the dark wood tables are unadorned so as not to compete with the sweeping curve of the famous bar. (Rumor has it that Eleanor Roosevelt once stopped by.)
Chef Brian Kaywork a 2002 graduate of the Culinary Institute and former sous chef at the now-shuttered Mina in Red Hook, offers a seasonal menu. Winter main courses feature locally raised venison loin served with celery root purée, brussels sprouts and a juniper-dried plum pan sauce; and a roasted Northwind Farm chicken with a savory speck bread pudding, sautéed broccoli rabe, and preserved lemon-thyme pan jus. Light salads and sandwiches are also available, including the ever-popular duck confit salad and a grilled salmon sandwich with lemon caper aioli.
55 Broadway, Tivoli (Dutchess). Open for dinner every day. 845-757-2100. original review
new! cater your wedding or event with the madalin at montgomery place
