Digest

The hillsides are aflame with autumn color, and the winding roads beckon. We hope you'll join us on Saturday from 3-6 for the opening reception for Dumais Made at Norman Hasselriis, a special collection of lighting, vessels, and selected pieces of Norman's assemblage sculpture. Why not make a day of it? Here are some favorite October experiences we recommend.

Apples & Pumpkins

Pick your own apples and pumpkins at Boehm Farm in Climax. Visit the farm stand for apple dumplings, local maple syrup, and honey.

Lunch & Apple Cider Donuts

Pull up to Schoharie Valley Farms (formerly The Carrot Barn) for our favorite apple cider donuts, great sandwiches and soup (including the best grass-fed beef chili), and a staggering assortment of decorative pumpkins and gourds.

A Pretty Walk in Nature

Hike the Huyck Preserve, a donation-funded non-profit historic nature preserve in Renssalaerville. You can see the work of very industrious beavers on the Lincoln Pond Trail loop.

Squeeze in an Art Class

Continue your walk down Main Street for a visit to the Tudor Revival Rensselaerville Library, first started in 1798 and moved in 1896 to the row house where it is today, the former boot shop of William Felter. On Saturday at 2:00 pm, artist Alice Tunison will lead a session in acrylic painting exploring and interpreting the work of Piet Mondrian. Class and materials are free, but the class-size is limited, so please register in advance.

Drinks at Hamlet

Continue your conversations at the bar at our sister restaurant Hamlet after the opening - try one of our new wines from Lebanon, Bosnia, and Greece or celebrate brown spirit season with The Right Hand cocktail, El Dorado 15 year aged Guyanese Demerara rum, bitter orange, sweet vermouth, and chocolate bitters. 

As the year fades into leaf-fall, flowers take on a heightened significance in our days. The arrangements our friend Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua brings to us each week at Hamlet take our breath away and so perfectly capture the Hamlet spirit of abundance, joy, seasonality, and unfussy beauty.

Our reflective mood doesn't stop us from looking ahead - now is the time to plant bulbs for spring. Sarah's absolute favorites come from Van Engelen in Connecticut. She loves all the Narcissus (daffodils), especially the Thalia and Minnow varieties, as well as Fritillaria Persica and Uva.

If you'd like to see where the Saipua magic happens, this Sunday is the last Coyote Cafe of the season at World's End Farm. If you plan to go, let the folks in the kitchen know so they can prep plenty of delicious food.

by Jesse James

As some of you know, Kostas and I have spent the past three years restoring a building at the heart of the community, in the tiny, magical town of Rensselaerville just north of the Catskills where we bought a home ten years ago. We knew it long before we lived there, as the home of The Palmer House Cafe — a restaurant that opened in 1986, one we'd go out of our way to visit. It shuttered its doors after 31 years, within our first year as neighbors. The loss was felt by the village, and as newcomers, it changed the dynamic of the place we'd come to plant roots in.

I grew up in a restaurant: Chicago's legendary Heartland Cafe — Good Wholesome Food for the Mind & Body. My parents and a friend opened it in 1976, when I was 6, and much like The Palmer House, it built and served a community for decades — in this case, 42 years. Milestones big and small happened there, from birthdays and marriages to the pivotal rally of Barack Obama's first senatorial campaign. It taught me everything foundational about work and humanity. After years away from working in service, I assumed we'd remain enthusiasts of the restaurant world rather than proprietors of one. But as we fell deeper in love with our hamlet, the story began to write itself.

Last week, we officially opened Hamlet — a restaurant in the footprint of The Palmer House, in a building we call Union Hall — one that will grow to house a provisions café, a private dining wing, a separate tavern, and a four-room hotel. It takes a cue from both The Palmer House and The Heartland Cafe, but it is neither — born of this place and years of travel: breaking bread, late nights, good cocktails, watching a room turn from day to night. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than a room I've had a hand in creating, filled with people enjoying themselves. Huge thanks to the crew who built it, including co-designer Lisa Ano.

I hope to be there often — Kostas more — alongside Chef Matthew, Justin, Will, and a team of others who will bring the slow savor, warm welcome, and rural idyll that are the heart of Hamlet.

Tonight, we're offering 10% off for those attending the screening of Microcosmos at Rensselaerville Library's Community Cinema Film Night - reservations strongly recommended.

Something special is taking shape in the Pidgin universe. For the months of October and November, our visionary friends, the multidisciplinary duo Dumais Studio, will move into our Norman Hasselriis shop with a bespoke collection of ceramic lamps and vessels that play alongside selections from Norman’s estate collection of fascinating and surreal assemblage pieces. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate October 10th from 3-6. Mark your calendars - more to come!