Chef/owner Benjamin Mauk of Twist

What do you do if you are the executive chef at Cripple Creek, one of the Hudson Valley's most acclaimed restaurants, and you unexpectedly find yourself out of work when it closes down due to a lease dispute? You take the opportunity to open your own restaurant—and give it your own "twist." So thought the young, talented Benjamin Mauk, and that's exactly what he did, with the help of his wife, Ellen Henneberry, who gave up a job as a Web-content manager and graphic designer at IBM to serve as the restaurant's general manager. The couple took a chance: set in a strip mall in Hyde Park, they took an approach to quality dining more common on the car-centered West Coast than in the small towns scattered throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley. Twist opened in July of 2004, and after little more than a year in operation, the restaurant's success seems secured by the mix of patrons who pack the place, even during the middle of the week.

You can enter Twist from its outdoor patio, which faces Route 9, or from the strip mall's parking lot in the rear, which patrons appear to favor for convenience. A Grand Union, once the mall's anchor store, sits closed and desolate, raising the question whether in the near future the mall will be renewed or sink into further decay. But once inside Twist, the hip, brightly colored decor and the buzz of activity wash all such thoughts from your mind. The storefront, once occupied by Coco's Pizza, has been transformed into an invitingly upbeat space, featuring modern, high-tech ceiling lights, brown Spanish floor tiles, comfortable booths (upholstered in black and gray), and a dramatically painted interior space. A reddish painted wall provides a backdrop to the small bar area located near Twist's rear entrance. The same color accents the white-tiled walls that surround the sizable open kitchen. The ceiling beam, painted a striking purple, adds to the drama. And if that wasn't enough to enliven your senses, to the right of the open kitchen a large, elongated mural, painted by the Hudson artist Joseph Ferm, plays off the same color scheme to abstractly depict scenic images and elements characteristic of the Hudson Valley. This intense display of color helps detract from the mundane activity on the street that's observable through the two large windows that run parallel to the road. The ivory-toned wall opposite the open kitchen is more subdued, simply decorated with three black, framed mirrors, hanging atop light-tan painted rectangular patterns. The orange-tinted pendulum lights situated above the tables add a measure of quiet intimacy. This side of the room provides the dining area with a calmer, more relaxed, ambience and offers some respite from the hotbed of activity going on in the kitchen.

Benjamin Mauk grew up in Minneapolis, spent a few years at Brown University concentrating in Asian studies, but then dropped out to pursue his real passion—cooking. He gained hands-on experience by working in a variety of restaurants in locations as diverse as North Carolina, Santa Fe, and the Pacific Northwest. Mauk's raw talent as a cook became more finely tuned when he pursued formal training at the Culinary Institute of America. He graduated first in his class in two consecutive degree programs and was the recipient of a James Beard Scholarship in 2001 and a prestigious International Association of Culinary Professionals Award in 2002. In August 2003, Mauk was honored by being chosen to cook at the James Beard House in New York City to a sold-out room. Mauk had been cooking at Cripple Creek since 1999, first under David Bruno, who acted as a mentor, and then as the restaurant's executive chef until it closed in January 2004.

Once Mauk and Henneberry decided to go for it, they never looked back. In contrast to the formal elegance of Cripple Creek, their restaurant has a casual, neighborhood ambience with quality food and friendly service. Central to their concept is having an open kitchen. As Mauk puts it: "Cooking is a nurturing act. When you are in a kitchen with closed doors, your diners are a bunch of faceless people. To be able to see exactly whom the food is for and the pleasure they get from eating it changes the whole dynamic of cooking." It is not only the cook who benefits from the open kitchen, but the diners as well. For an aspiring amateur chef or someone interested in the art of cooking, the best seats in the house are on the nine, high purple stools that overlook the work going on in the kitchen.

When diners are seated, they are first offered a dish of cheese twists to nibble on. They're made with puff pastry dough, olive oil, salt and pepper, and Asiago cheese. From the first taste of these light, flavorful, and delectable twists, you begin to anticipate the possibility of a fine meal to come. When Mauk says he wants to create "good food with a twist," he not only means he wants to put his own personal stamp on the food he serves, but also that he wants to take familiar dishes and change them a bit. An example is his version of a Caesar salad. Mauk substitutes the nutty flavor of grated Asiago cheese for the sharp tang of Parmesan and uses crisp tortilla strips instead of croutons.

Even the menu, which changes seasonally, has a twist to it. When diners choose seafood from the regular menu, they can decide how much of a good thing they want. That is, they are offered a choice of quarter-, half-, or one-pound portions of shrimp, steamed littlenecks, steamed cockles, or fried calamari with the price varying accordingly. Steaks come with a twist as well. One has a choice of three types: a 16-ounce Cowboy Steak, a 10-ounce NY strip, or a 10-ounce filet mignon, grilled to your preference, accompanied by your choice from among four starches, five vegetables, and four sauces. In other words, you put your own dish together according to your inclinations and Mauk and his line staff cook and handsomely deliver it to you. The special satisfaction that comes from eating a nicely grilled steak, accompanied by the side dishes you prefer, makes beef lovers feel at home in this restaurant.

Mauk's version of contemporary American cuisine emphasizes multiethnic ingredients and bold, clean flavors. His appetizers include a lobster salad made with papaya, tomato, and enoki mushrooms, drizzled with a champagne vinaigrette and garnished with a red-pepper coulis. The succulent, bite-size pieces of pink and white lobster marry wonderfully with the golden-yellow nuggets and exotic, sweet-tart flavor of the papaya. The natural acidity of the tomatoes balances the dish while the pleasantly mild taste of the white hairpin-shaped enoki add texture and a visual element of interest. Another appetizer, the crab and corn quesadilla accompanied by an avocado and tomato salsa, uses seasonal ingredients that are at the height of their flavor. But in that regard, a Tuscan-inspired rustic Panzanella salad, offered as an appetizer special, made with a variety of heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, and hearty country bread, dressed with an excellent olive oil and wine vinegar, takes the idea of garden freshness to its fullest realization. Mauk also offers as appetizer specials a tuna tartare with sweet bell peppers, sesame oil, and spiced crackers, and duck confit spring rolls with mango ketchup. The latter appetizer, in particular, shows off Mauk's creative talent and his ability to draw on a diversity of culinary styles. The duck confit that fills the spring rolls is a specialty of Gascony, France, while the light, crisp, delicate spring rolls, made of paper-thin pastry wrappers that enfold a savory duck filling, originate in China. The presentation is simple but striking to behold: three small spring rolls stand erect on the plate, which is decoratively dotted in three places by a thick, spicy ketchup exhibiting its brilliant golden-orange mango base.

Twist's signature dishes include seared sea scallops with a lobster cream sauce. Sweet, luscious, creamy pink sea scallops are pan-seared in olive oil to produce a golden brown crust and then seated on a bed of mashed potatoes. A fragrant lobster cream sauce speckled with baby green peas encircles the mashed potatoes, while the thinnest shoestring potatoes are stacked on top of the scallops to provide texture and an architectural lift to this sensuous dish. One evening, entrée specials included a grilled horseradish-marinated swordfish accompanied by a warm cucumber-wakame salad, marinated Japanese eggplant, and miso mustard. Wakame, a seaweed with a delicate texture and flavor, goes especially well with fish and is often added to salads. This Asian-fusion dish plays off the salad ingredients and the purple-skinned, marinated Japanese eggplant slices against the spicy horseradish marinade and miso mustard garnish. It is testimony to Mauk's skill that the many complex flavors that are layered into this dish come together in mouthfuls of harmonious flavor. During the dinner service, Mauk takes personal responsibility for grilling the protein, whether it be fish or meat, and he takes pride in cooking it precisely to the degree of doneness requested. Two people at my table ordered the veal chop special, one asking for it rare and the other medium rare, and in both cases it was perfectly cooked to their preference. In this dish, Mauk places a thick, beautifully glazed, tender veal chop over white truffle mashed potatoes. A medley of crisply cooked summer vegetables with chanterelle mushrooms lie alongside the veal chop, itself topped with a roasted shallot jus.

In addition to all of his other culinary feats, Mauk makes all of Twist's intoxicating desserts. His offerings include a lemon curd placed atop a raspberry sauce, with almond macaroons served on the side. The silky smooth curd, with its bright tangy flavor, partners beautifully with the naturally sweet raspberry sauce. The macaroons, infused with the slightly bitter taste of almond, are crispy on the outside and lightly chewy-sweet on the inside, echoing the play of flavors in the dessert itself. While this dessert provides a light, deliciously refreshing way to finish off a meal, the chocolate chip cookies with Twist's vanilla ice cream are decadent to the core. Mauk makes a chocolate chip cookie with flavors that are deftly balanced and texture that's both soft and crunchy. He uses generous amounts of Callebaut chocolate, made from the highest quality cocoa beans available, which makes all the difference. He serves two of these warmed, oversize cookies with the chips just on the verge of melting. A scoop of homemade, pale-yellow vanilla ice cream wonderfully complements them.

Salads and appetizers average around $8, entrées around $22, and desserts are $5. Henneberry is responsible for selecting the wine list. Her intent is to make accessible to people "something new and different to taste, but something that is also moderately priced." She further points out that the restaurant "offers a lot of wines by the glass because we know that a lot of food lovers like to pair their wine to the dish they are having, and I love to be able to help them do that and introduce them to something they have not had before." Twist's international wine list contains numerous bargains of carefully selected bottles priced in the $20 to $40 range, with a good selection of wines by the glass averaging around $8.

Recommended examples of a white and a red wine, available by the bottle or the glass, that fall on the lower end of this price range are a Viognier, La Violette, Jean-Luc Colombo, Languedoc, France, 2003 ($8/glass, $22/bottle), and a Malbec, Terra Rosa, Laurel Glen Vineyards, Mendoza, Argentina, 2003 ($9/glass/$23 bottle). The Viognier derives from the northern Rhone appellation of Condrieu in southwestern France. It is a fruity wine of medium body with a hint of peach and apricot and a touch of spice. It goes especially well with Asian infusion dishes or any dish with which you would drink a Chardonnay. Malbec, one of the traditional "Bordeaux varietals" with characteristics that fall between a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Merlot, is the major red varietal planted in Argentina. The Malbec offered at Twist has a soft, lush structure with touches of plum and anise flavors. It goes well with beef and other meat dishes.

Don't be deceived by the less-than-desirable location. Twist offers innovative, contemporary American cuisine, skillfully prepared and artfully presented by one of the Hudson Valley's most creative chefs.