Aster Bar & Restaurant
132 Lindsley Avenue, Kingston
The mansion gets a French steakhouse menu. Opened on October 29, Aster is the third restaurant concept to occupy the former Cordts Mansion at Hutton Brickyards in Kingston. Executive chef Edward Harder, whose resume includes Wildflower Farms and The Abbey Inn & Spa, combines French technique with Italian and Asian influences. Dinner brings duck mousse pâté ($19), tempura delicata squash ($16), duck confit ($41), and braised short rib ($42). The lounge offers mushroom croquettes ($16), gougères ($14), and a prime burger ($24). Sunday brunch adds caramelized apple brioche French toast ($22). Aster takes the seasonal baton from the property’s open-air River Pavilion.
Good Friend Cafe & Market
4075 Route 28A, West Shokan
Texas transplants Marta and Jeremy Baumann have brought biscuits to the former Marty’s Mercantile, reopening the century-old country store as Good Friend in July. Jeremy runs the kitchen, where biscuits come blanketed in sausage gravy ($8) or chicken pot pie filling ($10.50). Housemade English muffins anchor egg-and-cheese sandwiches ($8), while lunch includes a BLT ($6.50) and caprese baguette ($7.75). Cinnamon rolls ($6.50) make a persuasive case for ignoring fullness. The market stocks milk, eggs, and pantry staples; Buddy’s Snack Shack on the front porch supplies candy, chips, and ice cream. Come for breakfast, leave with provisions—and possibly another biscuit.
Ellie
523 Warren Street, Hudson
Ellie takes over the former Oak Pizzeria Napoletana, keeping its wood-fired oven and putting it to work on an eastern Mediterranean menu. Half chicken ($25) comes with chamomile honey and lemons; lahmacun ($18) tops thin Levantine flatbread with spicy lamb. Start with muhammara ($12), blending roasted peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate molasses, or giginates ($12), big beans in herby tomato sauce. Kebabs arrive over rice pilaf, including yogurt-marinated chicken ($24) with tzatziki and green zhoug, and lentil kofte ($22) with trumpet royale mushrooms and Japanese eggplant. A Coney burger ($17) makes a detour through chili, cheddar, white onion, and special sauce.
Cold Spring Social
69 Main Street, Cold Spring
A cocktail and a hot dog: dinner needn’t be complicated. Formerly Barber and Brew, Cold Spring Social pairs a full bar with franks dressed for several occasions. The Classic ($5) keeps to ketchup, mustard, and cornichons; Kimchi Please ($7) adds kimchi, chipotle mayo, and everything seasoning. The Carolina ($7) wears homemade pimiento cheese and chives, while the Greek ($7) piles on tomato, cucumber, onion, kalamata olives, feta, and tzatziki. Cocktails ($15) include a ghost pepper maple margarita and a Lambrusco spritz with amaro and grapefruit. Hudson Valley craft beers rotate through the taps; a Lone Star and shot combo ($12) keeps things straightforward.
Loba
6033 Main Street, Tannersville
Mezze and handmade pasta share the table at Loba, where the menu travels from the eastern Mediterranean to the Italian Sunday supper. Start with smoky baba ganoush, walnut muhammara, or beef-and-lamb kefta with harissa tomato sauce and whipped labneh. Pastas include pappardelle Bolognese and bucatini alla Lobster Newburg, combining Maine lobster and shrimp with cognac cream and tarragon. Chicken cacciatore comes with peppers, olives, and polenta; braised short rib gets tomato-olive barley risotto and gremolata. Even the ricotta brings some heat: sheep’s-milk cheese meets grilled peaches, rosemary, and spicy ’nduja. A three-dip mezze platter comes with warm flatbread for sharing.
This article appears in November 2026.
