Nestled between a designer boutique and Swoon Kitchenbar on Warren Street in Hudson sits the former H. W. Rogers Hose Co. firehouse, whose near-150-year-old facade looks mostly unremarkable compared to its newly remodeled, upscale neighbors.
However, that is exactly what chef Robert Finn liked about it: laid back, low maintenance, and full of old-school charm. Since the kitchen had already been set up for dry-aging meats by the previous tenant, American Glory BBQ, he figured it would be the perfect place to open his throwback steakhouse, Saint Florian.
Highlighting the historic, exposed brick walls and original tin-tiled ceilings of the Gilded Age building, minimal decorations keep the barroom modest, nostalgic, and cozy. Sapele wood, high-back booths with soft sconces inspire intimate group conversations, while the bar that spans nearly the entire first-floor lounge invites newcomers to join in on whatever lively discussion is being had by Saint Florian’s handful of already-regular patrons. Open daily at 11am, it’s rapidly become a gathering place since debuting in November. Upstairs, a more high-fashion dining experience is served, with a zinc-top bar and a three-course menu available on Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm to 9pm.
“Hudson has some great coffee shops,” says Finn. “But I wasn’t finding a comfortable place to lounge around for the day and work, or just pound a few Bloody Mary’s at 11am without any judgement.”
Finn’s easygoing demeanor belies his rigorous training, at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, which has graduated some of the most famous chefs in the world, including Bobby Flay, David Chang, and Milk Bar CEO Christina Tosi. While at FCI, he interned with Zak Pelaccio (formerly of Fish and Game in Hudson) at the storied Fatty Crab, best known for bringing Malaysian-inspired cuisine to New York. It was there he learned how to elevate simple American dishes using subtle South Asian flavors and adopted Pelaccio’s tip-to-tail mentality, making sure to use and reuse products to minimize waste and maximize efficiency. After FCI, he spent some time in South America as a beverage director, expanding his palate and adding experience to his resume.
Starting at the Bottom
Finn’s very first job, however, was at a Burger King in his home state of New Jersey. His humble beginnings mixed with his premier culinary education are evident in his modest but meticulously prepared (and exotically seasoned) menu.
Saint Florian’s lounge menu is classic steakhouse fare. There’s sharable, appetizer staples like cocktail shrimp with housemade sauce and lemon ($14). Other sides—thick-cut, house-smoked bacon ($19); a gem Caesar salad ($8/$15); and thick, creamy mac and cheese ($20)—are among some of the familiar dishes that span steakhouse menus from Texas Roadhouse to Peter Luger.
But Saint Florian is not your regular American steakhouse, quietly refusing to fit the stereotype, dancing with the devil in the details. What you won’t see on the menu is that the bacon is cured with palm sugar, Indian coriander, and turmeric—cleverly pairing the heavy fattiness with a light sweetness and spiced undertones. Their Caesar uses Vietnamese nuoc cham in the peppercorn house dressing. There’s also a Yemeni spice mix in their buttermilk vinaigrette and blue cheese dressing, used to top their simple salad ($16) and the chopped wedge salad ($18), respectively. Similarly, the beef stroganoff ($27) is cooked with a standard blend of thyme and rosemary, but finished with chopped mint, dill, and Thai basil, adding some sour notes and a dash of tropical aromatics to a heartier, cold-weather dish.
Upstairs, parties up to eight can reserve a table in advance and have access to the dining room menu, which ranges from individual stuffed clams ($5/piece) to a full 22-ounce ribeye ($78), served with cream horseradish and thyme au jus. They also do a petit, eight-ounce filet ($46) with a foie gras demi-glaze and a 14-ounce strip steak with a peppercorn crust ($47). Classic sides include creamed spinach ($16), scallion and panna potato gratin ($17, and regional Utica greens ($15).
On Mondays, Saint Florian serves prime rib in the lounge with three different sizes available: Molly’s cut, 10 ounces and sliced thin ($46); Sandie’s Cut, a 14-ounce slab ($54); and Donna’s cut, a 20-ounce, thick-cut slice ($72), all paired with a house salad dressed in a red wine vinaigrette. The rib is seasoned with peppercorns from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, another nod to Pelaccio’s influence on Finn’s palette. (Saint Florian has sold out of prime rib every Monday since opening in mid-November.)
Not Your Grandma’s Phonebook
“There’s nothing I’ve come to groan more about than a menu that reads like the yellow pages,” says Finn. “My whole thing is, ‘What is our lane and how do we stay in it?’ Our lane here is classical food, with a hint of Americana and a hint of vintage, but my French training will always lean back to that technical pool of utility.”
Much like their dishes, their cocktails and wine list are simple, short, with colorful pops of foreign flavors. Saint Florian’s take on an old fashioned, Campfire ($15), mixes rye with mandarin orange, smoked cinnamon honey, and rhubarb. The Vespertine (cousin to Bond’s vesper), is a martini made with gin and vodka, featuring muddled bergamot and Lillet to soften the bite of the spirits and complement the light, floral notes of the gin ($16).
Unlike their plates and cocktails, which both draw inspiration from global spices and flavors, Saint Florian’s wine list features European and West Coast makers. By the glass, a half-dozen wines are rotated frequently based on season and inventory. Currently, they are pouring Chateau de Grandchamp, a red wine from Saint-Emilion ($15), as well as Heinrich “Naked” Orange, a natural orange wine from Austria ($14).
Saint Florian’s bottle list contains mostly minimal intervention wines, ranging from The Marigny’s Pinot Noir super deluxe ‘22 from Oregon ($65) and Meinklang’s Weisser Mulatschak ‘23, an Austrian natural wine with a mineral finish ($59), Domaine du Pelican’s Trousseau Beranger ‘22, a red wine from the France’s Jura region ($192), and Frank Cornellisen’s “Mujabel” Bianco ‘22, a white wine with undertones of lemon zest and black olives from Sicily ($109).
Decades before Finn and his business partner, Carmen Nero, broke ground on the firehouse in May, Nero, who grew up in Hudson, was a firefighter for H. W. Rogers Hose Co in the 1970s. Firefighting is a family tradition for the Neros: Carmen’s grandfather and all six of his great uncles were firefighters at H. W. Rogers Hose Co after they immigrated from Italy in the 1930s. Saint Florian, the patron saint of fire fighters, is also the patron saint of Finn’s ancestral hometown of Kolno, Poland.
“Everything has been kismet-y,” says Finn.
Saint Florian’s lounge is open daily 11am to 11pm, seven days a week, which includes a brunch-style menu served from 11am to 3pm daily. The dining room is open Friday and Saturday from 5-9pm.
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This article appears in January 2025.
My husband has a gluten allergy. When we dined at St Florian, he ordered a hamburger and asked to leave off the bun. Chef refused. The manager offered drinks to address the obvious awkwardness. We loved what we ate, but for a restaurant intending to be a neighborhood joint without fuss, this was an awfully fussy experience.