Someone recently asked me what the best restaurant in the Hudson Valley was, and I blurted out “Casa Susanna” without thinking. A stomach-jerk reaction. Efren Hernandez, who was recently nominated for a James Beard award for Best Chef for the second year running, is consistently plating some of the region’s most interesting and delicious food at what might be the best Mexican restaurant in the state. It’s no surprise, then, that Hernandez is teaming up with Chef Jocelyn Ueng, a Noma vet, for two nights of wild culinary invention. (Tickets are $125 per person.)
On April 1 and 2, Casa Susanna becomes the site of a rare and refined convergence: two chefs from vastly different culinary lineages co-authoring a six-course tasting menu that finds harmony in contrast and resonance in the details. Hernandez, whose modern Mexican dishes have earned national attention, joins forces with Jocelyn Ueng, a Taiwanese-Chinese American chef whose resumé reads like a gastronomic fantasy tour—Noma, The French Laundry, Satoyama Jujo. Ueng’s approach is rooted in micro-seasonality, fermentation, preservation, and a globe-spanning curiosity honed over travels to more than 45 countries. She’s currently developing her own restaurant, slated to open in 2026.
The dishes for this two-night-only menu read like a fever dream from the collective subconscious of two chefs who think in ecosystems and cook in dialects. Cold-smoked chicken is paired with roasted kelp-braised peanuts and a Nashi pear tibicos crudo—a dish that manages to sound both ancient and futuristic. Confit leeks arrive in a bath of sweet aromatic soy sauce, a minimalist gesture that’s likely to deliver maximal umami.
There are braised napa cabbage dumplings stuffed with wild mushrooms and okara, glossed in koji butter—a plant-based powerhouse that still feels deeply indulgent. A masa scallion pancake topped with beef tongue and chintextle XO is a tightrope walk between Oaxaca and Taipei, with a dash of Copenhagen funk for good measure. And there’s Hudson Valley duck, nestled in congee with lacto-fermented choy rabe and grilled alliums: a bowl that hums with slow-cooked comfort and high-concept precision.
Ueng’s cooking is informed by a layered culinary inheritance—family recipes, fermentation techniques passed down through generations, and a near-religious reverence for nature’s rhythms. Hernandez brings his own deep knowledge of Mexican culinary traditions and a fearless instinct for reimagining them. Together, they’re not just presenting a dinner—they’re offering a meditation on migration, memory, and the edible possibilities of place.
This isn’t just a guest chef popping in for a quick flex. It’s a collaboration, a communion, a call-and-response between two chefs who understand that food isn’t just nourishment or art—it’s language. And for two nights in Leeds, that language will be spoken fluently, course by course.
[eventarchive-1]
Related Stories
These 3 Hudson Valley Chefs are 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalists
This article appears in March 2025.
