Stissing House opened last night. (Or I should say, reopened: the Pine Plains landmark has a long and storied history.) The revived restaurant is the first solo restaurant project of chef Clare de Boer, an alum of London's River Cafe (along with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, April Bloomfield, and Jamie Oliver, among others revered chefs) who opened the Michelin-starred King in the West Village with fellow Brit Jess Shadbolt and Annie Shi in 2017.
Pete Wells, in his two-star review of King in the New York Times that same year, raved about the restaurant's deceptively simple food: "What Ms. de Boer and Ms. Shadbolt offer is not a wild vision of new ways to cook but a solid vision of how to eat. They put pleasure at the table above gymnastics on the plate."
While your humble culinary servant was unable to secure a spot at Stissing House on opening night (yes, I did inform the publicist of who I am—to no avail), I was provided with a copy of the menu from opening night. Like the decor of the historic building itself, the dishes—on paper, at least—are sturdy and understated. The first group of dishes includes fin de la Baie oysters from New Brunswyck ($3.50), and a number of enigmatic morsels like Pickles ($5), Quince-glazed ham ($9), and Jake's Gouda ($8).
The rest of the menu items can be seen in the list below. A reservation has been secured for next week, so stay tuned to see if the de Boer's food lives up to its billing.
