Instead of driving to detour-worthy food this weekend, let the Michelin star come to you. Chef Jeremiah Stone, of acclaimed, neighboring LES restaurants Contra and Wildair, will be taking over the kitchen at Inness in Accord for one night only, tomorrow, Saturday, July 30.
Under the direction of New York City tastemaker, restaurateur, and hotelier Taavo Somer (also of the Kinsley), Inness opened last summer in the former location of the Rondout Golf Club. As you might expect from the man the New York Times dubbed “the high priest of heritage chic,” who was partially responsible for pioneering the sartorial lumberjack look of New York’s fashionable set, the reimagined country club manages to seamlessly integrate rustic and polished aesthetics in everything from its rooms (woodstoves and linen duvets) to the grounds (wild and manicured) to the food.
On a normal weekend, the kitchen at Inness serves up seasonal, locally sourced, wood-fired fare prepared on outdoor smokers and grills in a chic, modern environment, amidst blonde wood, towering plants, and vintage rugs. This Saturday’s menu will be a bit different.
Chef Jeremiah Stone worked at the International Culinary Center and now-closed restaurants Rino in Paris and Isa in Brooklyn before dedicating himself to creating a distinctly New York style of cooking at his own places. When awarding Contra two stars in 2014, the New York Times called Stone and his kitchen partner Fabian von Hauske’s culinary style “a personal, understated, modern approach to deeply seasonal cooking.” (Two years later, this approach earned Stone the Michelin star and recognition as Eater’s “best new chef”.)
That style will be on display with gusto at Inness this weekend as Chef Stone prepares a height-of-summer a la carte menu featuring five starters and three mains. For something light and fresh try the lettuce dish served with Japanese cucumber and yuzu-tahini dressing ($19) or the Favorita Cherry tomato app, served with sea beans, feta, and pumpkin seeds ($18). Meat eaters hark, the charred romano bean dish features blood sausage crumble and breadcrumbs ($25). Or dip into the sea with the scallop starter, served with guajillo, cherry, and edible nasturtium blossoms ($25). And while you're at it, might as well order flatbread for the table. Not overly adorned, the lavash comes with comte cheese, butter, and radishes ($21).
The mains don’t offer any vegetarian options, though pescatarians can spring for the Skull Island prawns au poivre, served with preserved lemon and fennel ($33). The chicken from chefs’ favorite Snowdance Farm is served with maitake and stilton bread pudding ($36). But the piece de resistance is the beef short rib, offered here with black olive and hakurei turnips ($42).
Saturday night dinner service will run from 5 to 10pm (reservations recommended). You can’t go wrong if you eat outside on the porch or in the courtyard, but event the dining room boasts western-facing windows, the dining room at Inness offers sunset views of the golf course and the Catskill Mountains beyond.
