West Point recs?

[bavila]

I'll be accompanying my husband on a business trip of his in West Point at the end of June. I plan to visit the CIA campus one day, but otherwise don't have any knowledge of Orange County. Does anyone have recs for restaurants or other sites in the area? We'll also have our 2.5-year-old with us. She's usually pretty well-behaved in restaurants, but we won't be opting for the super high-end romantic dinner for two sort of thing.

Thanks!

[Soup]

can't share much other than it is a big pain to get reservation for dinner at the CIA (from my last three experiences), but man was it worth it everytime.

Soup

[Weissman]

North of the CIA, is the quaint town of Rhinebeck. In Rhinebeck, there are several restaurants such as Le Petite Bistro, Cripple Creek, and a Chinese fusion restaurant in Rhinecliff called China Rose. It serves unusual China Dishes and frozen Saki Margartias, and is located on the Hudson River.

I know that the CIA reservation policy is up to 3 months, for lunch and dinner. The new Italian Colavita Center, has an informal Al Forno dining room that I have heard about. They serve pizzas, antipastas, and stuff like that. They do not take reservations and are open I think lunch time to early evening.

I hope that this has helped somewhat.

Adam

[jsolomon]

I always thought that the chow at the USMA dining hall was pretty decent... unless you were a Plebe. *shudder* I suffered all manner of culinary insults inside the muffins...

[bbq chef]

How about trying Pineapple's Steakhouse just South of West Point on 9W in Ft. Montgomery.

[bavila]

Thanks all, keep 'em coming.

Academy chow tasty? Are all cadets served at once as the mids are (all 4000 of them) at the Naval Academy?

[birder53]

How about Painter's Tavern in Cornwall on Hudson? It is just north of Highland Falls on Rte. 518. I had a very good seafood gumbo there.

[lizard]

Try the village of Cold Spring? Family just had a great Mother's Day brunch there. Lots of shops, cafes and casual-to-elegant restaurants can be found right there on the river across from the academy.

Hudson House, Plumbush Inn & Cathryn's, are consistently highly-rated.

[Liz Johnson]

Also in Cold Spring: Le Bouchon. Delightful.

I've never been, but John Novi's Dupuy Canal House in High Falls is legendary. A cornerstone of "New American" that Craig Clairborne gave 4 stars to for nouvelle cuisine in 1970. This was 35 years ago, but... I've heard good things still.

Edited May 24, 2005 by Liz Johnson (log)

[jsolomon]

Thanks all, keep 'em coming.

Academy chow tasty?  Are all cadets served at once as the mids are (all 4000 of them) at the Naval Academy?

←

Yep. The dining hall is cavernous. Watch out for the muffins. The firsties have a nasty habit of cutting the top off, taking the crumb out, and filling it with travesties, then replacing the top.

[bavila]

Thanks all, keep 'em coming.

Academy chow tasty?  Are all cadets served at once as the mids are (all 4000 of them) at the Naval Academy?

←

Yep. The dining hall is cavernous. Watch out for the muffins. The firsties have a nasty habit of cutting the top off, taking the crumb out, and filling it with travesties, then replacing the top.

←

While cadets scare me no more than mids (which is not at all--dated a ROTC mid in college then married him, so I know all about their foolishness), I think I'll steer clear of the dining hall unless we happen to get invited to an event by the Sup or something.

[bavila]

Refining my request a tad -- we'll be staying at the Dominion House in Blooming Grove so that and West Point will be our center of operations.

Thanks!

[bavila]

I thought I'd add to this thread my own recs after the trip. Because of where we were staying compared to West Point, all of the recs above seemed out of the way. But here's my two cents for anyone who can use them.

Painter's (266 Hudson St. (bet. Ave. A & Idlewild Ave.) Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY

845-534-2109) was the best restaurant we patronized on the trip -- funky, eclectic, yet home-style food. Artwork all over the place. Nice looking bar with comfy stools. I had fried chicken (I think it was a special) and mashed potatoes that had an intriguing coffee gravy served with them. Daughter had a monkey bowl of fruit from the kids menu.

A good find for baked goods (including granola that was baking as I walked in --- heavenly!) and entertaining a toddler for a while was Jones Farm & Country Store (190 Angola Rd Cornwall, NY - (845) 534-4445). The "farm" was basically a 100' long barn and barnyard that housed a smattering of ducks and chickens, two miniature horses, two goats, and a 1000 lb pig who's sort of the mascot of the place. Little ones are encourage to visit the animals but not feed them. Proprietor "Grandma" is happy to show you around and serve up a plate of cookies for a snack.

Bella Luna Ristorante (see review), 2877 Route 94, Blooming Grove, NY (845) 496-3747, was a surprisiningly solid Italian restaurant in a non-descript strip mall. We ate there at least twice and were satisfied all around.

One disappointment was (I think -- can't remember the name, and can't find it on the web) the In and Out Cafe in Washingtonville. One of the worst burgers I've ever had outside of a corporate fast food store. Looked like nothing was truly prepared on site. Should have tried Joey's Cafe across the street.