Wow! The County is bustling with all kinds of new and exciting venues! A new, luxury hotel is in development on Warren Street in Hudson, NY. Stay tuned for more details. What I know so far is that the same folks who purchased and renovated The Bartlett House in Ghent is creating this luxury hotel. I stopped in to the Bartlett House-kitchen-bakery-cafe and it looks fantastic! They had a ‘soft’ opening last week and I was told they ran out of their house-made breads, scones, croissants and pastries by noon! So you’d better get there early if you want to grab some of those delicacies.

From Ghent I drove through Chatham, and noticed some terrific new food and drink spots. Don’t know the names of all these places, but what was Ralph’s Pretty Good Cafe is now a contemporary and upscale take-out fooderie. I recognized Mado’s pastries as well, you can’t mistake them for any other.

As well, the Peint-O-Brew has changed hands, had some renovations and seems to be a jumping pub!

Moving along to East Chatham on Route 295, what once was The Cottage, is now being renovated and transformed into a cafe by the people who owned The Applewood Restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and also created the fantastic new artisanal cheese shop, Bimi’s on Main Street in Chatham.

Exciting times, and becoming a gourmet’s sanctuary!