Page 20 - Valley Table - Spring 2022

A NEW HUDSON HOT SPOT
With a local, seasonal, and meat-centric approach, cozy Cafe Mutton brings deliciousness to Columbia Street.
BY LIZ SUSMAN KARP
SHAINA LOEW-BANAYAN,
chef and owner of Hudson’s
Cafe Mutton, brings an
impressive pedigree and an impish
sensibility to this charming, sunny
25-seat corner spot. A graduate
of Cornell’s School of Hotel
Administration who has worked
in several high-end kitchens
including Eleven Madison Park (Manhattan), Fish
& Game (Hudson), and the Bartlett House (Ghent), Loew-Banayan has always been fascinated by “more traditional and rustic food,” with a focus on meat. However, the café’s broader focus “is this sort of whole system idea,” explains Loew-Banayan, which involves vegetables and everything in between. This is seen in the café’s scones, made with light buckwheat, “an underappreciated crop.”
Prompted also by an interest in sustainability, Loew- Banayan felt the restaurant’s name was a lighthearted way to express a “focus on things that are a little bit less valued in society. When we know what to do with some more random and lesser-known cuts and meats and older meat like mutton, that’s when we’re making our food system whole.”
Cafe Mutton’s take on using lesser-known cuts of meat has prompted dishes like scrapple and eggs, a tribute to Loew-Banayan’s meat- and scrapple-loving grandfather. Scrapple usually gets a bad rap, but I use “nice, quality pig heads from the best farm around,” says Loew-Banayan. “Still, it’s pretty funny how much people are into this.” The pork is sourced from nearby Kinderhook Farm; produce is from Ironwood and MX Morningstar farms.
Loew-Banayan serves breakfast and lunch, a
daypart she felt was underrepresented in Hudson’s restaurant scene but does offer happy hour and dinner on Fridays (check @cafemutton for the menu). The Poo Driver—the restaurant’s take on a screwdriver featuring prune juice, vodka, and Fernet-Branca—is
a signature drink that’s become a cult classic, and illustrates the playful, quirky vibe Loew-Banayan seeks to encourage. “Our focus is purely on the flavor and making people feel like they came in and had something so good, it brightened their day.”
sick. Fed up with feeling ill and the intolerable side effects from her medicine, Deans decided to take matters into her own hands. After doing research and learning about the gastrointestinal benefits of probiotics, she set out to repopulate her gut with good bacteria in the hopes that
it would help, and it did. Deans first cut out sugar and processed foods from her diet, and soon after, began fermenting fresh vegetables that were grown locally. “I am no longer sick and am constantly wowed by the power
of probiotic microbes,” she says. When the hobby began yielding “too much” fermented foods, she realized that she could turn her passion into a business, thus, Small Town Cultures was born, and by 2021, could be found in health stores across the state, and Whole Foods across the nation. Sold in 12-oz. clear glass jars, Deans’ raw ferments are as pretty as they are flavorful. The Turmeric Kimchi— made from cabbage, carrot, garlic, ginger, cayenne, and
of course, turmeric—is a best-seller, and tastes great on
top of miso bowls, eggs, or in kimchi pancakes. Also
worth trying, the Wild Ramp Kimchi, with cabbage and radishes. Small Town Cultures also ferments Meyer lemons, dilly beans, cardamom beets, and more. Plus, everything on their menu is vegan and free of gluten and GMOs. smalltowncultures.com
WHERE TO BUY: Whole Foods (Chappaqua, Port Chester, White Plains); Tru Food, Nyack; Cold Spring Cheese Shop, Cold Spring; Beacon Natural, Beacon; Julian’s Provisions, Gardiner; Bread Alone (Kingston, Rhinebeck); Breadfolks Bakery, Hudson
KIMCHEE HARVEST
An unassuming farm stand in Roxbury might be the last place you’d expect to find authentic kimchi, but farmer Madalyn Warren and her family are here to defy your expectations. Ever since her first job peeling garlic as a child, Warren has made kimchi with her Korean mother,
Ji Young Kim. In 2016, three years after establishing East Branch Farms in Roxbury, Warren began packaging and selling her Kimchee Harvest, which has become a staple at the farm. Today, the process is still a family affair. “As our mother will teach you, the tasty results in a kimchee come from the hands. You are creating an ecosystem for trillions of beneficial microbes to thrive and these tiny one-celled organisms are sensitive to your deliberate intentions,” says Warren. Sold in 12-oz. jars (and half-gallons for die-hard fans), their kimchi contains onions, scallions, assorted
hot peppers, crushed apples, and honey. Anything not grown at East Branch is sourced from local farms. Try the classic napa cabbage variety, or go for the unique turnip, dandelion, or sunchoke flavors that rotate seasonally. You can also book a class with Kim to create your own. straightoutoftheground.com
WHERE TO BUY: East Branch Farms Farm Stand, Roxbury; Kingston Farmers Market, Kingston; Pakatakan Farmers Market, Halcottsville
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAFE MUTTON
MARCH – MAY 2022
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