Page 20 - Valley Table - Fall 2022

All In the Family
Italian general store meets Jewish delicatessen in the center of Kingston’s historic district.
BY LINDA RODGERS
IT’S HARD NOT TO BE
blown away by the sandwiches at Rosie General. There are breakfast versions and afternoon options, all made with bread and bagels that are baked daily, and spiced up
with pickles, mayonnaise, and other homemade condiments. There are also delicious fresh baked cookies and cakes for dessert—so many in fact that it’s hard to choose.
But that’s not all you’ll find at Kingston’s Rosie General. Browse the shelves, and you’ll discover candies (including pink sour pigs, Mallo Cups, lemon sours, and watermelon coconut
slices—a family favorite!) among those homemade pickles, marinated peppers, and pearled olives, plus condiments like spicy mayo. There’s also local pasta and cheeses, and baskets full of local produce. You can even find a shelf devoted to sundries, like confectioner’s sugar and cleaning products.
The best way to think of this spot is corner Italian grocery store meets Jewish deli, with a bit of a Brooklyn vibe tossed in the mix. The restaurant is run by the Sasso family—Anthony, who is the chef, bread baker, and maker of condiments and pickles; sister Nicole, who bakes
the cookies and other sweets; and sisters Andrea and Ashley, whom you’ll find behind the counter. The siblings grew up in the hamlet of Glasco, though Anthony and Nicole spent many years working in restaurants in Manhattan before moving back to the Hudson Valley.
Rosie General, which opened in mid- May, sits on the corner of Broadway and Abeel in the heart of historic Kingston. Formerly the site of Skillypot Antiques, the store has morphed into an eatery that
features big picture windows, a marble counter, banquettes made from old floorboards, and second-hand fixtures and dishware scored from various spots around the valley, including Red Hook and New Paltz. The entire family— including their parents, husbands, and boyfriends—worked on the renovation.
The inspiration behind the restaurant came from a road trip that Anthony took from NYC to Los Angeles three years ago to open a restaurant out there. That project fell through, but along the way he learned how to bake bread at Gjusta, a bakery and café in Venice, California. “Something just clicked. I fell in love with it, and I knew I wanted to do a bakery. I really just liked the hands on feeling of it,” he recalls.
Another source of inspo? Stopping at various roadside stores across
the country.
“They have a little bit of everything— toys for kids, fishing bait, groceries, sandwiches, prepared food, soups. I loved that,” he explains. Once he was back in the Hudson Valley, Anthony
18 THE VALLEY TABLE
SEPT – OCT 2022
PHOTOS BY ALLISON SHIPPER