Page 22 - Valley Table - Summer 2023

The vintage chairs at INNESS' restaurant are from a church in Belgium.
❚ WILDFLOWER FARMS Gardiner \ aubergeresorts.com/ wildflower-farms
Part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, rustically elegant and high-end Wildflower Farms has
65 freestanding cabins, cottages, and suites all with in-bed views are furnished for couples and families with warm woods, earth tones, and A-grade amenities. Local seasonality is the byword at Clay, the New American restaurant and bar named for an appreciation of the clay-rich soil that produces
the area’s food. The frequently changing menu features 15 kinds of cherry tomatoes and six varieties of chicories and bitter lettuces along with a host of other produce all grown on the onsite farm.
Snag the table abutting the open kitchen where you can chat with
the chef and order the farm salad, which can include some of those chicories, two kinds of Salanova lettuce, Tokyo turnips, and pea shoots from the farm. Summer dishes will also feature garlic scapes and three varieties of Asian eggplant. An umami, dry-aged porterhouse
at dinner serves two to three. At
Wildflower Farms was named one of the 100 best new hotels by Travel+ Leisure.
❚ INNESS
Accord \ inness.co
Spectacularly situated on 220 acres, Inness—named for Hudson River School painter George Inness—takes its cue from the landscape. There’s
a nine-hole King Collins-designed golf course, saltwater pools, 60 acres of hiking trails, a tennis court, kids programs, and a farm store on site.
Spearheaded by veteran NYC
and local restaurateur Taavo
Somer (who founded Lola Pizza in Kingston), the retreat and its well- appointed accommodations in the farmhouse and standalone cabins
are sophisticated and stylishly minimal, complete with amenities like Frette robes. The seasonal dining here centers around a wood-fired oven, which turns out much of the food including a top-notch roasted Snowdance Farms chicken with carrots, and roasted rapini with brown butter, lemon, and rosemary. Burgers and fish are cooked a la plancha.
For breakfast, enjoy à la carte options like a Dutch baby or grain bowl in the property’s open kitchen restaurant. Inness plans to expand
its organic garden and orchard this summer. Look for menu items such as ember-roasted leeks with chardonnay vinegar and lemon zest, wild striped bass with fennel and Fresno chiles, and coconut panna cotta with lime granita for dessert. The unique Sunset Valley cocktail incorporates mezcal, Campari, and persimmon; natural wines, local beer, and cider round out the bar program. Inness even offers cooking classes in the farmhouse kitchen, like a kimbap lesson taught by local Chef Michelle Chiu (of Eat Two Five, an Asian pop-up). Activities: Berry-picking at Saunderskill Farms, watching car racing at the Accord Speedway, shows at nearby Rosendale Theatre, or antiquing on Main Street.
28 TheValleyTable | June—August2023
PHOTOS (LEFT) BY CHRISTIAN HARDER