After months of speculation about what sort of establishment would replace Neko Sushi in the iconic building at the corner of Main and North Chestnut Street that once housed the fabled Homestead tavern, Paltzonians now have a spiffy new place to eat: Lola’s Café. It’s the offspring of a very popular venue on Washington Street in Poughkeepsie that’s open for lunch only, its kitchen converting to a catering hub in the evenings. “Fast casual” is the industry term usually applied these days to the style of dining on offer: a place for a quick, unfussy meal that’s more than a couple of steps up the culinary ladder from fast-food chain restaurants — not to mention quite a bit healthier.
Lola’s Café New Paltz — which will be open evenings, unlike its parent eatery — had its “soft opening” on Monday, July 10. All week was “pleasantly busy” despite the lack of advertising, says Edward Kowalski, who co-owns both businesses (along with Poughkeepsie’s fine-dining establishment Crave) along with his wife Laurie. He credits their immediate success with the “prime location,” in a much-loved, highly visible building at the downtown crossroads of New Paltz that also has the rare amenity of a sidewalk café area. “We’ve been serving about 350 people a day so far.”
“We brought three people over, a chef and two front-of-house people” from his Poughkeepsie staff, Kowalski says, and hired locals for the other positions. “We wanted to get the basics down right.” While Lola’s in Poughkeepsie doesn’t serve beer or wine, the New Paltz edition will. “Wine is a big deal for me,” says the Culinary Institute of America graduate. Crave just won a Wine Spectator award, and he’s looking forward to supplying “funky, boutiquey wines” at affordable prices to match the casual atmosphere of the New Paltz restaurant.
Details like hours are still being tweaked, but to start, Lola’s Café will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. The menu is posted on the website at www.lolascafeandcatering.com/location/lolas-new-paltz. Wraps, sandwiches, bowls, panini and salads dominate the selections, with five blackboard specials daily. You place your order at the front counter and prepay; your meal is then brought to your table. There’s even a downloadable app that you can use to preorder on your smartphone and have your takeout order ready for pickup.
Kowalski reports that most of the changes in the menu from the Lola’s across the river were predicated on the expectation that New Paltz diners would want a broader selection of vegetarian and vegan options. “The biggest shock to me is that we’re selling so much meat,” he says, with the Lola’s Burger and the Short Rib Grilled Cheese among the most popular items so far.
This correspondent can recommend the South Beach Salad: a sprightly jumble of sautéed shrimp, mandarin orange sections, dried cranberries, cherry tomato wedges, cucumber slices, fine slivers of red onions, feta cheese and toasted almonds, served over mixed greens with a fresh herb vinaigrette. My lunch companion enjoyed the Turkey & Brie Panini, consisting of whole-grain ciabatta topped with a mound of roasted turkey breast, a drizzle of melted brie, blackberry compote and baby greens. Service was quick, efficient, attentive and friendly.
Extensive renovations to the building’s interior mean that you won’t mistake it for a sushi bar anymore. “We pretty much had to redo the entire thing, except the floors,” Kowalski says. He described the new décor as “a little retro,” combining urban industrial and rustic country elements. The color scheme is mostly shades of grey, with Dieselpunk-style light fixtures and walls covered halfway up with ribbed steel roofing instead of wooden wainscoting. The atmosphere is hip and youthful, likely to appeal to SUNY New Paltz students when they return in September.
Meanwhile, year-rounders and weekenders are checking the place out and giving it enthusiastic thumbs-up. “I’m thrilled to be here,” Kowalski says. “I wish I had done it earlier…. It’s a really cool community.”
Join the family! 
