Growing up in the Hudson Valley, the holidays have a certain feeling for me that I haven’t found in other regions of the country. The changing color of the leaves and the cold crisp air filling your lungs. A beautiful coating of white powder and a hot cup of cocoa on a peaceful morning.
I moved to New York City. For me the holidays there meant a ride down to Arthur Avenue or to Manhattan to collect the goodies for special days. Christmas in my house was a spread of bites from Zabar’s and meats and cheeses from Teitle Brothers. Though we weren’t Jewish, there was plenty of white fish salad, lox and chicken livers to go around.
Now that I’m back in the Hudson Valley, I’m always looking for items with an over-the-top je ne sais quoi about them, something out of the norm which takes my guests – and would take yours – by surprise. I’ve found plenty to choose from. I’ve compiled a list of dishes and food in nine of my favorite foodie places that will grace my table this holiday season. You will find them as intriguing as I do!
Little Rye Bakehouse
588 Broadway
Kingston
https ://www.littlerye.com/
FrankenPie
Can’t decide on what dessert to bring to the family gathering? Why not bring all the desserts? Frankenpie is made of eight different slices. There will be something for everyone. How does one slice of salted maple, cranberry almond chess, maple pumpkin, dark chocolate caramel, browned butter pecan, and huckleberry apple custard crumble in an all-butter crust sound? You will surely be the talk of the party when you show up with this dessert.
Little Rye Bakehouse started in 2021 as a solo project selling only at a few farmers’ markets around the Hudson Valley. Opening their small brick-and-mortar bakery in Kingston made them the little rye on the block (that’s intended as a wry pun). Everything Little Rye Bakehouse bakes is hand-rolled, carefully crafted with local ingredients, and made from scratch in small batches.
For bonus points on Christmas morning, pick up a half-dozen of their extremely light and flaky morning buns. You won’t be disappointed.
Helena Specialty Pierogies
5754 Route 209
Kerhonkson
845-626-2958
Thanksgiving Pierogies
Pierogies are a staple of Polish Christmas Eve dinner and are often the favorite dish of the twelve courses served.
Never heard of pierogies? They’re unleavened dumplings that are filled, boiled, or fried and then served with butter or sour cream. They can be made with a variety of fillings, such as sauerkraut, cheese or potato.
Pierogies are also a special part of other Eastern European cultural celebrations and family gatherings. Often made at home by the whole family, these delightfully pillowy dumplings are a staple of my household, so when I got news of a Thanksgiving variety I instantly made the drive out to Kerhonkson.
Filled to the brim with turkey, stuffing, cranberry, corn and mashed potatoes, these pierogies are a sure hit, tasting like doughy turkey-pot-pie dumplings. You can even taste the crust on top.
Helena’s Specialty Pierogies is run by Anna Samko and her daughter Alena. It turns out that Helena’s is named for Anna’s mother-in-law. For the holidays, Alena makes a caramel apple pie variety that I suggest you serve with ice cream.
These are not the kind of pierogies found frozen in the grocery store. If you were raised in an Ukrainian or Polish household and remember the pierogies your grandma made, though, these are those.
Half Moon Rondout Café
83 Broadway
Kingston
845-481-5419
Chocolate Babka
Chocolate babka was a staple on my childhood Christmas mornings. My father would pick up a loaf of Green’s from Zabar’s and often would use the chocolate babka to make French toast (It is life-changing, try it yourself). Green’s is hard to find in the Hudson Valley, so the next best thing (maybe better) is the babka from Half Moon Rondout Cafe.
Co-owner J.T. Pinna was a student at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow studying Russian language culture and – apparently — baked goods. Half Moon Rondout Cafe offers the best chocolate babka you have ever laid your lips on. They also fry hot made-to-order doughnuts.
Once you meet owners Kaira Tiegen and J.T. Pinna, you’ll quickly realize why their cafe has won many awards for their baked goods and coffee.
The babka is prepared with as much love as chocolate. The crunchy. flaky outside crust gives way to a moist inside, where you are immediately hit with dark chocolate. Babka is traditionally and best eaten at breakfast with a cup of coffee.
And don’t miss out on the hot made-to-order doughnuts while you are picking up your chocolate or cinnamon babka. You can find these loaves at their cafe on the Rondout or at Adams Fairacre Farms in the Town of Ulster.
Krause’s Chocolates
41 South Partition Street
Saugerties
845-246-8377
Chocolate-Dipped Peeps
Hand-dipped and genuinely delicious since 1929, Krause’s Chocolates has been voted the Hudson Valley’s best chocolate and candy store for many years. Using family recipes that have stood the test of time and traditional techniques that create unique confections, Krause’s has been tempering our taste buds for over four generations. It has stores in Saugerties, Rhinebeck and New Paltz.
Every year, it is a must, filling our stockings with chocolate-dipped marshmallows and almond bark. The marshmallows come in gingerbread, snowman, reindeer, Christmas trees or Santa varieties. It wouldn’t be a Christmas morning without seeing cute little heads peeking out of all the stockings.
For the more sophisticated chocolate consumers in our family, the almond bark and chocolate peanut-butter cups are a tradition of more than three decades.
You’ll be able to find all your holiday confectionary needs at Krause’s. If you have been naughty this year, Krause’s has you covered. You can load up that stocking with some chocolate coal.
Terri’s Market & Deli
56 Emerson Street
Kingston
845-338-5152
Thanksgiving Sandwich
Terri’s, nestled in the middle of a residential neighborhood, has been a Kingston institution for many generations. Mostly known for its house-made roast-beef special with horseradish sauce, it offers a full-service deli counter.
You can find a supply of pantry items, soups, fresh salads, rotating hot entrees, beverages, and pastries if you need them in a pinch. You can get your Thanksgiving leftover fix any day of the week.
Indulging in the glorious day-old turkey and gravy is half the reason we make the feast every year anyway, right? Terri’s makes a Thanksgiving sub which combines house-made turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and cranberry mayo on a Deising’s seeded roll. Always add bacon and cheese to take your feast to the next level, teleporting you right back to grabbing the leftovers out of the fridge and taking an afternoon nap on the couch.
Lagusta’s Luscious
25 North Front Street
New Paltz
845-633-8615
Chocolate Bark
Did you ever think you could eat art? The beauty of Lagusta Yearwood’s chocolates goes without saying. But how does it taste? Located on North Front Street in New Paltz, this little gem of an establishment serves handmade vegan chocolates in ways which you wouldn’t think possible. One of my Halloween favorites is the full-sized anatomically correct chocolate skull.
Lagusta’s bark, which comes in seasonal flavors and patterns, is sure to be a well-received gift idea. Freeze-dried fruits and flowers adorn the bars with artistic expression. They’re so beautiful they could be displayed instead of eaten.
This pick is my best emergency-gift idea. Just buy one — and try to keep your own hands off it.
Lagusta’s also offers a selection of organic free-trade gourmet caramels, bars and truffles. This cute little chocolate shop is a great spot to grab a coffee and indulge yourself before you head home.
The Meltaway Bakery
3189 Route 9W
Saugerties
845-247-3944
Meltaway
The specialty of the house! A delicious combination of cinnamon, icing and crumbs make their namesake coffee cake a must-try. Meltaways is legendary in Saugerties. Just ask your grandmother about it, and I’m sure you’ll hear about the pastry cases of Lachmann’s.
When the German baker decided to retire after 60 years, he passed the torch to his employee, Drew Piniero. Hearing the call from the community, Drew brought back a bunch of Lachmann recipes – to much acclaim. A Meltaway always has a place at my table during the holidays. It will blow your taste buds off. A danish as big as a hubcap is great for sharing any day of the year.
Their cases are loaded with eclairs, cookies, cupcakes and danishes. I always grab a six-pack of butter buns for a less sweet treat, so I have something a little more healthy after the meltaway is gone.
Provisions Takeout & Catering
4125 Route 28
Boiceville
https://provisionswoodstock.com
845-546-3354
Hanukkah Nosh
I did grow up loving all types of food. Hanging around in New York City, one might not realize how many of the most iconic New York staples have their roots in Jewish tradition. The mid-Hudson Valley, alas, is for the most part a Jewish deli desert. To get your fix often, you have to travel south to Rockland or Sullivan counties.
So when you find a good connection in Ulster, you’ve got to keep going back.
Provisions started as a 400-square-foot shop on Tinker Street in Woodstock, providing hungry locals and tourists with over-the-top-delicious sandwiches.
Every ingredient was made in-house from their house-cured smoked pastrami to their fresh-baked focaccia bread on which their sandwiches were served. The attention to detail, from breaking down whole animals in-house to making their own mozzarella daily, was mind-blowing. Childhood friends Emily Sherry (former COO of Fleisher’s Meats) and Anthony Heaney (formerly of Bread Alone) made a team that certainly knew their way around a sandwich.
When Hanukkah rolls around, I put my trust in Emily and Anthony to make sure i’m loaded up with all the traditional dishes. Trays of brisket and kugel fill my kitchen counters, and quarts of matzo-ball soup sit in my fridge. There won’t be a plate without a latke or scoop of kasha varnishkes over the twelve days this year. I might not be Jewish, but I certainly never said no to a whitefish salad.
Since Covid, Provisions has focused on its catering business, with a weekly rotating menu of items by the tray for takeaway. Provisions offers catering all year and is open for in-person dining. The Hanukkah dishes are all riffs on Emily’s grandmother’s recipes, except for the latkes, which are 100 percent like Anthony’s bubbe made.
Smoke House of the Catskills
724 Route 212
Saugerties
845-246-8767
Wursts and Leberkäse
As a child, I grew up literally walking to the Veteran Pork Store. The Austrian Smokehouse operated for five decades before brothers Bill and Peter Muellner hung up their aprons.
In 2001, Mike and Heidi Ferraro took over Saugerties’ famous Veteran Pork Store and changed its name to the Smoke House of the Catskills. They continued the traditional German butcher shop’s recipes and shelves full of European goodies.
As soon as the door opens, the aroma from the cases stacked with cured meats and cheeses hits you. The Smoke House is a hidden gem. For those in the know, it’s the go-to for all holiday roasts, hams, turkeys and meats. For me, it’s the traditional Austrian leberkäse and a selection of liverwursts that you can’t find anywhere else.
Leberkäse literally translates to liver-cheese and is basically a mild German bologna. Traditionally cut thick and served with mustard on a roll, it is a staple of Bavarian culture. Leberkäse is served on almost every street corner in Germany and Austria. I made sure to have my fair share of it while traveling there last summer.
Do yourself a favor and seek out this small family-run business while it’s still around. It plans to close at the end of this year.
You’ll be glad you did visit. Make sure to grab a piece of German candy for the little ones when you check out — and maybe some double-smoked bacon ends.
Join the family! 
