No, “upstate” is not a euphemism for crazy; I actually traveled upstate, to the beautiful Hudson River Valley over the weekend. I had asked Mother Nature to give us warm weather and spring flowers, but she declined my request, giving us barren trees and cold rain instead. Still, we had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed our long drives through this pretty country.
After arriving at our B&B in Cornwall, NY on Friday evening, we ignored our host’s local suggestions for dinner (old-school with uninteresting menus, all) and instead opted for a 15-minute drive to the charming-sounding hamlet of Newburgh, to a newly opened restaurant called The Wherehouse [sic], which we had seen advertised in a local magazine. Actually, Newburgh is neither a hamlet nor charming. It is a sort of shabby little town that seems a bit down on it luck. But there has been a concerted effort at reviving the historic downtown area there, and part of that revival is the opening of the Wherehouse. We were surprised to find the restaurant was almost directly across the street from George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War! (Ok, GW had a lot of HQs, but this was the main one.) We hesitated when we saw only one couple eating there, but, well, there weren’t many other options nearby, so we just went for it.
The interior is beautiful: a large room with wood-paneled walls and a gorgeous old wood bar lining one wall look as if they must have been restored original amenities. The restaurant has no liquor license, I assume because it just opened two months ago. The restaurant advertises their cuisine as “cosmic comfort food,” and indeed, the menu was sort of all over the place, which worried me. Fried stuff, BBQ, salads (all variation on the Ceasar), and Indian (!?) food. The waiter was gregarious, but not in an over-the-top, annoying way. He boasted that the BBQ was really good, the meat smoked right here in their basement. Gulp. Basement-smoked meats, huh? How could we resist? The hubs ordered a Caesar salad to start and BBQ pork sandwich, and I ordered samosas (yep!) and an Indian-ish chick pea dish.
The salad was huge. The flavor was good, but the greens were a but heavily dressed, and the croutons were not fresh. The samosas were surprisingly tasty! Perfectly seasoned and perfectly fried. The thick tamarind sauce they were served with was yummy, too. The waiter came by and offered to wrap up our starters to go, which I thought was funny. When we said no, he gave us a theatrically dejected, hound-dog face. We began to wonder if he was an amateur actor (or perhaps a Revolutionary War reenactor?).
The chick pea stew was less of a success than the samosas, unfortunately. A sour/tart flavor predominated, without any savory/salty or sweet to balance it out. I added a couple spoonfuls of the tamarind sauce, which helped a bit. The chick peas were served over brown rice with a side of ciabatta with a pesto schmear. Weird, yes, but I wasn’t complaining. The bread was good. Also quite good was the pulled pork sandwich. It was juicy enough to drip sauce all over the place, but not so juicy as to soggify the bread. It was very flavorful, though perhaps lacking a bit in strong BBQ sauce flavor. But overall, tender and tasty. I guess shouldn’t have knocked basement smoking. It came with a side of coleslaw, which at most places was is a throwaway, but here really fresh and delicious.
I was prepared to refuse dessert, but the Hubs couldn’t resist the cheesecake kebabs. Yes, kebabs. I wasn’t as enthusiastic. I am not a huge fan of cheesecake in general, and I didn’t see how putting it on a stick would make it any more pleasurable for me. Well, what appeared before us was a shock and surprise. The dish consisted of two skewers of deep-fried cheesecake cubes resting in a bed of caramel-drizzled whipped cream. They were like cheesecake doughnuts! Crazy! If you like cheesecake and love doughnuts, this is the dessert for you. I happen not to be a huge fan of either (I don’t dislike either, but I’d rather spend the calories on a scoop of good ice cream), so the dessert was just ok for me. But the Hubs was very pleased. As an aside, the waiter seemed just as surprised by what the kebabs consisted of as we were. It was pretty funny. He said nobody had ordered them before so he didn’t know what they were (that isn’t an excuse is it? I think he must’ve been new to waiting, the first commandment of which is “know thy menu.”)
Overall the restaurant was pretty good. I would give them the benefit of the doubt as they are new. I think their menu could use more non-meat options, the waitstaff needs a bit more training, and a liquor license would help, too. But if you love meat and don’t demand a Jim Beam on the rocks with your BBQ, then the Wherehouse is a good place to stop when you are in the area.
P.S. Sorry for the blurry picture. It was taken with the Hub’s cell phone; my camera died moments after arriving upstate, so there will be no pictures for any of the trip.
Next: A delightful meal in Poughkeepsie (seriously).
The Wherehouse
119 Liberty Street
Newburgh, NY 12550
(845) 561-7240
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