Working and Eating around Hoosick Falls, NY
Yesterday I asked my intern if we are yuppies, and he looked up from his laptop and the poetry book he was working with, glanced out at the hay bales in the field and said "No, we're yrppies, young rural upwardly mobile professionals." To which I stuck my hand in the air and said, "What? I live in the capital of New York state!"
For the last six months now I've been working out in Hoosick Falls, NY. At its peak in 1900 it had around 7,000 people, and according to the 2010 census its now at half that and continues to decline. Its quite the experience being out there - not like Williamstown, MA which felt like a slice of the Upper West Side of Manhattan magically transplanted to bucolic New England - but rather authentically rural. People raise chickens not because its trendy, and they want to make some sort of fetish out of it, but because thats what their families have always done. Similar to my mother-in-law who grew up with homemade bread not because someone in her family watched a segment on the Food Network once and thought it was this special thing, but because making homemade bread was normal (and store bought was too expensive). Hoosick Falls is a real small town, not a small town built up like a movie set where people from Boston and New York can go "summering" and feel like they are getting a taste of the country.
In case you're ever driving through to go to Bennington or points east, I'll tell you about food options:
For the last six months now I've been working out in Hoosick Falls, NY. At its peak in 1900 it had around 7,000 people, and according to the 2010 census its now at half that and continues to decline. Its quite the experience being out there - not like Williamstown, MA which felt like a slice of the Upper West Side of Manhattan magically transplanted to bucolic New England - but rather authentically rural. People raise chickens not because its trendy, and they want to make some sort of fetish out of it, but because thats what their families have always done. Similar to my mother-in-law who grew up with homemade bread not because someone in her family watched a segment on the Food Network once and thought it was this special thing, but because making homemade bread was normal (and store bought was too expensive). Hoosick Falls is a real small town, not a small town built up like a movie set where people from Boston and New York can go "summering" and feel like they are getting a taste of the country.
In case you're ever driving through to go to Bennington or points east, I'll tell you about food options:
- Have you seen the crazy moose deli? You can't miss it if you drive east on Route 7 from Albany. Its quite a sight, and we always admire their ability to have turned it into a tourist attraction by continuously adding more crazy and offering a few VT brochures. The pies are good, and the assortment of kitschy hot sauces is amusing. I feel most things are generally too expensive for the area though (although I know they are trying to cater mostly to VT tourists).
- My art handler and I went to the Bagel & Brew two times. Its really small, reasonably priced, with tasty simple food and extra friendly service. You really get the small-town feeling in this downtown Hoosick establishment as everyone knows each other and seems to already know the back story on every yarn of a tale. I like how they vary it up with specials, and one day I had a chicken salad on rosemary olive oil foccaccia which was delicious.
- Brown Cow in Bennington is probably the spot we've been to the most. I had my job interview for this job there, and we've all liked it ever since. You get some tasty local products included in your sandwich like Maplebrook mozzarella. Tasty things we've tried: quiche, gazpacho, curry chicken salad, Brown Cow club (you get a really nice chipotle mayo on it). The chai and ice coffee are good too. We've never been disappointed, and every time we are happy we made the trip out there.
- Last week we checked out the Round House Bakery and Cafe in Cambridge and it was much better than it needed to be. I got a salad with grilled tofu, mixed greens, assorted vegetables, sesame-ginger dressing and chopped tamari roasted almonds. The tofu was really nicely marinated with a lot of flavor. I also had a cup of cold cucumber soup which was strongly galicky and refreshing and had some pecans sprinkled on top. I was really impressed. Also, everyone here knew each other too, but its a different kind of town - artsier, more bohemian, and closer to Saratoga.
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