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Press
Sabroso Restaurant has been selected for the 2009 Best of Rhinebeck Award in the Mexican Restaurants category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).
Food Arts Increasingly well-fed and well-traveled, we "foodtowners" eat out, in part, to spark our souls about a wider world "out there." In 2004, "out there" came to Rhinebeck. Entering the new Sabroso, we wondered, "Where are we?" Buenos Aires? Barcelona? Sabroso was impressively haute decor for Rhinebeck, with its black-clad waitstaff, Latin backbeat, and Reidel glassware and Fortessa dishes set on soft white linens. The engaging co-chef/owners Marcia Miller and Erica Mahlkuch, encouraged us to try a Caipirinha made with Brazilian sugarcane rum. The waitstaff were like enthusiastic translator/tour guides through Sabroso's menu, which combined the local familiar (picked up at local farm stands by Mil-ler and Mahlkuch on their way to work) with the exotic and authentic (from a large Latin food market in the Bronx and a quality Latin foods supplier in New Jersey). There were South American arepas; a salad of crisp pork belly, fresh and pickled watermelon on local mesclun; startling platos principales, such as coconut-crusted crab cakes on mashed yuca with guajillo sauce and tropical fruit salsa and pork tenderloin with Puerto Rican mofongo and balsamic molasses mole sauce. Rhinebeck, New York - The epitome of the picturesque Hudon Valley small town - charming Market Street, independent shops, food-savvy locals - Rhinebeck features sophisticated dining (Gigi Trattoria, Sabroso, Le Petit Bistro), a chocolatier (Oliver Kita), one of the best butchers in the country (Fleisher's), and a guy named Ray Tousey, who sells homemade creme de cassis at the farmers' market on Sundays and Thursdays. - A.K. When passing the bunches of ripe and green plantains at the supermarket, I can easily imagine a cynical voice murmuring, “Move along, gringa. You’ll never cook platanos like a South American.” The Valley’s early Dutch settlers were less intimidated. Nearly 300 years ago, they used starchy-sweet plantains from Latin America as a substitute for potatoes, flour, and even sugar; New Amsterdam Dutch references mention dried plantains being ground into a sweet flour and shipped north from Suriname (formerly Dutch Guyana). Today, many of us are refamiliarizing ourselves with this fruit which, although plentiful, often falls outside our culinary domain. The night I dined at Sabroso, Rhinebeck's newest restaurant, I had just seen my beloved only child off to school in Boston and was feeling pretty down in the mouth--and a bit guilty that I was about to review the place when I felt so distinctly un-festive. To my great pleasure, the amazing food, upbeat atmosphere, and friendly service at Sabroso jolted me out of my Empty Nest Blues and proved that there is always room in Rhinebeck for another restaurant if it's as good as this one. When I asked Chris Long, the friendly co-owner, what the word sabroso means, he told me it has about twenty definitions, but among them are "warm, delightful, and tasty." The restaurant lives up to all that and more.
Once the genial hostess had draped napkins across our laps, a black-clad waitress appeared to take our drink orders. Potent mojitos and caipirinhas (made with sugarcane rum) are available to spur your appetite, and a respectable and fairly priced wine list gives you the opportunity to sample vintages from Spain, Portugal, Argentina, and throughout the Latin world. The menu is divided into Tapas and Platos Principales which, in this instance, can be safely translated as appetizers and entrées. Tapas are the ultimate grazing food, lending themselves to small bites, mingled tastes, and sharing. There are 11 tapas on the regular menu and nightly specials to keep the selection endlessly interesting. They’re served on a handsome variety of plates that relate to the sprawl or the height of the dish they carry — and the food here is so prettily presented you’re inclined to pause for a moment to take in the architecture and colors of your meal before digging in.
Sometimes the name of a restaurant is as inviting as the fine food associated with it. This is the case with Sabroso Restaurant in Rhinebeck NY. Simply translated "sabroso" means tasty, delicious, pleasing, and delightful. The food, ambiance, service, and hospitality at this recently opened restaurant in Rhinebeck is that and more. With an extraordinary assortment of good food and a fine selection of excellent wines from Spain and Chile, the opening of Sabroso is the result of the creative genius of three owners - Christopher Long, who has been a restauranteur for over twenty years, and co-owners and chefs, Marcia Miller, and Mahlkuch.
Elizabeth Roger's favorite part of the Hudson Valley Food & Wine Fest is the Grand Reserve tasting, which includes a gourmet dinner accompanied by select wines, and features local produce and products. She has attended all of the seven annual festivals. "Every year they do something different and every year it gets better and better," said Roger, a resident of Staatsburg. "It's a great asset to the Hudson Valley." |
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22 GARDEN STREET
RHINEBECK, NY 12572
845-876-8688
RHINEBECK, NY 12572
845-876-8688
