Basement Bistro – Earlton, NY – 7/5/08
I just had the best dining experience of my life. There is no other way to being to describe the experience created by Chef Damon Baehrel at The Basement
Bistro. It is quite possibly the best restaurant in the entire country and it is still relatively unknown. The Basement Bistro has the highest food rating in Zagat at
29 and has been voted “Best of the Hudson Valley” seven years in a row. I’ll do my best to describe the genius that is Chef Baehrel, his skills rival that of any
top chef in the country. The best comparison I can make is to Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Per Se. That’s high praise but it’s also true. I’ll come back
to the Keller comparison throughout the article.
The Basement Bistro really is in the basement of Chef Baehrel’s home in Earlton, NY which is about an hour south of Albany. Baehrel is the chef, sous chef,
sommelier, waiter, host, busboy, dishwasher and the farmer. That’s right, he farms his 11 acres property as well. All of the produce used in his cooking is
grown on the property. In fact he hasn’t purchased produce in over 2 years. Meat is provided by a local purveyor about 30 minutes away based on his exact
requirements. His fish is delivered from Maine and Cape Cod by a purveyor who also supplies many top restaurants in Manhattan but Chef Barhel is the first
stop on the delivery route therefore he gets the best of the best.
Baehrel has handled everything himself since opening in 1990 as a catering company which led to a small restaurant in his basement. The restaurant seats
30 in a warm and comfortable setting. You really do not feel like you are in a basement at all. He no longer has the catering business since the restaurant has
become such a success. Originally the restaurant offered a traditional al a cart menu but he soon found that people were only ordering the same dishes over
and over while passing on some of the more interesting and tasty creations. While he was honored that they enjoyed the regular entrees he felt they were
missing out on the best he could offer. He started sending out random free dishes to his guests so they could try a something like a stuffed squash blossom
for example. Sometimes people need to be pushed to try something new. His regulars started to come around and eventually he discontinued the menu and
started offering a tasting menu as he does today. The twist is that you still won’t know what you will be served until it leaves the kitchen. Chef Baehrel does this
for three main reasons, the first is that he only cooks what is fresh and available. Since he only uses what he grows he must adapt on a daily basis. Secondly
he cooks what inspires him on that particular day. Lastly, he likes the element of surprise. I’d like to honor that so I will not be writing about the specific dishes I
ate that evening and instead will focus on the entire experience.
Securing a reservation at The Basement Bistro is not easy. We went to The Basement Bistro in July to celebrate my birthday, which was in February. So that
gives you an idea of how difficult it is to get a reservation. My wife started calling in early January and we were very lucky to get into an open slot in July. It’s worth
the wait and they are extremely focused on trying to accommodate everyone’s needs. They receive approximately 2000 calls per week yet can only seat about
50 per day. So this isn’t a restaurant that tries to make reservations difficult on purpose. It’s simple supply and demand. In fact on one occasion author Michael
Ruhlman (also a regular judge on Iron Chef) called on relatively short notice to try and secure a reservation for himself and his guest Chef Thomas Keller. Chef
Baehrel was honored at the request and but he was completely booked, as he is every night. He called around to his regulars on that night to see if they were
able to reschedule. Unfortunately it didn’t work out and he had to inform Ruhlman that there simply was no room. Apparently they are going to try again this fall.
We arrived for our 5:30 reservation and noticed there was only one other car in the parking lot. Panic hit immediately that we had the date or time wrong and
had missed our reservation. We entered the dining room and were greeted immediately by Chef Baehrel. The restaurant had only two other diners. We were
shocked at first and figured others would be joining us. As it turns out the restaurant has a legal limit of about 50 covers per day. It must be because it’s in a
residential zone. There was a seating before us of about 20 people and another 25 or so after our seating. This should give you an idea of how passionate
Chef Baehrel is about cooking for his guests. He already had a full day and easily could have skipped a 5:30 seating for 4 guests. He didn’t need the money
from that seating but he wanted to do it. He truly doesn’t think of it as work. This is what he loves to do. We learned that the last seating of the day was starting
at 10:15 PM. That means he was probably cooking and serving till almost 3 in the morning. A bunch of chefs from NY were driving up for the late seating plus a
group from California. Each seating takes about 5 hours. On this particular day he probably had diners from 1 PM till 3 AM. And he does this 6 days a week on
top of farming his 11 acres. He told me that he sleeps about 3 hours a night and I believe it.
Once we were seated he explained how his restaurant worked and talked a lot about the farming that occurs on the property. He even had a few examples from
that day’s harvest. It gives a whole new appreciation to fruits and vegetables. First we were served bread and butter. If this was all we were served and the meal
had ended right then and there I would have gladly paid full price and left fully satisfied. The butter of course was churned in house and the two styles of bread
were amazing. At the end of the meal we even got a loaf to take home. Simply amazing! Never before has bread and water tasted so good.
This was the start of our 5 hour, 11 course tasting menu. Each dish was made with familiar ingredients, all local to the Hudson Valley but prepared in a whole
new way. I asked Chef Baehrel if there was anything unique about growing in the Hudson Valley. He said that while it is harder than other parts of the country
due to the shorter growing season he find the flavors to be unmatched. He said he couldn’t do what he does with produce grown in California. He just doesn’t
think the flavors are as developed and complex. It’s something I had never heard before but I think he is right. Throughout our meal you found that the
vegetables were the star of the dishes even when paired next to Wagyu Beef or Lobster. Overall I think the produce Hudson Valley is drastically under rated.
Our first actual course started with cheese and charcuterie. All of course made by Chef Baehrel. He taught himself to make his own cheese. The charcuterie
also aged and prepared onsite. I really do not understand how he finds time in the day to do it all. You almost don’t believe him, that’s how hard it sounds. Our
neighboring table commented that the only restaurant that compared to this experience was at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in Manhattan. The only difference is that
Per Se has a staff of over 100 and they don’t even grow their own produce. The price is also three times as much as The Basement Bistro.
Another signature trait of Chef Baehrel is his preservation techniques. Since he doesn’t buy any produce he has to make things last throughout the year by
creating chutneys, pickling, and something I had never heard of before, cold smoking which is anything below 100 degrees. Our soup was garnished with cold
smoked corn. Obviously corn would not be ready in July in this part of the country. He pointed out that the corn was actually from the 2007 harvest. He had cold
smoked the corn on the cob which allowed him to use it throughout the year. But even the smoking process is not as simple as it sounds. You need wood to
smoke right, well that also came from the property using wood from the apple trees. He really has created a self sufficient oasis in the Hudson Valley. Each
dish is prepared and presenting with such care. It would be very easy to take a few kernels of corn for granted but when you hear all that went into preparing
that garnish you are simply amazed. One other example was that one of our desert plates had two small raspberries. Again, just a simple garnish that could
have been overlooked had it not been for Chef Baehrel’s detailed explanation. Earlier that day when Chef Baehrel was walking around the property and found 6
raspberries that were ready to be picked. As he said, we got two, the other table got two and the last were for him and his wife. Suddenly an insignificant
garnish turned into a cherished and special gift we had received. That’s how Chef Baehrel treats everything that is put on the plate.
We progressed through each course wide eyed with grins from ear to ear. I should mention a little bit about the wine service. The wine list is very versatile
featuring affordable half bottles to three figure full bottles. He explained that any bottle on the list could be purchased by the bottle, half bottle or the glass. He’d
be willing to open up anything we wanted. The other diners asked if he had any special way of preserving an opened bottle. He seriously replied, we drink it.
Which my wife and I both agreed sounded liked a great method. Since we did not know what we’d be eating I put our trust into Chef Baehrel’s hands. We
decided we’d like to try three glasses throughout our meal. Each glass starts from an unopened bottle. Chef Baehrel doesn’t believe in pouring the glass for
his guests. Instead he offers the standard tasting then leaves the bottle at the table to allow the drinker the ability to control how much is in the glass.
Personally I like to keep just a small amount in the glass at a time but typically this is not an option when ordering by the glass. I think it’s a great approach at
The Basement Bistro.
Although the menu changes for each seating there is one standard dish he serves every time. In 2007 Chef Baehrel was invited as one of 30 chefs to prepare
a dish for a James Beard event honoring Charlie Trotter. One of the guests was Martha Stewart who was blown away by Chef Baehrel’s “salmon bacon” dish.
She loved it enough that she had two servings. Salmon belly, which is the fatty portion, is smoked with peachwood to create an amazingly savory dish. I don’t
blame Martha Stewart for wanting a second helping. In fact she has been to The Basement Bistro twice since the event.
Other courses included a meat dish with Wagyu Beef. A fish course with lobster and crab blew us away. Chef Baehrel couldn’t decide that day if he wanted to
cook lobster or crab so he decided to just do both. We were very grateful for his indecision. Many of the dishes were served with a creamy and rich sauce very
reminiscent of French cuisine. However like everything else Chef Baehrel uses his own techniques. Although the sauces were very creamy he doesn’t use any
cream or butter. So how does he do it? His secret is rutabaga stock. Now I read a lot of cookbooks from top chefs around the country and not once have I come
across the use of rutabaga stock. I also did a quick search online and again nothing. As far as I can tell no one else is using this technique. Basically he
reduces the rutabaga stock to different consistencies based on the type of sauce he’s making. The stock serves as the base and eliminates the need for butter
or cream without sacrificing on taste or texture. To me it’s truly a revolutionary concept and obviously much healthier as well.
Several sorbets and gelatos were served intermittently during the meal. Again you could have easily missed the genius behind the dish if it were not for his
interesting explanations. He explained that he never really liked the taste of sweet dishes made with sugar or simple syrup. He felt it was too sweet and also
left a sugary effect on your tongue. As a solution to this problem he creates his own syrup from green currants and grapes. He picks the fruits before they are
mature to make a slightly sweet syrup. I never would have picked up on the different but it did give a very clean taste to the sorbet. Before this experience I never
had a problem with simple syrup based sorbets but after trying his alternative, he’s right. It is too sweet and syrupy.
Throughout the meal Chef Baehrel was extremely hospitable to the point that you felt guilty just sitting there. I would have gladly helped with the dishes not
because we couldn’t pay the bill but out of respect. On top of being a great chef Damon Baehrel is one of the nicest most genuine people you will ever meet.
You can feel his passion and love for food and he is really great at sharing it. Despite having to turn his kitchen around for a new seating of chefs that were
already in route from NYC Chef Baehrel never rushed us. Instead he talked to us about his tomato plants growing just outside the door and the bullfrog which
has become a regular at the Basement Bistro as he walked us to the parking lot.
Chef Baehrel is a culinary genius. There is no other way to describe him. Although he’s still relatively unknown I do not think that will last for long. I dream about
my next visit to the Basement Bistro.
I just had the best dining experience of my life. There is no other way to being to describe the experience created by Chef Damon Baehrel at The Basement
Bistro. It is quite possibly the best restaurant in the entire country and it is still relatively unknown. The Basement Bistro has the highest food rating in Zagat at
29 and has been voted “Best of the Hudson Valley” seven years in a row. I’ll do my best to describe the genius that is Chef Baehrel, his skills rival that of any
top chef in the country. The best comparison I can make is to Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Per Se. That’s high praise but it’s also true. I’ll come back
to the Keller comparison throughout the article.
The Basement Bistro really is in the basement of Chef Baehrel’s home in Earlton, NY which is about an hour south of Albany. Baehrel is the chef, sous chef,
sommelier, waiter, host, busboy, dishwasher and the farmer. That’s right, he farms his 11 acres property as well. All of the produce used in his cooking is
grown on the property. In fact he hasn’t purchased produce in over 2 years. Meat is provided by a local purveyor about 30 minutes away based on his exact
requirements. His fish is delivered from Maine and Cape Cod by a purveyor who also supplies many top restaurants in Manhattan but Chef Barhel is the first
stop on the delivery route therefore he gets the best of the best.
Baehrel has handled everything himself since opening in 1990 as a catering company which led to a small restaurant in his basement. The restaurant seats
30 in a warm and comfortable setting. You really do not feel like you are in a basement at all. He no longer has the catering business since the restaurant has
become such a success. Originally the restaurant offered a traditional al a cart menu but he soon found that people were only ordering the same dishes over
and over while passing on some of the more interesting and tasty creations. While he was honored that they enjoyed the regular entrees he felt they were
missing out on the best he could offer. He started sending out random free dishes to his guests so they could try a something like a stuffed squash blossom
for example. Sometimes people need to be pushed to try something new. His regulars started to come around and eventually he discontinued the menu and
started offering a tasting menu as he does today. The twist is that you still won’t know what you will be served until it leaves the kitchen. Chef Baehrel does this
for three main reasons, the first is that he only cooks what is fresh and available. Since he only uses what he grows he must adapt on a daily basis. Secondly
he cooks what inspires him on that particular day. Lastly, he likes the element of surprise. I’d like to honor that so I will not be writing about the specific dishes I
ate that evening and instead will focus on the entire experience.
Securing a reservation at The Basement Bistro is not easy. We went to The Basement Bistro in July to celebrate my birthday, which was in February. So that
gives you an idea of how difficult it is to get a reservation. My wife started calling in early January and we were very lucky to get into an open slot in July. It’s worth
the wait and they are extremely focused on trying to accommodate everyone’s needs. They receive approximately 2000 calls per week yet can only seat about
50 per day. So this isn’t a restaurant that tries to make reservations difficult on purpose. It’s simple supply and demand. In fact on one occasion author Michael
Ruhlman (also a regular judge on Iron Chef) called on relatively short notice to try and secure a reservation for himself and his guest Chef Thomas Keller. Chef
Baehrel was honored at the request and but he was completely booked, as he is every night. He called around to his regulars on that night to see if they were
able to reschedule. Unfortunately it didn’t work out and he had to inform Ruhlman that there simply was no room. Apparently they are going to try again this fall.
We arrived for our 5:30 reservation and noticed there was only one other car in the parking lot. Panic hit immediately that we had the date or time wrong and
had missed our reservation. We entered the dining room and were greeted immediately by Chef Baehrel. The restaurant had only two other diners. We were
shocked at first and figured others would be joining us. As it turns out the restaurant has a legal limit of about 50 covers per day. It must be because it’s in a
residential zone. There was a seating before us of about 20 people and another 25 or so after our seating. This should give you an idea of how passionate
Chef Baehrel is about cooking for his guests. He already had a full day and easily could have skipped a 5:30 seating for 4 guests. He didn’t need the money
from that seating but he wanted to do it. He truly doesn’t think of it as work. This is what he loves to do. We learned that the last seating of the day was starting
at 10:15 PM. That means he was probably cooking and serving till almost 3 in the morning. A bunch of chefs from NY were driving up for the late seating plus a
group from California. Each seating takes about 5 hours. On this particular day he probably had diners from 1 PM till 3 AM. And he does this 6 days a week on
top of farming his 11 acres. He told me that he sleeps about 3 hours a night and I believe it.
Once we were seated he explained how his restaurant worked and talked a lot about the farming that occurs on the property. He even had a few examples from
that day’s harvest. It gives a whole new appreciation to fruits and vegetables. First we were served bread and butter. If this was all we were served and the meal
had ended right then and there I would have gladly paid full price and left fully satisfied. The butter of course was churned in house and the two styles of bread
were amazing. At the end of the meal we even got a loaf to take home. Simply amazing! Never before has bread and water tasted so good.
This was the start of our 5 hour, 11 course tasting menu. Each dish was made with familiar ingredients, all local to the Hudson Valley but prepared in a whole
new way. I asked Chef Baehrel if there was anything unique about growing in the Hudson Valley. He said that while it is harder than other parts of the country
due to the shorter growing season he find the flavors to be unmatched. He said he couldn’t do what he does with produce grown in California. He just doesn’t
think the flavors are as developed and complex. It’s something I had never heard before but I think he is right. Throughout our meal you found that the
vegetables were the star of the dishes even when paired next to Wagyu Beef or Lobster. Overall I think the produce Hudson Valley is drastically under rated.
Our first actual course started with cheese and charcuterie. All of course made by Chef Baehrel. He taught himself to make his own cheese. The charcuterie
also aged and prepared onsite. I really do not understand how he finds time in the day to do it all. You almost don’t believe him, that’s how hard it sounds. Our
neighboring table commented that the only restaurant that compared to this experience was at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in Manhattan. The only difference is that
Per Se has a staff of over 100 and they don’t even grow their own produce. The price is also three times as much as The Basement Bistro.
Another signature trait of Chef Baehrel is his preservation techniques. Since he doesn’t buy any produce he has to make things last throughout the year by
creating chutneys, pickling, and something I had never heard of before, cold smoking which is anything below 100 degrees. Our soup was garnished with cold
smoked corn. Obviously corn would not be ready in July in this part of the country. He pointed out that the corn was actually from the 2007 harvest. He had cold
smoked the corn on the cob which allowed him to use it throughout the year. But even the smoking process is not as simple as it sounds. You need wood to
smoke right, well that also came from the property using wood from the apple trees. He really has created a self sufficient oasis in the Hudson Valley. Each
dish is prepared and presenting with such care. It would be very easy to take a few kernels of corn for granted but when you hear all that went into preparing
that garnish you are simply amazed. One other example was that one of our desert plates had two small raspberries. Again, just a simple garnish that could
have been overlooked had it not been for Chef Baehrel’s detailed explanation. Earlier that day when Chef Baehrel was walking around the property and found 6
raspberries that were ready to be picked. As he said, we got two, the other table got two and the last were for him and his wife. Suddenly an insignificant
garnish turned into a cherished and special gift we had received. That’s how Chef Baehrel treats everything that is put on the plate.
We progressed through each course wide eyed with grins from ear to ear. I should mention a little bit about the wine service. The wine list is very versatile
featuring affordable half bottles to three figure full bottles. He explained that any bottle on the list could be purchased by the bottle, half bottle or the glass. He’d
be willing to open up anything we wanted. The other diners asked if he had any special way of preserving an opened bottle. He seriously replied, we drink it.
Which my wife and I both agreed sounded liked a great method. Since we did not know what we’d be eating I put our trust into Chef Baehrel’s hands. We
decided we’d like to try three glasses throughout our meal. Each glass starts from an unopened bottle. Chef Baehrel doesn’t believe in pouring the glass for
his guests. Instead he offers the standard tasting then leaves the bottle at the table to allow the drinker the ability to control how much is in the glass.
Personally I like to keep just a small amount in the glass at a time but typically this is not an option when ordering by the glass. I think it’s a great approach at
The Basement Bistro.
Although the menu changes for each seating there is one standard dish he serves every time. In 2007 Chef Baehrel was invited as one of 30 chefs to prepare
a dish for a James Beard event honoring Charlie Trotter. One of the guests was Martha Stewart who was blown away by Chef Baehrel’s “salmon bacon” dish.
She loved it enough that she had two servings. Salmon belly, which is the fatty portion, is smoked with peachwood to create an amazingly savory dish. I don’t
blame Martha Stewart for wanting a second helping. In fact she has been to The Basement Bistro twice since the event.
Other courses included a meat dish with Wagyu Beef. A fish course with lobster and crab blew us away. Chef Baehrel couldn’t decide that day if he wanted to
cook lobster or crab so he decided to just do both. We were very grateful for his indecision. Many of the dishes were served with a creamy and rich sauce very
reminiscent of French cuisine. However like everything else Chef Baehrel uses his own techniques. Although the sauces were very creamy he doesn’t use any
cream or butter. So how does he do it? His secret is rutabaga stock. Now I read a lot of cookbooks from top chefs around the country and not once have I come
across the use of rutabaga stock. I also did a quick search online and again nothing. As far as I can tell no one else is using this technique. Basically he
reduces the rutabaga stock to different consistencies based on the type of sauce he’s making. The stock serves as the base and eliminates the need for butter
or cream without sacrificing on taste or texture. To me it’s truly a revolutionary concept and obviously much healthier as well.
Several sorbets and gelatos were served intermittently during the meal. Again you could have easily missed the genius behind the dish if it were not for his
interesting explanations. He explained that he never really liked the taste of sweet dishes made with sugar or simple syrup. He felt it was too sweet and also
left a sugary effect on your tongue. As a solution to this problem he creates his own syrup from green currants and grapes. He picks the fruits before they are
mature to make a slightly sweet syrup. I never would have picked up on the different but it did give a very clean taste to the sorbet. Before this experience I never
had a problem with simple syrup based sorbets but after trying his alternative, he’s right. It is too sweet and syrupy.
Throughout the meal Chef Baehrel was extremely hospitable to the point that you felt guilty just sitting there. I would have gladly helped with the dishes not
because we couldn’t pay the bill but out of respect. On top of being a great chef Damon Baehrel is one of the nicest most genuine people you will ever meet.
You can feel his passion and love for food and he is really great at sharing it. Despite having to turn his kitchen around for a new seating of chefs that were
already in route from NYC Chef Baehrel never rushed us. Instead he talked to us about his tomato plants growing just outside the door and the bullfrog which
has become a regular at the Basement Bistro as he walked us to the parking lot.
Chef Baehrel is a culinary genius. There is no other way to describe him. Although he’s still relatively unknown I do not think that will last for long. I dream about
my next visit to the Basement Bistro.
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Basement Bistro http://www.sagecrestcatering.com 776 Route 45 Earlton, New York (518) 634-2338 |
Hosted by Yahoo!
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
Hudson Valley Food Finds
