What’s Happening Off the Corridor

April 27th, 2010

The corridor—the Stockade District, Broadway, and West Strand–is where most of Kingston’s businesses are concentrated, but let’s not forget the scattering of interesting retailers and restaurants off the corridor. Take a peek down the side streets and you’ll find some small gems. Here’s a sampling:

 Boice BrothersJust a few doors down from Boice Bros. Dairy on O’Neill St., distinguished by its large rooftop cow, is Boice Bros. Ice Cream, which opened in 1975. On mild nights families line up at the windows, manned by polite teenagers in spotted cow T-shirts. The store is managed by Sally Rogerson, one of five Boice siblings (out of six) who are involved with the family business. It’s open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

 Boice’s ice cream—both soft and hard—is made from all natural, hormone-free milk from the family dairy, which was founded by Rogerson’s grandfather on Boice’s Lane in 1914. The milk shakes—with a choice of more than 30 flavors—are particularly popular, along with the sundaes and banana splits. The coffee ice cream is made from real coffee and is slightly granular, redolent of freshly ground beans. Boice’s also serves a nondairy product that’s lactose free and a sugar-free, fat-free hot fudge. The prices hark back to the pre-Starbucks era: a small cone with a tennis-ball scoop of ice cream is just $1.70; milk shakes cost from $2.50 to $3.85, depending on the size. “My father wanted to keep the business oriented to families,” explains Rogerson, noting that her parents, who still own the business, had a big family themselves.

 Mid City LanesAcross Broadway, at 20 Cedar St., is a 30-year-old landmark, Ferraro’s Mid-City Lanes, still graced by its classic sign.  Owned by brothers Dave and Steve Ferraro, the bowling alley offers an evening of affordable fun: the special costs $10 for two and a half hours of bowling, plus $3 for shoes. It’s open every day until midnight—until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday–and bustles with leagues of all varieties. On weekend nights the alley is transformed into a “cosmic space,” with glowing purple black lights and loud music creating a club-like atmosphere, according to Dave’s son John.  Friday night is popular with teens, Saturday with middle-aged folks, and Sunday is taken over by the Cosmic League, made up of musicians and tattoo artists.

Sunshine MarketKingston’s neighborhoods used to be filled with mom-and-pop grocers. While most have disappeared, Sunshine Market, at 2 Jansen Ave., behind Burger King, is still going strong. For the past 12 years it’s been owned by Iranian Mehrzad Arbani, and it employs nine. The store stocks a good selection of fresh produce, and the deli carries the Boar’s Head brand; the sub special is just $2.99, and you can finish it off with homemade cole slaw or potato salad.

Sunshine advertises produce and deli specials every week in the Daily Freeman, said  manager Erika Black, who is just 20 years old.  It also sells packaged cookies, brownies, pies, and tea breads home baked by a woman in Stone Ridge. (I can personally vouch for the oatmeal-raison cookies.) Sunshine is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Picnic PizzaThe best pizza in the world is from southern Italy, and Picnic Pizza, located at 501 Washington Ave., next to the Holiday Inn, is a direct relation. Owned by Giuseppe Anselmo, a native of Palermo, Picnic Pizza makes pizza in a wood-fired brick oven, the way it’s done in the old country. Almost all ingredients are authentic, imported from Italy. The eggplant and fresh basil topping is famous. Dominick, the store’s manager and Anselmo’s son in law, said the pizzas’ crisp, thin crust is made from a secret Sicilian recipe.

 Picnic Pizza opened in 1987—it has a sister store in New Paltz—and has four  employees. It also serves wood-fire strombolis and calzones, along with Philly Steaks, wraps and salads; the full dinner menu features appetizers and pasta, eggplant and parmigiana meat dishes, with waitress service. Beer and wine are also served. Picnic Pizza is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.

Terri Lee moved her business, SensatioNail Creations, from Port Ewen to the Millard Building, on Grand Street, four years ago and has prospered. She credits the location, which includes free parking across the street, a loyal clientele and an “amazing” landlord. She also has an unusual business model: instead of hiring employees, she sublets the space to five other business owners–four hair stylists and two manicurists—each of whom has his or her own phone line. Combined, the business owners offer “180 years of experience,” Lee said. Facial waxing and pedicures are also offered.  Lee has room for a couple of more beauticians and hopes to rent out more space soon.

Next to SensatioNail Creations is Creative Surfaces, which sells cabinets, custom countertops, wood flooring, tile, carpet, and landscaping stone direct from the factory.  Mane Source Barbers and an adjoining store that sells sneakers has popped up at 10 Downs. Abril’s Boutique Plus, at 8 Van Buren, a Mexican grocery selling a little bit of everything–bacalao, sliced beef, limes, rolls, CDs, and elaborately outfitted dolls—is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

 This is just a sampling—we encourage you to get out there and explore the side streets to make your own discoveries.

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Kingston Goes Clean and Green

April 19th, 2010

Many local businesses are committed to making Kingston a cleaner, greener city. Dominick Vanacore, owner of Dominick’s Cafe and Dream Weavers, corner of Wall and North Front. Vanacore spends $500 a week on tidying up his corner of the city. Keeping your storefront polished and shiny and sidewalk swept clean is a no-brainer–good for business and also an expression of pride in a city “that’s one of the most historic places in the U.S.,” he said.

 

Down on Abeel Street, in the Rondout, Merle Borenstein, owner of Armadillo Bar and Grill, recycles as much waste as she can and also composts vegetable scraps and other organic waste. For the last three years, Merle has planted a garden on an adjacent lot, with the help of several volunteers. She is arranging to have Kingston children visit and participate. In past years, the garden has been planted with arugula, peppers, herbs, eggplants, chives, beets and tomatoes, all of which are used by the chef.

 Gabe Cicale, owner of Monkey Joe Roasting Company, 478 Broadway, is doing his best to shrink his carbon footprint. The café and coffee wholesaler purchases wind power for all of its electricity needs, even though it adds 12 to 15 percent cost to the utility bill. All plastic cups are recycled and Monkey Joe’s encourages customers to bring their own reusable cups and bags for purchasing coffee (the store also sells reusable packaging). Grounds are collected in five-gallon buckets and given away to composters (including to the Seven21 Media Center, which has a rooftop garden). Coffee chaff from the roasted beans is also collected and composted. People can purchase jute coffee bags as mulch for a small donation, with the proceeds going to charitable groups in coffee-growing communities.

 Monkey Joe’s doesn’t sell any drinks in plastic bottles, and it doesn’t offer disposal cup sleeves. (Customers can purchase reusable ones.) Each year on Earth Day the café sponsors a gift drawing for its regular customers, including a grand prize (this year’s it’s a hybrid bike). “We need to minimize as much as possible what we’re leaving behind,” Cicale said. “We’re trying to set an example.”

 A couple blocks away, Gwen Sorensen, co-owner of Stone Soup Restaurant Company, at 470 Broadway, is also a committed recycler. “We recycle everything and we compost as well,” she said, noting that organic scraps are given away to a local resident who uses the compost in her garden. Sorensen said litter is a constant problem and the city desperately needs to install more trash and recycling cans on the street.

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Brick and Mortar, For Real

April 13th, 2010

When we say we support brick-and-mortar businesses, we thought we’d be literal. Here is a small sampling of masonry and construction companies located within the boundaries of Kingston, all helping keep the infrastructure of Main Street in sound shape:

 Windsor Masonry, located at 5 Sharon Lane in Uptown Kingston, has a unique niche: renovation of old buildings using a traditional lime mortar that’s very similar to the original, locally made lime used two hundreds ago. Imported from France, the hydraulic lime, as it is called, is a “self-healing” material, meaning that when it develops a crack, the crack automatically fills up, according to Keith Boyd, who founded the company ten years ago. “Before 1870 people built with lime,” he said. “A lot of masons today use cement mortar to repair these buildings, which doesn’t hold up; they have to be repointed with lime. We’re one of the few upstate companies that do this.” One example of a local building with deteriorating mortar due to cement repointing is the Senate House, he said. 

Boyd learned his trade in his native England, where he bought and renovated houses before immigrating to the states a decade ago, after meeting and marrying his American wife. He restored an old brick coach house on St. James Street, although Boyd’s business normally takes him far afield from Kingston: projects include a church in Catskill, a farm in Hyde Park, and several buildings in Westchester County. “The challenge Kingston faces is it doesn’t have enough employment,” he said. Finding employees for this specialized trade is also difficult, which requires “a four-year apprenticeship. It’s physically demanding and you’ve got to have an artistic flair.” Boyd currently has one worker.

Re-creating and restoring a historic building using authentic materials is also expensive. Hydraulic lime costs roughly five times the price of Portland cement.  “Very few local people who own houses can afford the renovation cost,” he said. “It’s why I go all over the Northeast.”

LaTorre Construction Company, located near the railroad trestle over the Rondout Creek at 7 Dewitt St., has been in business 38 years, building custom homes as well as high-end and historical renovation work, along with some commercial construction. The company has a large brick warehouse and shop at 117 Broadway, in the Rondout. Owner John LaTorre said its clients are within a 50-mile radius of Kingston, with a lot of work across the river, where many people live in older homes and “want to keep their house historically correct.” He said high-end customer renovation “has been keeping us going” during the economic downturn.

“We enjoy being in Kingston and enjoy the people,” LaTorre said. “I wish we had a little more industry around here,” such as existed 100 years ago. Now, with none of that manufacturing left, “you’ve got to be a history buff” to live in the area.  (phone number: 845-338-4982)

Also based in the Rondout is Kizer Stonework, which specializes in dry-laid bluestone sidewalks, patios, walls, walkways and steps, according to Kizerowner Gary Kizer. located in Kingston for last 9 years. We’re primarily bluestone specialists, we have expertise dry-laid bluestones, sidewalks, patios, walls, walkways and steps. “Some people are interested in maintaining a local heritage,” he said. “A lot of clients want us to design unique spaces using stone, in keeping with that tradition.”

Kizer, who founded the company nine years ago and works out of his home, gets his material from various local stoneyards.  He has “one and a half employees.” Last year was “horrible” for business, but in 2010 “things are picking up quite nicely,” he said. Kiser said he learned his trade from his grandfather, a stone mason who hired him in the summers when he was growing up.  (phone number: 845-338-9180)

 

 James McGowan & Son Masonry Inc. located at 5 Railroad Ave., in Midtown, does large-scale masonry construction projects for municipalities, government agencies, hospitals, and commercial companies, including the Walgreens in Kingston Plaza, the medical facility building for Benedictine Hospital, and the Hudson Valley Federal Credit  Union. Founded in 1992, the company hires as many as 40 workers depending on the work load. Brick and stone veneer, concrete masonry, glass and clay brick, marble, limestone, granite and precast concrete are among the specialties listed on its website, www.mcgowanmasonry.com

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Mint – Tapas and Wine Bar

April 5th, 2010

Mint, a stylish, low-key tapas and wine bar just opened at One West Strand, the site of the former Downtown Café. “We wanted to open up something with a nice atmosphere, a place to come for cocktails and tapas-style food,” said Alessandra Tecchio, who operates Mint with her sister, Ileana. Alessandra is also proprietress of Dolce café, around the corner, and she is now extending her culinary talents to the night crowd.

The food has a distinctly Mediterranean accent, not surprising considering the sisters’ native city is Venice, Italy. There are 10 tapas and 5 desserts on the menu, ranging from $3 to $12. Sample dishes include prosciutto on homemade focaccia with fig conserve (figs carmelized with onions in balsamic vinegar), a kale or white bean bruschetta, and a cheese fondue, with ham, bread, and fruit. There’s also a chocolate fondue, with berries, pound cake, pretzels, and macaroons. Other desserts are tiramisu and strawberries with mascarpone and limoncello.

The wines are French and Italian, along with an Argentine vintage, and include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cote du Rhone, and Fume Blanc. Mint opened with a performance by internationally known jazz singer Rebecca Martin, who also happens to be a Kingston resident. “Right now we’re doing music once a month,” with plans to expand the live performances to twice a month.  Mint is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to midnight.

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Top Nosh for Breakfast and Lunch

April 5th, 2010

You might have noticed the sign of the new breakfast and lunch place while tooling down Broadway: Top Nosh, at number 375, which opened a month ago. Owned by Kelly and Scott Nadler, the restaurant and caterer serves breakfast and lunch and is already doing a brisk business with the two hospitals (now merged as Health Alliance), catering meetings, presentations, and doctors’ meetings with drug reps, among other things.

 “Everything is made from scratch,” said Kelly. “The only thing we buy is French bread from Deising’s. We offer a full breakfast, as well as bagels and egg sandwiches and pancakes. Our regular lunch menu includes big salads, wraps and burgers. We have a food case that my husband fills up every day with things like eggplant rollatino, macaroni and cheese, and chicken cutlets.” Sample specials are roasted game hen with homemade macaroni and cheese and golden battered shrimp with a garlic lemon dipping sauce served over veggie fried rice. There’s chicken matzo ball soup and vegetarian chili, pesto Greek pasta, potato salad, pineapple jalapeno chutney over chicken fingers…getting hungry?

The lunch special ranges from $4.95 to $8.95. The average breakfast is $4 or $5, with the large combo including bacon and sausages and eggs and coffee priced at $9.95.  Breakfast is served all day. Top Nosh is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, with plans to open weekends in the summer.

The Nadlers, who have seven employees, know their stuff, having operated the Black Bear Deli, across from the Hurley Ridge Market on Rt. 375, for many years. Kelly said after losing their lease—their success brought in so many cars the landlord didn’t want them to stay—they were scouting out new digs in Woodstock but were turned off by the “Manhattan rents.” Her father-in-law showed them a flyer about a building on Broadway for sale and told them to check it out, noting the proximity of the hospitals.

 “We bought the building and renovated all the way back to the walls,” said Kelly. “My experience so far has been wonderful. We’ve gotten a great reception.” Between the deliveries to City Hall, the two hospitals, the medical building next door, and the auto repair places, they’ve gotten plenty of business. “There’s lots of fast food” on the Broadway corridor, but at Top Nosh “it’s homemade fast food.”

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Elephant – Wine and Tapas Bar

April 5th, 2010

Elephant, located at 310 Wall Street, was named “best wine and tapas bar” by Hudson Valley Magazine two years in a row. It specializes in “nose to tails cuisine,” according to Rich Reeve, who opened the tapas bar three years ago with his wife, Maya Karrol. Lately he’s been cooking up Basque-style barbecue pigtails, flavored with smoked Spanish paprika. “I’ve cornered the market on tails,” Reeve said. “I get them from Fleisher’s, Adams and a third company, Northeast Family Farms.”  As for the nose, Reeve said head cheese was on the menu not too long ago.

The bar and dining area are located in a storefront transformed into a chic, minimal space with European panache. Elephant has no formal kitchen; Reeve whips up his small-plate concoctions using two toaster ovens, a hot plate, sandwich grill, freezer and couple of refrigerators. He serves 20 plates a night, including a few regulars (“I can’t take them off the menu or they’d kill me”): oyster sliders, lamburguesa, crispy pork belly tacos, roast parsnip and arugula salad, pickled beets and blue cheese salad. Other sample dishes are crab gratin and shaved Brussels sprouts.  The price range is from $3 to $15 (sometimes a little higher), and all wines are sold by the glass, from $6 to $10.

Reeves said that Elephant had “a remarkably good year. We’re looking forward to the new businesses opening in Uptown.” Open from 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, the place starts getting busy around 7 or 8 p.m. “We have a cool diverse crows that hangs out here,” Reeve said. “We’re not your typical restaurant. We get a lot of restaurant people from all over the area, younger artists and transplanted locals.

“It’s been fun, and we watch our pennies,” he added. “We still spin records. And I got a new tattoo”—bringing his total to six. Of course, “I get them locally too.”

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