July 2018
Dining Review: The Amsterdam – Rhinebeck, NY
After walking through the town of Rhinebeck, Finally, we were ready for our dinner at The Amsterdam. The open kitchen, the menu, and the vibe all reminded us of Brick Farm Tavern back at home so we were very excited to embark on this meal.
To keep our options open, we opted for singular orders of beverages. I ordered a glass of the Malvasia from Italy and Kevin started with the Dunkel from one of his favorites, Von Trapp, and finished with a glass of Barbera d’Alba.
The restaurant is known for their extensive charcuterie boards, so we ordered the charcuterie and cheese assortment to avoid making any ‘tough’ decisions as everything sounded great. Our board included the following:
- Duck and pork pate (paired with green peppercorn)
- House smoked ham (pared with pickled mustard seeds)
- Chicken liver mousse (paired with red onion compote)
- Foie Torcon (paired with hazelnut, rhubarb compote)
- Fresco- pasteurized cow’s milk, McGrath Cheese Co NY (paired with
- Bogart- raw cow’s milk, Sprout Creek Farm NY (paired with
- Bayley Hazen- raw cow’s milk, Jasper Hill Farm VT
This was definitely one of the most intense spreads we have had. For cheese, our favorite was the Bayley Hazen as it had a thin layer of blue cheese that provided the funk we love about good cheese. The meats had us giddy- the foie gras was perfect and the chicken liver mousse was smokey and so flavorful- could have easily had more of both of these. We were so excited to our entrees!
- Kevin ordered the scallop dish with saffron risotto and piquillos peppers (top left) and the the Chess pie with Chantilly (fancy whipped cream), honey, vanilla, and berries (bottom right)
- I ordered the homemade potato gnocchi with sweet corn, chanterelles mushrooms, and bacon (top right) and the chocolate coulant (fancy chocolate lava cake) with spiced nuts and salted caramel ice cream (bottom left)
Ironically, we both loved our dishes and were glad we didn’t order each others! I am still not quite sure why Kevin was not a fan of the gnocchi cause it was so flavorful and I did not like the risotto due to the high concentration of peppers. The gnocchi was swimming around mushrooms, bacon, and corn in a sea of olive oil favored by the combined ingredients. For me, it was a perfect combination of flavors for a rich dish. And the portions of both dishes were very generous! We were both stuffed but could not turn away dessert, which were both delightfully delicious.
It was thunder storming on our way out of the Amsterdam (yay rain jackets!) and we could not wait to get back to the Airbnb to watch the storm passed. As we made our way through flash flooding, we entered the house, kept the lights off, and just sat and watched the night light up with blasts of lightning and rolling thunder.