Jane D.
Yelp
Rustic charm. I suspect you'll find those two words in 99% of reviews of this restaurant. It's an accurate descriptor, but the experience was more true to form than I expected, not just some interior designer's interpretation of "rustic charm." For me it touched on something nostalgic.
I spent a decent amount of my childhood on farms -- those where my friends lived or where their grandparents did, or where I tagged along with friends to multiple-day religious conventions. These farms were functional, not movie sets. Garden furniture, if it wasn't plastic, was always a little rusty, slightly askew on uneven ground. Paint was always peeling a bit (or a lot) somewhere. Glass windows were opaque with dirt.
This is the vibe that PFATF evokes even though the restaurant itself is scrupulously clean and the sweet and capable wait staff are dressed in button-down shirts and ties -- far more presentable than we ever manage to be at dinner. The restaurant sits on a working farm and it feels that way. There is an old fashioned root cellar dug into a hill behind the main restaurant building. There were, in September, just a few rows of herbs (Thai basil, dill, etc...), late greens, and maybe broccoli plants in the garden by the parking lot.
Given the on-location provenance of the produce on the menu, it's not surprising that we found just about everything vegetal at this restaurant to be delicious.
ROASTED FARM BEETS ($19; goat cheese, cashew's & farm chili) were remarkably sweet where flavors and sugars had been concentrated by a long, slow roast. I loved that they were well tossed with goat cheese, which essentially melted into the dish. Cashews added some pleasant texture, chili kept the chevre from lulling your tastebuds into complacency.
FARMER'S SALAD ($16; field greens, shaved farm veg, candied walnuts, manzanilla olives & feta) included a mixture of lettuces that the website tells me were grown on the farm. The greens were fresh, tossed with crisp, mild, thinly mandolined radishes, cucumbers, summer squash. Dressing was restrained and the remaining ingredients were in good balance, despite the candied walnuts being a touch burnt.
BUCATINI ($26; farm basil pesto & sungolds, parmesan) was cooked al dente and generously tossed with basil mint pesto and freshly grated Parmesan.
Oh -- I would be remiss not to mention the lovely strips of rosemary focaccia that the restaurant was kind enough to bring to the table at the start of the meal. It came with homemade, creamy farmer's cheese, flecked with crunchy grains of black salt, schmeared onto the plate for dipping.
Where we found the menu less strong: the proteins.
A generous plate of AMISH FRIED CHICKEN ($29; tangy red cabbage, scallion mash & herb gravy) was quite the vision. I half expected angels to break into song as the plate lowered to the table. But although the golden crust was thick, competently fried + blotted, and the chicken inside perfectly moist, everything was undersalted and seasoned . This could not be entirely counteracted by more saline elements on the plate such as the very buttery mashed potatoes or the red cabbage slaw -- quite acidic -- which had been tossed with thinly mandolined radishes, summer squash, and cucumbers in a lettuce-free redux of the Farmer's Salad.
KINDERHOOK FARMS GRASS FED BURGER ($24; hudson valley farms cheddar & smokehouse bacon, frizzled onions & special sauce) came with a very thick, patty cooked to the requested medium rare temperature, topped with thickly sliced bacon (maybe short cut or Canadian bacon?), butter lettuce leaves, and cucumber quick pickles. The bun was excellent, fresh, fragrant, barely toasted. Perfect burger? Almost. Sadly the meat was under salted again and relied on its sidekicks for flavor.
Maybe the greatest disappointment of the evening was the NOVA SCOTIA HALIBUT ($38; farm caponata & toasted walnuts, saba). The good: sweet, syrupy, raisiny saba was just lovely with the toasted walnuts, some of which had been turned into a puree I think and smeared attractively on the plate. Caponata included eggplants and garlic only as far as I could tell -- not the medley of tomato, eggplant, sweet peppers, onions and herbs that I expected, but delicious nonetheless. Less great: Halibut was rubbery in parts, undersalted and very bland, though the top and bottom had been pan fried to an attractive brown. I speculate that the texture was a result of improper defrosting -- perhaps something involving a microwave. (Not that I've ever done anything like that.... Definitely not me.... ;) Interestingly, the fish came garnished with carrot greens.
Given the seafood heavy menu, I have to wonder if the kitchen just had an off night. There were enough wins at the meal to get us back at least once. In my fantasies, it will be in the spring when asparagus and ramps are coming up...