Mohonk Mountain House is one of the Hudson Valley’s iconic hotels and has been a favorite place to stay for almost 150 years.
There’s plenty to do to build up an appetite and a massive dining room to enjoy a meal.
But everyone knows that.
What you don’t know is that there’s a secret staircase in the back of the dining room leading to the massive kitchen that regularly puts out 500-600 meals every evening.
In the middle of that, is the space that only puts out 10 very special meals.
I was one of those lucky diners recently and was invited to experience the eleven-course Chef’s Tasting Table menu with wines, designed by Executive Chef Jim Palmeri.
It’s offered on Friday and Saturday nights at 6:30 with a six-person minimum. You can take your chances on an available spot (or two), or be a big spender and reserve the whole table for a very special occasion. If you like wine, you might want to consider spending the night — the wines are lovely and well matched to the food, and the road home from Mohonk is not one you want to mess with.
The menu changes depending on the season and what’s good locally. While Chef Palmeri and his team use local ingredients wherever possible, they do stretch the boundaries to include luxuries like black truffles and, for our dinner, mainly French wines.
If you think eleven courses sounds daunting, most of them are just a mouthful or two. The exceptions are the entrée (the only choice you have to make for the evening) and the dessert — so extraordinary it deserves and is getting its own post.
One of the big treats for me as a diner has always been those meals where you just sit back and let the chefs do what they do best — cook. I love the combination of not having to make a choice and the surprise that each course and every mouthful brings!
To have something to refer to, I was given a menu at the beginning, but it got folded it up and hidden in my purse so as not to ruin the surprises to come.
And, to not ruin your surprise, because you truly need to go there (I know you’ve got a birthday coming up), I’m just going to highlight some of my favorite bites and let you drool over the photos.
To book your own dining adventure (and don’t forget about a room) call: 845-883-3798.
My thanks to Chef Jim Palmeri, Executive Sous Chef Steve Anson, Robert Leduc and the amazing staff at the Mohonk Mountain House for a memorable dinner!
For more photos, check out HudsonValleyEats.com. 
