Terrapin, Rhinebeck, NY

Hot cuisine, haute cuisine.

Rhinebeck, NY is a great little town in the Mid Hudson Valley. They have a great assortment of restaurants, and they are a stone's thrown from the Culinary Institute of America in nearby Hyde Park. On this particular visit, we were inspired to try out Terrapin, a celebrated bar and bistro situated in the former First Baptist Church, a very impressive building. They have received very high marks from Zagat.

After being seated on the patio, we ordered a few items, including an appetizer of wings.

To quote their menu, they list them as, "one pound of free-range chicken wings". We opted for the Asian barbecue sauce, although they also offer mild and spicy sauces. Additionally, we ordered the "endive, candied walnut, and french d'auvergne blue cheese salad" and the "peking duck wraps".

The wings were served piping hot, dripping with an aromatic, red glaze. I found the wings a little small, if not a bit underdone. They could have stood another thirty seconds in the fryer, in my opinion for the sake of the interior. the outside was a little crispy, yet I would have liked it a little more so. The sauce itself was a little spicy, a bit sweet, and not too vinegary. Overall, a good balance of flavors. A pound of wings sounds like a lot but they go pretty quickly. There were about ten or twelve of them. Why not just list them as a dozen? Let's keep in mind this is far from a wing shack, and these were just appetizers.

The wings were fine for flavor, but I would not travel here just for them. However, if you are in the area, I'd suggest adding them to your order.

So, what about the rest of our meal? The endive salad, with candied walnuts, French blue cheese, apples, and balsamic vinaigrette, was an absolute winner. The sweet apples and walnuts contrasted perfectly with the blue cheese and vinaigrette. It was not overly filling, yet I didn't feel it was too small. It's large enough to share as an appetizer.

The Peking duck wraps were excellent. Inside the wraps were lots of crisp duck meat. I didn't find them particularly fatty at all. The meat was bathed in a sweet hoisin sauce-based dressing, and eating these wraps was an exercise in messy, gooey, deliciousness. The dish came with an asian slaw, which they could easily sell on its own, it was that good.

Terrapin Restaurant
6426 Montgomery St
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
(845) 876-3330
www.terrapinrestaurant.com