Making dinner variety less challenging
By Sommer Hixson
With more restaurants filling up Beacon’s empty storefronts, the question of “What’s for dinner?” is now less of a dilemma for busy families and commuters. A few new eateries are committed to staying open later at night and during the week, with some established businesses taking their lead.
Culture Café and Bar at 157 Main St. received its beer and wine license just last week — perfect timing for dining al fresco on the backyard terrace. Culture Café boasts a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu that includes vegetarian choices and daily specials. Most notable are the Belgian Waffles Foster, a wide variety of sandwiches, the Birdless Waldorf salad and the steak frites with Boursin pepper cheese.
Proprietors Marc Corrado and Stephanie Kuo, residents of New Windsor, have been eyeing Beacon for years. “There’s a lot going on here now. This is an awesome small town with lots of pedestrian activity on Main Street,” Corrado said. He added that they have been consistently busy since opening a month ago, and weekdays are paying off.
Culture Café and Bar is open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Sunday hours are from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. A full espresso bar features beans from Seattle’s Fonté Coffee and a selection of loose-leaf tea.
At the opposite end of town, Erik Thompson and Seth Wheeler have opened Carne at 512 Main St. Including a breakfast sandwich of bacon, egg and cheese, there are 10 artisanal sandwiches on the menu with names like The Epik, The Brooklyn Cyclone, Le Batard and Chorizo Loco. The Carne features dry-rubbed roasted pork made by Wheeler, a master charcutier who has worked in several of New York City’s major restaurants. The chorizo is also house-made as are all of the condiments, including pickled red onions, mustard, black bean salsa and roasted red pepper sauce.
“I’m from Brooklyn, and Erik is a Beacon native,” said Wheeler. “We’re always adding new items to the menu. Stay tuned for the homemade corned beef hot dogs!”
Carne opens at 6 a.m. during the week and 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, serving coffee from local micro-roaster TasKafé. It closes at 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Following a grand re-opening June 20, Paul and Jennifer Yeaple’s newly renovated Poppy’s Burgers and Fries, 184 Main St., now serves wine, locally produced beer and homemade desserts alongside their signature grass-fed beef hamburgers and veggie burger. The expanded menu also includes seasonal organic salads, rice bowls and empanadas. Closed Monday and Tuesday, Poppy’s is now open until 8 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.
Also following an extended closure for renovation, Dim Sum Go Go has reopened for a second time in the former Piggy Bank location at 448 Main St.
Dogwood, which recently opened at 47 East Main St., is now serving brunch Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The menu features quiche, waffles, biscuits and gravy and yogurt and granola.
In June, Beacon Bagel, 47 East Main, added a salad bar menu.
Ella’s Bellas, located at 418 Main St., recently expanded into the storefront next door to include an eat-in café and TasKafé’s retail business. Its menu of baked goods, most of them gluten-free, now includes lunch items such as soup and salad and, of course, coffee. Ella’s Bellas is open Monday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed Tuesdays.
Drink More Good (DMG) is not a restaurant, but it caters its artisanal, small-batch cocktail bitters and soda syrups to several local establishments, including Beacon’s Dogwood. Jason Schuler, a veteran of the hospitality and service industry and a seasoned bartender (most recently at Gleason’s in Peekskill), uses locally sourced, organic and wild-crafted herbs and spices to make his products.
His retail store at 259 Main St. also sells 16 different blends of organically grown and fair-trade loose-leaf tea. Ten percent of all DMG’s profits is donated to Generosity Water, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the clean water crisis in developing countries.
