A New Bar and New Faces

Cooper’s is latest tavern in historic Beacon building

Some soft opening. When word spread that the new incarnation of Dogwood in Beacon was ready for its close-up, the place attracted the curious, the familiar and local families.

“We just low-key opened the door [Jan. 10] and within 20 minutes, the dining room filled up,” said co-owner Brendan McAlpine. “Someone took a picture of the menu posted outside and it circulated pretty wide.”

After months of speculation, the fate of Dogwood, the funky bohemian bar on East Main Street that abruptly changed hands last summer, is now clear. 

The immediate future is Cooper’s Bar, named for McAlpine’s beloved French bulldog, who died a few years ago. A few photos of Cooper and a handful of historic shots adorn the streamlined, stripped down walls.

“People worried that this would be a sports bar,” said McAlpine, who, with his wife and partner Marjorie Tarter, owns Wonderbar, Hudson Marshmallow Co. and The Beacon movie theater, as well as The Bird & Bottle Inn in Philipstown. “Our only TV is at Cooper’s. We’ll show big games or events, but we’re not putting on CNN or anything during the day.”

For now, the monitor is tuned to the fireplace channel. Wall coverings and live music will come as McAlpine “lets the space breathe,” he said. “Instead of buying 75 pieces of art, it will grow organically.”

Sitting with pens, books and a computer, and wearing a Dogwood hoodie, author and photographer Ronnie Farley is glad the doors are open again.

Except for the near-barren walls, most changes are subtle. New booths in the main room now seat six adults comfortably and are enjoyed by families in the early evenings.

The building has served as a watering hole since the 1870s. Many ill-conceived additions to the kitchen, now gone, impeded the flow, said McAlpine.

Remnants from Dogwood include a tap pouring Old Glenham Brewery hand-drawn cask ale, tiles with a dog bone in the center made by Hudson Beach Glass and the sound system above the stage, which is now filled with tables for diners.

Christian Meixner, the chef at The Bird & Bottle Inn, devised the menu. The mostly fried sides go for $10 to $14. Other items range from $14 for three of the appetizers to $28 for a tuna rice bowl (although some of the salad add-ons can lift prices above $30).

Asian influences include dumplings, a scallion pancake and the kimchi rice bowl. The kitchen also serves pinsas, an Italian flatbread with a crispy crust consisting of a lighter dough.

McAlpine noted that Cooper’s Bar is the latest incarnation of previous watering holes, which included Zep’s, Annie Cabe’s, Sunderland’s Saloon, Papa Joe’s and Dogwood. Old-timers tell him that the bar occupied the current music room in the 1990s and receipts from the 1930s shellacked to the wall by the bathrooms indicate that a half keg of Feigenspann beer cost $7.75.

The one constant is change. “I’ve never seen a lot of our customers before and that wasn’t the case 10 years ago,” he said. “Going out in Beacon was like Cheers, but now there’s lots of young kids and a great mix of older and younger folks who just moved here and people who’ve been here forever.”

Cooper’s Bar, at 47 E. Main St., in Beacon, is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. Call 845-440-7171 or visit coopersbeacon.com.