see the full review - Miss Lucy`s Kitchen

MISS LUCY’S KITCHEN
90 Partition St., Saugerties
246-9240 | www.misslucyskitchen.com
’CUE
136 Partition St., Saugerties
246-4CUE | www.cueshack.com
This past summer, the owners of Miss
Lucy’s Kitchen in Saugeties expanded,
opening a small barbecue joint down the
street that also uses fresh, locally sourced
ingredients.
18 ULSTER Magazine
’Cue, modeled after Cape Cod’s food
shacks, is open from April to mid-November and features eight outdoor picnic
tables. Sandwiches cost between $4 and $7
and sides between $1 and $4, to encourage
repeat business. An outdoor bar is planned
for next summer.
“We wanted to open a space that was fun
and affordable,” says co-owner Marc Propper, 47.
Last summer, locals lined up for ’Cue’s
pulled-pork sandwich, homemade-pastrami Reuben, barbecued brisket and inventive desserts, such as lemon meringue
with sea-salt caramel and local-strawberry
shortcake.
Onetime owners
of the French bistro
Grove in the West Village, Propper and his
wife, Michelle Silver,
opened Miss Lucy’s
in 2003 after the downtown dining scene
slowed following the September 11 attacks.
The couple had owned a weekend house
in Saugerties since 1996. After 9/11, they
bought the burned-out shell that became the
location for Miss Lucy’s, renovating it over
two years while adding apartments above
to finance their mortgage. “We had two kids
n Local Mushroom Ravioli With Wilted
Ramps, Lemon and Shaved Parmesan
Miss Lucy’s Kitchen
For pasta:
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 pound all-purpose flour
15 grams salt
1 ounce extra virgin olive oil
1 ounce water
1. Whisk eggs, yolks, oil and water together.
Gradually add flour until dough comes together.
2. Knead dough until smooth for seven minutes.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room
temperature for 20 minutes.
For Mushroom Filling:
1½ pounds local mushrooms (they use shiitake,
oyster and Hen of the Woods mushrooms)
6 ounces wild ramps (separate the white bottoms from the leafy tops; reserve tops for later)
¾ cup chopped Italian parsley
1¾ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup thyme, freshly picked
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil for cooking
1. Clean mushrooms and cut to same size. Toss
with thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place mushrooms on sheet pan and roast in 500-degree F
oven for 15 to 20 minutes until nicely browned.
2. Meanwhile, mince up the ramp ends (white bottoms) and sweat lightly in olive oil on stovetop. When
mushrooms are finished, add ramps and let cool.
3. Put mushroom mix in food processor and pulse
until coarsely ground. Add egg, egg yolks, parmesan and parsley to processor. Pulse until mixture is
combined.
4. Place ravioli filling in container and store in
refrigerator until needed.
5. Roll out pasta dough, shape and fill ravioli as
desired. Be sure to use egg wash to bind the pasta
sheets together.
To serve:
3 tablespoons butter
1 lemon – zest and juice
Parmesan cheese – freshly shaved
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh thyme
1. Cook ravioli in boiling salted water for 1½
minutes.
2. Wilt the ramp tops (leafy green part) in 3 tablespoons of butter in hot sauté pan.
3. When ravioli floats in water, strain and add to
ramps in pan. Toss ravioli lightly and finish with
lemon, fresh thyme and freshly shaved Parmesan.
Marc Propper and wife Michelle Silver own Miss Lucy’s Kitchen in Saugerties,
which has developed a following for its locally sourced dishes.
living in the dining room in an Upper West
Side one-bedroom apartment, and it just became obvious it was the right time to kick it
all into gear,” says Silver, 46.
The couple had two key tenets: use seasonal, local ingredients and create a kidfriendly atmosphere, along with a great
kids’ menu, which was important to them
as parents and, they felt, something the
area lacked.
“We’re so close to so many farmers, and
we spend a lot of time sourcing out our ingredients, and that had a lot of appeal for us,”
Silver says. “Four-star restaurants in the city
have to wait a couple of days for produce that
we’re just picking up that morning. Whatever
is best and available at that time, that’s what
we’re going to serve.”
At first, Silver says, the ever-changing
menu “annoyed” locals who would search
in vain for a favorite dish. “But people are
much more sophisticated about food now,”
Silver notes. “For a lot of locals, it’s fun for
them to come and not have the same thing
every time.”
With its collection of colorful aprons
and cast-iron skillets, Miss Lucy’s perfects
farmhouse chic.
The restaurant has developed a following
for such entrees as its Hudson Valley Farm
Smoked Duck Breast, as well as its unusual
desserts, including Maple Icebox Cake and
Carrot Cake with Brown Sugar Ice Cream.
Bolstering its local customer base, Miss
Lucy’s benefited from the 2004 launch of
HITS, a Saugerties summer horse-show series that draws a large and moneyed crowd
from across the world.
“It has a homemade, comfortable feeling, and the food tastes fresher,” says Ujjala
Schwartz, 67, of Port Ewen, munching on
baby back ribs on a recent Wednesday. “I
think we should keep it as local as we can
to support our area.”
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MARCH | APRIL 2012 19