MOUNT TREMPER >> Going local for produce at Catskill Rose on State Route 212 only takes a short walk to a large backyard garden.
The husband-wife team of Peter DiSclafani and his wife Rose Dorn said they’ve had a garden in the backyard since the late 1980s, long before farm-to-table and local became buzzwords in the restaurant industry.
The garden came as a result of a desire for a fresher-tasting produce, he said, adding that guests can taste the difference.
He said he loves giving guests a tour of the garden.
Tending his plants on a hot spring afternoon, he said they grow green beans, snap peas, tomatoes broccoli, rhubbarb, strawberries, raspberries, and they also have blueberry bushes.
Many other plants are housed in a greenhouse that is built onto the back of the large white frame building on a quiet stretch of state Route 212 not far off state Route 28 that houses the restaurant and the rooms of a small inn by the same name, he said.
All of the produce is organically grown, he said, adding that they strive to buy organic as well.
“It’s gotten bigger and bigger as we’ve gotten bigger,” he said.
He estimated that they spend approximately 10 to 20 hours a week working in the garden.
“We go out in the morning do some garden tending, watering it and planting it,” he said, adding that after that they carefully watch it grow and harvest it.
DiSclafani and Dorn are big into composting, which he said has reduced their trash output from a dumpster to a household size trash can while improving soil conditions in the garden.
He said in the time he’s had the restaurant he’s seen people become more interested in better, not just faster food.
“Less people are going to fast-food places,” he said. “And more people are going to slow-food places and are seeing the benefits of it.”
Catskill Rose specializes in American food with a take on California cuisine with a classical bent, he said.
“We strive for tasty food,” he said. “We want something people haven’t had before, or done in a way they never seen presented before.”
He said some of this most popular dishes include Agnolotti, a fancy form of ravioli with an unexpected flavor.
The menu is changed several times a year, but some stapes remain, like a steak, he said.
The focus isn’t just on offering the largest portions, but instead on combinations that wow, he said.
A native of Saugerties, he said he worked under many different chefs before opening Catskill Rose.
He said working under these chefs taught him to experiment.
During the summer, he said they try to add some lighter items.
As he showed off a large smoker that sits outside on a small porch, he said their smoked duck, which features burnt orange sauce, star anise and wild rice pilaf, is one of their most popular dishes.
The smoked trout, featuring shaved fennel and celery, orange, green olives and pickled onion, is also a popular choice, he said.
He said it’s the close connection between him and his wife that allows them to deliver the level of consistency he desires.
“People who come in say it’s always good,” he said.
Some opt to sit in the intimate art deco-styled dining room, or during the warmer months up, many others opt for a large patio that looks out onto the lodging facility’s outdoor pool that is covered with a greenhouse-like cover that extends the swimming season.
He said it’s just him and his wife in the kitchen, and that’s the way he wants it to be.
“I think that’s the way to keep it consistent,” he said.
By keeping more limited hours on four days a week, he said they have the time to rest, rejuvenate and be able to brainstorm about ideas for new menu items.
“Rose and I put our heads together and just think about how that will taste great together” he said.
“Let’s do that,” he said. ” And it turns out really good.”
He said most of the time they are never more than 50 feet apart day after day, adding that they’ve never felt a need to distance themselves from each other.
“We’ve just been together long enough,” he said. “Even when we first got together, we liked being together and working off of each other.”
Rose is an artist that has painted several paintings of roses that line the dining rooms walls, and she set’s the direction of the menu, he said.
He said he first met her when he was living in California.
Later he said he brought her to Upstate New York after they had been living in Colorado for about 10 years. She just fell in loved with the colorful foliage of the Catskills, he said.
They later moved to the area and that’s how the Catskill Rose came to be, he said.
In over 25 years, he said Catskill Rose has weathered and thrived through the many changes that have come to the area, noting the closing of IBM’s Kingston plant in 1995 that led to over 7,000 layoffs and the more recent nationwide recession.
But he said a steady stream of folks that are going tubing, hiking, biking or are going to weddings or events, like the Woodstock Film Festival or The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, help keep the place humming, alsong with inn guests.
Catskill Rose is at 5355 state Route. 212. It’s open Thursdays through Sundays starting at 5 p.m. Visit http://catskillrose.com/ for more information.
