1215 ROUTE 199
MILAN, NY 12571
(845) 758-6676
OWNER/CHEF: JAMIE PARRY
Coming to Milan, New York, Chef Jamie Parry was the classic fish out of water. Having grown up in Manhattan and worked through some of the city’s finest restaurants—Montrachet and Tribeca Grill—Parry arrived in Milan and literally could not drive a car. Says Parry, “I’m like a real Manhattan kid. I met my wife and she has an established business up here, and so this is where we wanted to be. I mean, we live in the woods!” The move continues to be a bit of a culture clash: “The first thing I do when I go home—and by ‘home’ I mean New York City—is walk. Like, I walk down Columbus Avenue for twenty blocks or something. I can’t walk by the side of the roads up here. It’s really different; there are no locks on the doors.” He admits, “But I love it; it’s a wonderful life.”
Another Fork in the Road is an offbeat restaurant that serves high-toned, locavorian cuisine in simple digs. Parry describes his forty-six-seat restaurant thus: “It’s an old diner. Sadly, the original diner fixtures have been taken out, so it’s just a comfortable, small little rectangle. The walls have been very eclectically decorated with all of the stuff that I’ve accumulated over the years—movie posters and strange drawings made by my daughter.” Parry’s menu is also eclectic and includes dishes that might be equally at home at Tribeca Grill or a roadside food stand. Says Parry, “That’s how I cook—it draws on growing up in New York City and my love of ethnic food and fine dining, plus my experiences at Swoon [in Hudson, where Parry was chef de cuisine].”
The eclecticism and quality of Another Fork in the Road’s menu is a daring feat to pull off in Milan, where there are no throngs of foodies daily walking by the door. When he opened, Parry admits that he “was terrified.” He adds, “But I also knew that this was my first restaurant. I wanted to cook what I wanted to cook.” Parry’s personal crusade has softened, and now he draws from the talents of his staff. “It’s a group effort among all my cooks. Everyone has a say and everyone can put up a dish. We talk about what’s working and what’s not working. We constantly strive to put out the best food that we can.”
Like many other Hudson Valley chefs, Parry cites the quality of local ingredients as his inspiration. “The pure bounty—I mean, the vegetables! It’s unbelievable what we have available to us. I mean, especially the vegetables and the sheer amount of stuff that we have. Tiny growers like Common Hand Farm in Hudson or Starling Yards Farm in Red Hook. They made our entire year just by bringing in fun things that we could give our customers.”
(SERVES 4–5)
1 Red Hook Farms rabbit split
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, shaved thinly
1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly on a bias
1 onion, peeled, split, and sliced thinly
½ cup sliced morels
2 bay leaves
1 cup white wine
2 cups vegetable stock
¼ cup fava beans, blanched
¼ cup fiddleheads, blanched
1 pound fresh pappardelle
1 tablespoon loosely torn Red Hook Farms lovage
2 tablespoons grated Coach Farms Goat Stick
Preheat oven to 350°F. Using paper towels, pat the rabbit pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. In a skillet over medium-high, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until hot but not smoking, then add the rabbit, browning it, turning over once. Allow it to cook about 4 minutes per side. When all sides of the rabbit are golden brown, transfer the pieces to a plate.
Reduce the skillet’s heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, carrot, onion, mushrooms, and bay leaves. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 4–5 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to brown. Add the wine and deglaze the skillet by boiling, stirring, and scraping up any brown bits, then cook until the wine is reduced by about half, about 2 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, salt, and black pepper. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan and bring up to a simmer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and discard bay leaves.
Set a large pot of salted water on high heat. Meanwhile, take the rabbit from the pan and pull the meat from the bones. Return the meat to the sauce and add the fava beans and fiddleheads. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook the pasta in the salted boiling water, drain well, and transfer to serving platter. Spoon rabbit and sauce over pasta and garnish with lovage and grated goat cheese. Serve.