Foodie's guide to Glimmers

Waterside table at the Blue Mingo Grill

We like our food. We admit it. So we thought you'd like to know where we eat when visiting the Glimmerglass Festival or Cooperstown or any of the lovely places in this part of upstate New York. Our days started light with a breakfast of fresh fruit and coffee at our hotel, a new place in town called the Railroad Inn. (see previous post for breakfast ideas.) We especially liked their fearsome air conditioning (a welcome relief from a temperature which with humidity reached 36C), their stylish bathrooms and the fact they had Beekman 1802 toiletries (more later). One of the reasons we resisted the fresh muffins on offer was we knew what we'd be eating later. The hotel is situated on a quiet side street and an easy walk into town. Its history is interesting as the former railway station is next door - now the offices of the Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation where a beautiful old train carriage remains and is now used for storage.

The Black Cat Cafe is a little gem in tiny Sharon Springs (which you may have heard of due to the Fabulous Beekman Boys). It's a 30 minute drive from Cooperstown but it's a beautiful route past old barns and rolling hills. Arrive early for lunch and you may get a table in the sun outside where you can gaze at the beautifully restored American Hotel over the road and chat to the cafe owner. He tells me his hydrangeas have never looked so good because of all the rain and asks which opera we saw last night. "Oh it was a Donizetti opera," I say, assuming he won't have heard of it. "Oh you mean the Siege of Calais," he replies without missing a beat. We order the Lebanese mezze, strong coffees, a BLAT (bacon lettuce avocado tomato) sandwich and a white bean soup. All were excellent. Sharon Springs really is the cutest little village.

Beekman Mercantile 1802

The first time we visited we'd never heard of the Beekman Boys, two Manhattanites who bought a farm here as a weekend retreat, lost their city jobs and had to make the farm pay raising goats. Their empire based on goat milk is in Sharon Springs - their Beekman 1802 store (named after the farm they bought and the year it was built) is fun to explore. There's just about everything you could make from goat's milk and more besides. Candles, toiletries, soaps and divine semi-hard cheese (you can taste it) known as Blaak. We even got a glimpse of a Beekman Boy in the flesh as Brent Ridge wandered in to the store -all smiles and dressed in one of his signature polo shirts - this time in pink. I'm a big Beekman Boys fan - their self-deprecating humour appeals to my British sensibility.

Lebanese Mezze at the Black Cat Cafe

Another favourite for lunch is the Blue Mingo Grill situated right on the edge of Lake Otsego, just a short drive from the Alice Busch Opera Theater, where most of the Glimmerglass shows take place.  Be careful of the turn off route 80 down to this place - you can easily miss it. (I guess they don't need to advertise as signage is minimal). Once at the bottom of the hill, down a series of hairpin bends through the boat yard, you will discover the restaurant. I can highly recommend the store with some very cool merchandise including vintage-style t-shirts and hoodies, homeware and garden accessories. High-end stuff.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Most tables are outdoors on a pleasant terrace but our favourites are right on the water where customers arriving by boat go ashore. A friendly waiter advised us about the best swimming hole (Fairy Springs) when we asked for local advice.                                                                                     We chose lobster roll and a tuna salad for a light lunch. We liked the dessert menu written on the wine bottle/flower vase - a nice touch. I've also eaten dinner here many times and can highly recommend it. 

We've talked much here about the Ommegang Brewery and its fine ales but the food at the cafe is pretty darned good too.  The brewery is just ten minutes south of Cooperstown.  The food is on a Belgian theme so beer-steamed mussels and frites are available as well as meatballs, brats and kraut. Look out for the Three Philosophers beer ice cream also. Beer lovers will think they've died and gone to heaven and we really enjoyed sample five ales at once on the platter below. (Glasses appear larger than they actually were).

Between Lake Otsego and the Black Cat Cafe lies another great little village - Cherry Valley.  Take your time and have a look around before heading for the best table around at the Rose and Kettle restaurant. I had a nice chat with the owner of the fabulous Clough's Bookshop who looks as if he has been here forever. He only charges me a dollar each for my purchases. "Is that all," I ask. "It's OK, I have plenty of books in here," is his reply.

I also spent some time in the Rag and Bone Parlor - an antique store with some fun finds inside and outside on the lawn. Stuffed pheasants, headless dolls, typewriters, a dolls' baby carriage. But it was time for dinner and in this quiet outpost with near deserted streets it's a strange contrast to walk in the door of the Rose and Kettle and find a buzzing restaurant full of opera-goers.

There's a reason it's always full -and not just because it's 5.30 and everyone wants to have a good dinner before the eight o'clock show. This place is one in a million. I had the sesame seared tuna with wasabi and picked cucumber salad. My companion had the maple glazed lamb tenderloin with figs and gorgonzola. To follow we had fish and chips and cod with asparagus. I don't just love the food but also the opera talk in here - on the next table a young singer was explaining how "It Ain't Necessarily So" marks a crucial turning point in Porgy and Bess, which probably everyone in the restaurant was just about to see. 

Sesame seared tuna at the Rose and Ketlle

Although we didn't eat at the Alice Busch Opera Theatre we did enjoy their chocolate covered ice-cream ice lollies/popsicles, Ommegang beer of course and their theatre-friendly fruit water (below) in a plastic mason jar with lid and straw. It made a nice souvenir from the festival -my fifth and one I will not forget.

Theatre-friendly drinks at the opera

To see more photographs from our time at Glimmerglass watch this slideshow video from my YouTube Channel.

               

For more on the Glimmerglass Festival which continues until August 22 2017 go here and for more on the Ommegang Brewery with its cafe, tours, shop and summer concerts click here.

                                                For more on Cooperstown read this.