Daytime Feasts. Summer’s filled with reasons to celebrate, and our Mimosa Punch Bowl is a good enough excuse if you can’t find one. Private brunches and lunches for 10-150 feasts@stissinghouse.com.
Dinner with Dad. Our book has opened for Father’s Day. Rumor has it there’ll be smoked beef ribs and some special beers. Book on Resy.
Summer’s first strawberries taste the sweetest. Our first punnets will head straight into a coupe with our tart, grassy buttermilk sherbet and we’ve already made jars of preserve for our scones with jam and clotted cream.
Hello Summer!
Father’s Day is around the corner–the perfect time to share a conversation with our own Chef de Cuisine, and father himself, Roel Alcudia.
Roel is originally from New Jersey, a home base from which he did a lot of camping and hiking with friends while growing up. After rediscovering the outdoors during the early pandemic, and then helping reopen a number of restaurants in Miami and NYC post-pandemic, he and his wife started spending time in the places Roel frequented in his youth–the Catskills, Minnewaska.
Ready for a slower pace, Roel went from waiting for the subway to driving down a quiet country road. He traded executing city menus, derived from any ingredient you wanted to order, for local sourcing which requires more deliberate thought. “I have an 18th century housewife mentality,” he says. “What you eat is the best we can locally source, served in a simple preparation. This approach guides us in a genuine way. When you’re here, you should know you’re in the Hudson Valley, and you should know you’re at Stissing House in the Hudson Valley.”
What are some of your earliest memories of food?
Just laid eggs cracked on a steaming hot pile of white rice, stirred vigorously with lard until this porridge of sorts comes together with a sprinkle of sea salt. Breakfast! I grew up in a farmhouse in the Philippines, and it served as a local hub for farmers. Every day, my great grandmother would host them in our large kitchen. That’s where the farmers would be because that's where the food was and that's where I would be. Food played a very important role in my childhood and it wasn't just about eating. It was about community.
What’s an ingredient you’re excited about cooking with right now?
Lamb from Dashing Star Farm in Millerton. We buy the whole lamb and we use it in every way possible. We recently served poached tongues with green sauce and a salad, and it was a big hit.
How has being a father influenced how you show up as a chef?
Actually, in my experience, it's the other way around. Being a chef prepared me to be a better father. I've always seen my cooks as my kids. I’ve learned many lessons from those interactions throughout the years, lessons that have been effective with my own child. On the flip side, having a child did make me a more patient chef–less yelling which everyone is thankful for.
Is there a go-to snack or meal that you make for your son?
He’s really into fresh fruits of any kind, so we always have them around. As he gets older and understands more, we use them as a platform to teach him about seasonality.
Your wife Jessi is a pastry chef. Do the two of you have a favorite meal and dessert for entertaining friends?
We usually cook something we are very comfortable with because we want to focus our time and effort on interacting with our guests.We make a one-pot meal like baked pasta or chicken and rice, and then Jessi will whip up a batch of cookies and everyone's happy.
What inspires you?
Cooking is a language and recipes are a dialect. I try to understand and decipher these, whether from a cultural or technical point of view, before I pick up a knife. This has always been a part of my creative process. The true inspiration though comes from my natural surroundings and the bounty of the land. So, as a cook, I always try to balance these principles. We put kombu and guajillo chilies in the broth that we serve with our trout. No one knows it's in there, but it's delicious and our guests love it.
Three cookbooks every home chef should have in their kitchen:
Harold McGee On Food and Cooking
Eric Ripert A Return to Cooking
Joe Beef Surviving the Apocalypse
Favorite music to play in the kitchen while getting ready for service:
Old school ska and reggae; 90’s alternative and hip hop
Three local things you love to do in your downtime:
Hiking, farm tours, and going to Stewart's Shops for just that one thing…
Favorite discovery of the last year?
Pheasants from Woodbury Game Birds
What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
Have fun!