Our friend was not so much suggesting, as begging us to go. Forget that we couldn’t fathom getting back into our rental car after an afternoon cruising along Route 9; forget our host’s tips for the Tuscan and French bistros on Main Street, near our B&B here in Cold Springs. We absolutely, unquestionably had to try Tavern, literally eight minutes away in nearby Garrison, repeated our friend, Jennifer Brandt-Taylor, a former fellow Angeleno-now Hudson Valley local with her husband Nic Taylor. It’s so romantic. It’s their favorite. It serves locally grown fare.
Those two words were all it took to get Andy in the driver’s seat. Locally sourced anything has become as familiar a menu staple as bottled water and sea salt. But given the option for a meal offered with regard for the ingredients as much as the prep, well, we took the (organic) carrot.
Tavern is at Highlands Country Club, a former members-only sprawl complete with a fleet of golf carts. A grand ballroom with an even grander chandelier belies it name, more suited to the connected cozier, darker pub with its rustic communal tables and library wooden chairs, and where we planted ourselves for the evening.
Eric Gabrynowicz, a former sous chef at Union Square Cafe in Manhattan, arrived at Tavern in late 2007. He makes delicious use of the harvest from the two-acre farm that is a sister property of Highlands, as well as sourcing fruit from nearby Hepworth Farms and cheese and ice cream from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy.The sheep’s milk blue cheese in our salad, served with spicy leafy greens from the next door fields and cranberries and white balsamic were a great start with Doc’s pear cider (the list of beers and wines are mostly from New York state).
Nearby Blooming Hill supplied the Jerusalem artichokes for the perfect soup, and Andy’s thick heritage pork chop hailed from Glynwood Farm. Mouthwatering as that slab was, though, it paled against my tender braised short rib from Cedar Farm, topping a fluffy bed of memorable English Pea mash.
We probably should’ve, could’ve stopped at that second course. But we didn’t. We shared a wedge of cheesecake drizzled in bourbon syrup, then finished our hot drinks outside by the fire. Even as the sprinkle turned into something more, it was hard to imagine getting back into the car and leaving.

Tavern at Highlands Country Club 955 Route 9D, Garrison. 845-424-3254.