click to enlarge On a recent chilly evening, I headed to Feast & Floret in Hudson. Not only to try something new, but to understand how the restaurant is setting itself apart at the same location where until last March, Fish & Game and its award-winning chef Zak Pelaccio reigned over the region s dining scene. The trio of Jason Denton and husband-and-wife Patrick Milling-Smith and Lavinia Milling-Smith opened Feast & Floret in October, and the menu and overall dining experience is confident and assured less a response to Fish & Game than a new direction entirely. Feast & Floret s Italian-inspired menu is fresh, savory, presented with warmth, yet still exciting and full of interesting touches that keep you engaged in each complex bite. You re well-taken care of when you re eating there, the experience comfortable and lovely, whether you re dining inside in the gorgeously reimagined space that long ago housed a blacksmith shop or outside on the open-air p
For sentimental reasons, a dish that arrived early in the meal at Feast & Floret was my favorite. Truffled egg toast ($16) is a gloriously gooey square of bread with a raw egg yolk planted in the middle. Melted fontina cascades over the sides, two crisp asparagus spears act as sentries, and the plate comes showered with a flurry of fresh truffle shavings, exuding a luxurious odor.
I remembered this dish as one of the best things I ate in 1998 at ‘Ino, a 400-square-feet wine bar on lower Bedford Street in Greenwich Village. No food that couldn’t be made with just a cutting board and a toaster oven was served there. Then, the dish employed truffle oil rather than actual truffles, consistent with the bargain nature of the place. The guy responsible was Jason Denton, who went on to be involved at New York City restaurants such as Lupa, Corsino, and the ‘Inoteca chain of Italian wine bars, as well as Hudson, New York’s Fish & Game.