River Pavilion Evolves into a Seafood Destination on the Hudson
By Craig Friedman
The view from the banks of Hutton Brickyards — a hotel and venue situated right on the Hudson — features a long uninterrupted panorama of blue sky, passing clouds, dense clusters of trees across the channel in Rhinebeck, and the occasional passing boat. It’s perfectly tranquil and it’s been mesmerizing people for hundreds of years. From 1865 to 1980, this parcel of land was the epicenter of brickmaking, the key source of essential building blocks for New York’s most famous buildings, including The Empire State Building, Yankee Stadium, The Brooklyn Bridge, and Columbia University. The site attracted a diverse group of international workers — Italians, Poles, Hungarians, African-Americans, Irish, and Germans — and they all admired the same panorama you see today.
In 2021, management unveiled the recently reimagined River Pavilion restaurant, nestled on the shore. And since then, every year the team there has experimented with dishes, finally settling on a seafood-centric focus. It is now a place where visitors of all kinds can take in the view while sharing a drink or meal amidst the history and scenery of the space.
Bring Family, Friends & Fido
River Pavilion, open to the public from May to October, checks all the boxes you’d want to see at a riverfront eatery: It’s date-friendly, family-friendly, pet-friendly, and event-friendly (it’s a popular wedding and retreat venue). It also boasts plenty of open space for large groups, people who like to walk off a meal, and antsy kids.
An all-new restaurant team includes chefs and managers who bring years of local experience to the venue, including Chef Edward Harder, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate with over 15 years of experience, who previously worked at the acclaimed luxury resort, Wildflower Farms, and Beverage Director Glenn Reign, who has extensive restaurant experience in the Hudson Valley.
Specializing In Seafood
One other thing sets it apart: The menu makes the most of the proximity to the river. Dinner starts with raw bar options (oysters, shrimp, lobster); appetizers include calamari, mussels, and butter-poached crabcake; and entrees run the gamut from Seared Diver Scallops to Whole Branzino to Fire-Roasted Maine Lobster Tail to Diver Scallops, Shrimp, and Pei Mussels in a Saffron–Herb Beurre Monté.
A dramatic Seafood Tower — featuring oysters, shrimp and lobster — is available for both dinner and brunch.
Chicken, Steak & Vegetables
Folks who don’t like seafood can start with a salad — BLT Wedge, Kale, or House — and order entrees including New York Strip Steak, Piri-Piri Chicken, or Fire-Roasted Carrots & Beets. The side dishes make great use of the powerful oven (800+ degrees) and include Roasted Tivoli Mushrooms, Charred Corn, Crispy Fingerling Potatoes, and Charred Broccolini. The Brickyard Heritage Burger and the New England Lobster Roll are available for lunch only.
Added Freshness and Special Touches
“We always try to go an extra step,” says Executive Chef Ed Harder. “Instead of just searing the crab cake, it gets butter poached, and instead of serving just an ordinary crab cake, we switched up the slaw to make it more exotic with shaved jicama, which adds a bite to it. So there’s an acidic crunch on top of the crab cake with a lemon aioli. Everything is intentional, balanced.”
Savvy diners will notice that every dish brings a symphony of flavors and textures to the plate — exotic sauces, unexpected spices, bright colors, and captivating crunches. “On a menu, you can't list every description,” Harder adds. “There are a lot of warm spices on the Carrots and Beets, for example, like cumin and turmeric and ginger — heavy aromatic seasoning.”
And then there are the ingredients he grows on the property. “To start, I have all kinds of seeds I'm germinating right now,” he explains. “I'm looking to do cherry tomatoes, basil, mint, jalapenos, things that don't take much maintenance from us. And right behind River Pavilion, I have scallions, which is cool because I can take a pair of scissors, cut them, clean them, and it's on the plate in five minutes. It doesn't get fresher than that. And they taste much more floral.”
Local, Sustainable, Delicious
One of the advantages of having a locally grown culinary team is that, over the years, they’ve developed relationships with many nearby farms. So it’s no surprise that Allen Brothers provides the USDA Prime 14-ounce, grass-fed, New York Strip Steak; Dressel Farm sources apples in dishes like the Butter Poached Crab Cake; Davenport & Sons Farm grows the Carrots and Beets; Migliorelli harvests the sweet corn in the puree of the scallops dish; and Keegan Farm produces the beef chuck, short rib & brisket blend in the Brickyard Heritage Burger (served on a roll made by Kingston-based Diesing’s).
“I informed the farms of our plan and the direction that we want to go,” says Harder, “and Davenport messaged me the other day; she has fresh local asparagus. So I’m like, great, I'll take 20 pounds of it — because these things are phenomenal when charred and wood-fired. It'll probably be listed as a special for a couple of weeks or months. And Migliorelli right across the bridge — local farm — they're about to go into their corn season. We reached out to them. We’re trying to work with the seasons, you know? Peaches are coming, and we're going to be starting watermelon soon, too.”
Best Brunch In The Hudson Valley
Brunch-goers can choose from dishes that appeal to every palate (and dietary restriction), including an Everything Bagel & Hudson Valley Lox, New York Strip & Eggs, Crab Cake Brunch Plate, Brûléed Brioche French Toast, Maine Lobster Frittata, Breakfast Burger, and the New England Lobster Roll. The menu also features the two-tiered raw bar, oysters, and whole lobster. All menus indicate when a dish is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or pescatarian.
“The Crab Cake Brunch Plate has been popular,” he says. “lt's a simple crab, a little arugula salad, and then lightly scrambled eggs. The Brioche French Toast is also very popular. My sous chef, Brandon, makes a creme anglaise, and it's like a brulée. So it's sugar and butter, and it’s bruléed on top.
A notable new addition is the main Lobster Frittata, which is like an open-faced frittata made in like a 8-inch saute pan, and then we add fresh Maine lobster, creme fraiche, lemon zest, and a pretty garnish. The Lobster Roll is a house favorite. A lot of people love the celery, the fennel, and the mayo mixture. We also introduced a house chip this year: Idaho potatoes with a smoked paprika salt blend. It’s a simple chip, but they're very good and we're getting crazy feedback. All the tables get chips.
Riverfront Drinking: Beer, Wine, Cider & Cocktails
River Pavilion’s craft cocktails pay direct homage to the iconic buildings that used Hutton bricks. So there’s an Empire State, Columbia U, Brooklyn Bridge, Yankee Stadium, and Plaza Hotel.
In most cases, these drinks are modern adaptations of the classics or add sly science to the equation. “We're looking to do some new things to the drinks, like smoking our Plaza Hotel, which is a mezcal version of a Paloma,” says Reign. “Our Hutton Kiln is an homage to s'mores (we offer s'mores kits for guests by the fire pits, which are all over the property). We garnish our Hutton Kiln — which is an espresso-style whipped cream marshmallow martini — with a charred marshmallow, and that’s a really beautiful presentation. It leans into that rustic luxury.”
For the record, the Grand Central is a tasty rendition of a bourbon-style Boulevardier. The Yankee Stadium is like a jalapeno-infused margarita, the Brooklyn Bridge is a seasonal mojito (“Everybody wants a mojito by the water,” he says). And the Columbia University is a take on a more tropical version of a Midori Sour.
Their most popular drink is The Cloisters, which combines butterfly pea vodka, elderflower liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and club soda. “It changes colors from blue to purple,” says Reign, “depending on the butterfly pea tea that's infused in-house in the vodka.”
And then there are the Kraft Organic Frozen Cocktails, which can be made with one of two spirits (rum or vodka) and two fruits (mango and dragon fruit). Tractor Beverage Company provides the 100% USDA Certified Organic, non-GMO juice. And these can be made without alcohol for fans of mocktails.
The full list of ingredients in each cocktail/mocktail is listed on the drinks menu. For brunch on weekends, you can also order staples like a Mimosa (they can do pineapple, orange, or cranberry mimosas and they’re bottomless on Sundays!), a Bellini, or a Bloody Mary.
Locally Sourced Beer
For a crash course in locally sourced libations, look no further than the beer, wine, and cider list on the drinks menu.
There are four brews on tap and ten in bottles and cans. This includes Brickyards IPA draft, which is sponsored and developed by Industrial Arts, a brewing company in Beacon, New York, and a seasonal rotating draft, which is currently the Millhouse Cucumber Blessings, from a local brewery in Poughkeepsie.
When it comes to cans and bottles, the beer list runs the gamut with a lager, wheat ale, and farm-fresh ale from Brewery Ommegang; a pilsner from Brooklyn Brewery; IPAs from Captain Lawrence Brewery Company and Industrial Arts, and even a cider from Awestruck in Sidney, New York. As Beverage Director Glen Reign notes, “this year, we're doing pretty much all New York, except for a Stella.”
Red, White, Sparkling & Rosé Wines
Beverage Director Reign is always on the hunt for great wine and has selected glasses and bottles that go best with seafood in general, but that can also be paired with heavier dishes like steak and Piri Piri Chicken. Most recently, he added vino from local winery Millbrook Vineyards, specifically their Cabernet Franc.
The classic pairings tend to be the most popular: Sancerre (from the Loire’s Domaine Raffaitin Planchon) goes well with all seafood, especially the raw bar. But guests can opt for a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Chardonnay by the glass — or Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, or Riesling by the bottle. On the red wine list, there is a Pinot Noir, Côtes du Rhône, and Cabernet Sauvignon by the glass, and Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Gran Reserva Rioja, and Super Tuscan by the bottle.
New to the list this year is the Pearsecco, a dry hard pear cider. See the full drinks list here. River Pavilion also hosts musicians (like the Wednesday Jazz Night on the River). Check the events listings for more info. And don’t forget: You can take your drink on to the lawn and take in the river while seated in an Adirondack chair.
How Big Is Your Party?
Got a large group? The restaurant seats 86 people and has a private dining room that fits 12. To secure space for a group with more than 10 people, interested parties should fill out the form on the restaurant webpage. Weddings, corporate retreats, and other types of events are a whole other matter; Hutton Brickyards has three other riverfront spaces — a hall and two pavilions — that can fit up to 1,400 seated guests. At that point, you’re no longer eating at River Pavilion, but your group will still have a memorable meal, incredible views of the Hudson River, and phenomenal photos to commemorate the event.
FAQs
Do I need to be a hotel guest at Hutton Brickyards to dine at River Pavilion?
No! River Pavilion is open to the general public for brunch, lunch (Thu-Sat), and dinner (closed Monday).
Are reservations required?
Not required, but they are highly encouraged. Walk-ins are welcome, but to guarantee your table and avoid a wait, especially during peak times, making a reservation is the best option. You can easily make a reservation through OpenTable here.
Walk-in space for large parties?
To guarantee seating and ensure a smooth dining experience, reservations are required for parties of 6 or more. If your party is larger than 10, please submit an inquiry through the special events form on the restaurant webpage. Once you submit a form, someone from our events team will reach out to you.
Can I grab a drink at the bar while I wait or after my meal?
Absolutely! There is plenty of space at our bar, cozy fireside lounge, and outdoor Adirondack chairs just steps from the water!
Dog-friendly?
Yes, and there’s plenty of room for your furry companion to sprawl out and catch the eye of passersby.
What is the parking situation?
Complimentary parking in Lot E at Hutton Brickyards. Enter our main gate at 200 North Street in Kingston and follow signs for Lot E.
Semi private dining at River Pavilion
Info & Hours
River Pavilion Restaurant
Hutton Brickyards Riverfront Hotel & Event Space
200 North Street
Kingston, NY 12401
845-514-4853
Dinner is Tuesday to Saturday, 5 PM - 9:00 PM (Sunday 2:30 PM - 7 PM)
Lunch is Thursday to Saturday, 12 PM - 2:30 PM
Brunch hours: Sunday, 11 AM - 2:30 PM
Reservations encouraged, walk-ins welcome.
Open to the public with free parking.
