Roll Restaurant
Global Palate Restaurant | West Park
by M.R. Smith

I’d like to make something perfectly clear: I am not a food
critic.I am a food consumer, generally more an epicurean than gourmet, with a deep appreciation for those who make a sincere effort at making any culinary experience worth savoring, remembering and recommending. I know what I like, and most of the time I like what I know.

But most importantly, I’m the lucky holder of the long straw from a drawing down here at Roll HQ, the winner who gets to write our first restaurant review (I prefer “preview”). I’m really glad I cheated too, since we are starting off this month with longtime local favorite Global Palate.

With good friends the Professor and the Sicilian along to provide menu and conversation variety, we arrive at the modest building located near the Hudson River on 9W, just south of Kingston. According to the Professor, this location has legendary mojo, having previously been the very popular Marcel’s Restaurant.

As we enter, a serious full-service bar awaits those dry from the road, causing the Sicilian to announce a need for wine, which was swiftly accommodated by skilled wait staff. With a low-ceiling, dark wood paneling, and fireplace, the place exudes rustic charm: simple, comforting, and no-frills. It’s classic old-school, not too fussy or artsy, and I am a sucker for it.

Maybe I’m just easily impressed, but the wine and beer selection is stellar, great locals and internationals, all quite reasonably priced. The Professor is downright gleeful to find his favorite Ommegang Abbey Ale available, while the Sicilian basks in a nice glow from a Mark West California Pinot Noir (2006).

The menu arrives, with a wide variety of specials: a cornucopia of globe-trotting culinary disciplines, all presented with all-natural hormone-free meats from local farms, as well as locally-grown produce, primarily from RSK Farms, Stone Ridge Orchards, and Davenport’s Farm. Global recipes, locally produced.

And we’re off to a great start. The Sicilian gets the house salad: baby spinach with grilled pears, Cabrales blue cheese, and shaved red onion, with hazelnut vinaigrette. The Professor, sticking to the classics, counters with the house Caesar, with white anchovies, and I succumb to the Shrimp and Pear Potstickers w/ tamari-ginger dipping sauce.

The crunching and dare-I-say ecstatic moaning from the Sicilian confirms salad Nirvana: a great flavor and texture combo, the hazelnut an inspired choice. The Caesar got a nice boost from the requested extra anchovies: not those bony, skinny things you get on a bad pizza, but nice tangy/salty fishes. And my pot-stickers took some chopstick dexterity due to their generous size, but the shrimp/pear combo worked nicely (what the heck do folks usually put in these pot-stickers anyway? I’m never sure), and the dumpling casings held up well. It’s hard to say how good they were, they didn’t last long.

Still, no problem making room for the entrees. The Professor was apparently feeling the need for comfort food, so he opted for the Shepherd’s Pie (from the specials menu), with ground lamb, carrots and onions, with a perfectly browned mashed potato topping. Though this dish sounds simple, it still has a subtle and satisfying blend of warm spices, and a big ol’ bite of it just feels right somehow. The Sicilian opted for something a bit more Italian, and got the vegetarian Crushed Potato, Carmelized Onion & Chevre Cannelloni with Sauce Basques and sauteed broccoli rabe. It’s one happy Sicilian digging in: the sweet red tomato/roasted red pepper Sauce Basques gets raves, we wonder aloud for quite awhile at why we never had broccoli rabe when we were kids.

It’s true, we really need to get out more often.

I get the vote for coolest entree tonight though, with the Grilled Kona Kanpachi (Hawaiian Yellowtail), with sake-miso glaze, on a butternut-shiitake sushi-rice cake. The light buttery fish (I confess, I’ve never had COOKED yellowtail before!) gets a nice tart-sweet push from the sake-miso glaze, plus a light nuttiness from the sesame seeds. The butternut squash has somehow been fashioned into an odd al dente vermicelli, sweet and crunchy with some salty tamari, and the shitake rice cakes provide a solid earthiness. Our server was spot-on with her recommendation of a clean and citrus-y white wine, in this case a 2006 Spanish Albarino Martin Codax Rias Baixas. I’m having a Mahler symphony in my mouth, without all the smelly musicians.

It should be mentioned that the service at Global Palate is peerless. I’m pretty sure the wait staff knows I’m a potentially famous food critic—I mean, consumer—but that’s not affecting the service one iota. Never hovering, they are still attentive and right on time; it’s a pleasure being served by them. No seriously: absolutely top wait staff. You’ll see when you go there yourself.

Dessert? Well, I confess: last time I came here, I had the Chocolate Three Ways: bittersweet flourless chocolate cake with white chocolate creme anglaise and milk chocolate ice cream. This looked too good to not have again, so we all indulged, and yes, oh yes it is a good thing sopping that dark chocolate cake up in the white chocolate creme, but I think next time I will have to try the Maple Flan with candied almonds and ancho-cinnamon tuile. If only they had put it first on the dessert menu!

Yes, I am not a food critic, so I am not going to criticize Brad and Jessica Winchell’s wonderful restaurant, and neither are the Professor and the Sicilian. I am going to tell you this: if you want to spend your hard-earned money on excellent food and drink in a mellow atmosphere, spend it here. It’s worth it, and so are you. —M.R. Smith

The Global Palate Restaurant is located at 1746 Rte. 9W, in West Park. Hours are We/Th/Su: 5-9 PM, Fr/Sa: 5-10 PM, with a Sunday Brunch from 10 AM- 2 PM. Appetizers- $6-10, Entrees- $16-27, full bar, occasional music on Th nights. www.globalpalaterestaurant.com, 845.384.6590