the ‘designated driver’ who’ll work with your savvy server to coordinate a family style meal plan. The staff ain’t there to oversell you, but then there isn’t one item on the menu I wouldn’t recommend. Sorry if that sounds like a cop out but I think part of the fun of Deb’s is being surprised by how deliciously satisfying and surprising the ensuing parade of lentil dosa, scallops in parsnip purée, octopus tambala, passion fruit marinated shrimp, vegetarian empanadas, glazed plantains and provided they have one big enough to satisfy the whole table (their one flaw in portion control), fried porgy in ginger vinaigrette can be. Earlier I mentioned that the staff was interchangeable. The comment doesn’t have any bearing on their individual personalities, but rather that it seems as if everyone on the floor seems capable of taking over cooking, bartending, dish washing, birthday tributes, troubleshooting or spirit lifting at any moment without a beat drop. If we could only create a queer, nonbinary front this united on a national scale, we could happily scare Lauren
Boebert into never eating anywhere but at a McDonald’s ever again. Could anything make dining at Lil’ Deb’s any better? Yup. Two things, actually. First, walk in with a smile on your face that says you’re as happy to see them as they are to serve you. Second, regardless of the extensive and impressive roster of cocktails and libations available at the spot on the menu, immediately order a massive triangular pitcher of their spicy tequila cocktail called Garden Orgy. Blissful delirium has never had an easier or faster time getting through a straw. Oh, you’ll be ordering a second pitcher. I’m just not pushing it because if you start singing, and you don’t have a designated driver, there are currently bills stalled in Congress that’ll get voted on before you ever find an Uber to come to Hudson. LIL’ DEB’S OASIS 747 Columbia Street Hudson 12534 Open: Thurs – Sunday 5-10pm 518.828.4307 Reservations: Resy
Casa Susanna Yes, there’s music playing at Casa Susanna though Chef Efrén Hernández doesn’t allow any melodies running through his kitchen. It clouds his thinking. And from the look and taste of the results of his creative process, he has a lot going on, and a lot that’s deservedly being noticed. I admit to arriving at Susanna with a positive bias, since Hernández transformed a hastily conceived dining room at the Riverton Lodge in Hudson and turned it into one of the town’s most enviable dining destinations. In fact, if Riverton served nothing but Hernández’s sourdough bread and the elixir from its Merlinworthy Frozen Negroni machine (Santa, I know it’s early, but are you listening?) I’d still be a regular. Hernández earned a solid reputation at Riverton for pairing local produce in unexpected ways, including pears and foie gras, chanterelles and blueberry mostarda and squid ink cavatelli with red crab. But for his new endeavor, located in Leeds, NY within a handsomely and playfully restored
EDVARD MUNCH TREMBLING EARTH
THROUGH OCTOBER 15, 2023 The only U.S. venue for this new exploration of more than 80 Munch landscapes
WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS CLARKART.EDU Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth is co-organized by the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts; Munchmuseet, Oslo, Norway; and the Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany. Generous funding for presentation at the Clark and Munchmuseet is provided by the Asbjorn Lunde Foundation, Inc. Trembling Earth is made possible by Diane and Andreas Halvorsen. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Edvard Munch, Beach (detail), 1904, oil on canvas. Munchmuseet, MM.M.00771, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Munchmuseet/Juri Kobayashi
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