Photos by Doug Schneider
The Oldstone Inn served General Washington in the 1700s, but diners can enjoy a modern-day meal as Chef Eric Korn takes his Elephant Tree pop-up indoors.
A historic Van Cortlandt-Beekman mansion standing resolute above the north shore of the Hudson with spectacular views proudly flaunted by its Monteverde wedding venue, The Oldstone Inn has played host with its famous hospitality to great American forefathers like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin — and now maybe even you.
It’s no secret that we have been in love with resident Chef Eric Korn’s “Elephant Tree” popup restaurant at Monteverde since it launched. When it finally reopened as an all-outdoor experience this summer, we were delighted. Chef Korn’s richly layered plates are full of subtle flavor notes and a creativity that turns market-fresh ingredients and fare from the property’s own gardens into scintillating five-course experiences that rotate menus weekly. As the weather grew colder, however, we wondered how Korn would adapt to the changing seasons.
Read More: One of Westchester’s Favorite Pop-up Restaurants Is Back
Quite well, as it happens: Elephant Tree is going permanent, moving indoors to become the official restaurant of the Oldstone Inn itself, offering diners a truly remarkable private dining experience that needs to be savored to be believed.
Upon arriving at the centuries-old property, guests are welcomed into a private area of the sitting room, overlooking the setting sun on the Hudson and festively lit treescapes, for an optional house cocktail or two along with some light snacks before dinner — think farmers’ market pickled rainbow carrots and pickled fall peas still in their pod, as well as chicken liver mousse and mushrooms, greens, and toasted pepitas on the day’s fresh-baked toast.
After the cocktail hour, guests are seated at their tables — the inn experience feels very exclusive: around 20 tables total between nine private dining rooms and garden space. Once seated, perhaps across from a crackling fire, your host will begin explaining the content and source of source of each dish, seven in total, from a menu that changes daily.
Depending on when you go, meals may heavily favor local meats and fish, along with imaginatively utilized hakurei turnip and celery root. Celery root zeppole with chicken broth, anyone? Dreamy fish courses — grilled escarole with local apples, pears, and Hudson Valley sea bass sashimi followed by striped seabass over polenta with turnip greens, for instance — are broken up by palate-cleansing vegetarian dishes, and then succeeded by bites like lamb neck with potato and leek or chicken breast and thighs with mushrooms and a simple salad of camparosso lettuce.
Dessert is obviously, as creative as every other course. A batch of late figs flowering out back find a home inside a warm fig cake topped with dark-chocolate-dipped burnt toffee and a burnt apple purée drizzled in butterscotch. And that’s just the start, since each week tempts with new treats to savor.
Oldstone Inn currently accepts 6 p.m. seatings for two on Friday and Saturday evenings. (Cocktail hour starts at 5 p.m.) Reservations cost $175 per person and must be prepaid. Though the price tag may be hefty, the sheer quality of the farm-to-table cuisine and the exquisite sense of place make this an experience every Westchesterite should try at least once, if the opportunity arises.
Oldstone Inn
28 Bear Mountain Bridge Rd
Cortlandt
914.737.6500
