City Series: Hudson, New York: Cafe Le Perche

When you are on a road trip, you always hope that the "arrival of lunchtime" and "finding a spot for lunch" will intersect.  I usually find a cute place to eat lunch when it's only 10:30 in the morning.  Or I'm starving, but there are only McDonalds for miles around.  

So when I realized that a French boulangerie was right down the street from where we were we would be shopping in Hudson, New York, I knew that this was going to be my kind of road trip.  Cafe Le Perche is a lovely little bistro and bakery in the heart of Hudson.

Dan and his aunt ordered Croque Monsieur (Grilled Brioche, Ham, Gruyere, Béchamel) which you can see in the top of the first photo and they loved it. Absolutely loved it.  You can see that I had a beautiful spinach salad with grilled chicken, goat cheese, candied nuts and fresh strawberries.  I'm trying to forget how much bread I ate.

It was fresh and chewy and perfectly delicious.  I just read the Cafe Le Perche story on the website and now I know why I couldn't stop eating their bread. 

They had a special 17-ton round brick and metal wood-burning oven shipped from France and assembled in the adjacent carriage house. (Click here to read their story and see photos of the oven being assembled). That amazing oven is where they can bake 200 of the most perfect baguettes.  I could eat them all.   

If you are driving around the Hudson River Valley, on a roadtrip looking for antiques or otherwise, you are sure to need some sustenance. Set your GPS to 230 Warren Street, Hudson, NY and fell confident that you will have a delightful meal. You can thank me later.