Reviews

  We had a wonderful experience last night at The Tasting Room.  The chef has converted the lower level of his home into a restaurant.  We arrived before any other guests,... read more and our table had a great view of the open kitchen, so it felt like we were having a private chef's experience.  The food was expertly prepared and delicious.  We had the excellent crab cakes (my husband is from Maryland and is a tough critic of most crab cakes),  the red snapper and the quail (my God, the sauce!) and shared the Baked Nebraska and the chocolate pot au creme.  Prices were reasonable for the level of food and experience.  Looking forward to going back and trying other menu items.  Highly recommend.

  Had dinner at the Tasting Room last night.  It was an excellent experience.  This is one of only 3 places within a 20-mile radius I would recommend.  Food was very... read more good as was the service.
 If you approach this intimate establishment at night SLOW down, as the driveway comes up quickly and leads down a short drive to the establishment.

  The Picasso of Culinary, delicious food, excellent service, Chef Daniel Gendron this Wednesday evening prepared, entertained and served.

  Had dinner at The Tasting Room last night for hubby's birthday. Awesomest well executed dishes. Great experience and saw how chef was making our food from our table. By chance... read more there was a professional singer at another table who sang bday song for my hubby.

  We ate at the Tasting Room October 12.  What a wonderful dinner!
The restaurant itself is funky, in a good way.  You are eating in the chef's basement so... read more basically, he is cooking for you in his home.  There are only five tables.
The waitress, Roslyn, was so much fun, interacted with you the entire night, without being overbearing. She knew every detail about each course.
After our meal, Daniel came out and spent quite a bit of time talking to us.  

We had the beet,arugula and feta salad, the silver dollar crab cakes for our appetizers.  For the main dish we had the rack of lamb with an amazing reduction, served with the best potato cake I have ever had.  Also had the snapper en  paupiette, served with risotto Milanese, both cooked to perfection.
To finish off the evening we ordered affogoto served with homemade with homemade ice cream and chocolate pot de creme.
A really pleasant surprise tucked away here in Rhinebeck.  If we are ever in the area again, we will definitely come back.

  We ate at the Tasting Room on Friday October 8th. The eating space is in a walkout basement and the access is not cared for or well lit. The space... read more is a cheaply appointed and is an uninspired one, relative to the prices being charged for the meal which are extremely high relative to the experience.  It was OK food: The endive salad was nice, bread was "maybe available" when we asked, but then actually "you probably do not need the bread since your entrees are coming soon" Reduction sauce was dull and overly salted, polenta tasted bland, and the risotto was just rice and not a risotto, the vegetable was a steamed piece of cauliflower and was super boring to eat. The same reduction sauce was served on the chicken and the lamb dish: really? The wine we ordered from the wine list was wrongly listed and although "it was the same producer" claimed the server. The server was overbearing, asking personal questions and being manipulative constantly saying things like, the chef did this, and the chef does that, telling us the chef made a "four day reduction sauce" (really?), the chocolate desert was overcooked and mediocre: The server came and whispered: Did I oversell the desert? And I said: Probably you did.  We were bewildered at the accolades on yelp, the food was very uneven and the place had zero ambiance. Not going there again.

  TERRIBLE SERVICE and system:

I called over 3 months ago to make a reservation for my boyfriend's birthday for Saturday, 9/4. When I called, I was the first one... read more to be added to the reservation list for that night. Just called to confirm the reservation for 2 people on 9/4 and they told me they're all booked up. How does that even make sense?? Apparently they didn't enter my reservation correctly, and now they're all booked up with other people who made the reservation AFTER me. Now I have to scramble and find alternative plans 4 days before his birthday!

  This was way more than eating.  This was an experience that we won't soon forget!  Besides an amazingly talented chef, Chef Daniel is a truly wonderful human being that is... read more passionate about the food he prepares.  It was a beautiful experience talking with Chef Daniel in between bites of his delicious food.  We were so happy to be there and Daniel was happy to have us there!  It felt like we all knew each other for years.  We kept it light and ordered appetizers which consisted of crab cakes with an aioli sauce, burrata with baby tomatoes and pesto sauce and a refreshing beet salad with arugula and feta cheese I believe.  All very fresh, light and delicious.  We topped our meals off with Baked Nebraska, the chef's take on Baked Alaska.  This was homemade vanilla ice cream infused with ginger and lavender and the outside was meringue which Dan lit on fire so we got that great toasted marshmallow like texture and flavor.  Easily one of the most enjoyable desserts we've ever had.  Prices were very reasonable considering the locally sourced high quality ingredients.    All in all a terrific and one of a kind experience which felt like we were honored guests at the chef's home.  To top it all off, Chef Daniel saw we were having trouble getting a taxi back to our hotel in the rain, so he graciously gave us a lift back.  Like when does that ever happen, ever!  Thank you for your food, warmth and hospitality, Chef Daniel.   We sincerely hope to see   you again real soon.

  Tiny restaurant, Tiny dining room, tiny kitchen... And I'm really not sure how the chef cranks out all this delicious food in such small quarters.  Nearly everything was exceptional.  I... read more would eat the bouillabaisse out of a toilet, it's that good. Only slight And very minor complaint was the fish in the Bouillabaisse very dry and tough/overcooked..

  Let us be the most recent to heap on another 5 star review.  Chef Dan is doing something special at his cool, funky and relaxed restaurant.  Each dish,  from the... read more perfectly chilled and dressed beet and goat cheese arugula salad to the finely  seasoned and cooked silver dollar crab cakes and my wife's beautiful scallop entree with a light and flavorful risotto.  Spring asparagus was perfectly al dente.

The real star of the show was a 30 day dry aged rib eye with the best demi-glace based au poivre sauce that I have eaten.  Rich peppercorn flavor, perfect consistency and mouthfeel.  No  brandy cream shortcuts.  It is a real gem.  The process I know is labor intensive which may explain why nobody is doing this anymore.  Three days to make demi-glace is just not practical for the business side of most restaurants but he gets it done.   Great technique.
What a pleasure it was.  

His home made vanilla ice cream with cardamom (and maybe ginger) would command a a very dear price at any gourmet specialty store.  We both agreed that it may have been the best tasting ice cream that either of us had ever had.

Much fun hoisting a glass of vino (or two) after the cooking was done with the Chef.  His excellent staff of one worked hard all night.  We will be back for another visit in August or October from Long Island.   A must  visit on any trip to that beautiful area.