Culinary Institute hosts Hudson Valley Restaurant Week launch

This year”™s fall version of the semiannual Hudson Valley Restaurant Week will kick off on Monday with a private gathering of chefs and food-and-beverage industry leaders at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

Presented by “The Valley Table” magazine, Restaurant Week runs from Nov. 2 to Nov. 15.

This year”™s March culinary event included a record-setting 222 restaurants in the seven-county region serving about 250,000 diners, according to Restaurant Week”™s organizer.

The Monday launch, in two sessions from noon to 4 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the CIA”™s Marriott Pavilion, will include an educational program led by Culinary Institute of America and craft beverage industry leaders for participating Restaurant Week chefs, restaurateurs, beverage directors and staff.

An urban shrimp garden, a new sausage company and artisanal cheeses from a solar-powered business, 5 Spoke Creamery in Goshen, will be introduced at the launch, at which attendees can also sample the region”™s meats, foie gras, beer, wine and spirits and mingle with chefs and food and beverage purveyors.

Speaking at the private event will be Hudson Valley Restaurant Week founder and Valley Table publisher Janet Crawshaw; state Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball; Michael Sperling, CIA vice president of academic affairs, and Waldy Malouf, senior director of food and beverage operations at the culinary school.

Organizers said shuttle transportation will be available from the Poughkeepsie Metro North and Amtrak stations to the Hyde Park campus.