Don Bash is one of the business owners putting the “new” back in Newburgh.
The chef worked during New York City”™s ”™60s and ”™70s heady days in places like Studio 54 and Andy Warhol”™s favorite hot spot, Max”™s Kansas City, and was decidedly a dedicated urbanite. When he and his wife Michelle visited some friends who had discovered Newburgh”™s charming town homes, digging underneath the rubble of what urban renewal and “white flight” had left behind, they were tempted to go north from New York City.
By 1982, Don and Michelle Bash packed up their Manhattan apartment and trekked to Newburgh, where homes were relatively cheap, but crime and unemployment were steep and talk of bringing the city back to life was, well, a lot of talk. Today, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass front of the city”™s newest restaurant, The Wherehouse, it is hard to picture it as the Bashes found it: boarded up with plywood, with the remnants of an old beauty shop behind its graffiti-laden wooden panels.
Sitting at the corner of Liberty and Ann streets in a neighborhood once populated by mom-and-pop stores in a busy city, Beautyrama”™s hidden charm was discovered by Bash and his designers, River Architects, based in Cold Spring. Ripping down the exterior, they discovered iron columns that had been covered for years by plywood. More was waiting inside. Brick walls, solid-wood flooring and tin ceilings were just part of the treasure trove discovered underneath layers of neglect.
Today, the 2,500-square-foot restaurant has a little bit of everything to remind baby boomers of those summer days when Jimi Hendrix rocked the airwaves and the 1967 Summer of Love was in full bloom. Framed covers of the Woodstock generation”™s albums, posters from the Fillmore East as well as a collection of bottles discovered during the “quasi-archaeological dig” Bash and contractors went through while getting the restaurant ready have been delightfully incorporated into the surroundings. Today, a gleaming copper countertop and a comfortable array of tables, chairs and sofas await diners.
“The menu is what I like to call ”˜cosmic comfort food,”™” said Bash, “fresh and priced right, which is important.  We waited a long time to find the right place and did our homework. We”™re in a great location, where business is growing and buildings are being renovated. We estimate at least 3,000 people a year will visit The Wherehouse and that”™s being conservative. A new college will be here next summer, and the waterfront is just a block away.”
New York City? “Well, we love it, but we”™re still in a city and it”™s a damn nice one, too. Yes, it needs help, and we are contributing to its economic recovery. We”™ve bought a house here and started a business. We are here to stay.”
One of Bash”™s patrons, Callie Wilson, is a Newburgh native who once came to the restaurant when it was still Beautyrama. “Those were the days when families went to church, kids played in the street, and Newburgh was the hub of the Hudson,” said Wilson. “Things changed, and it wasn”™t safe to go out anymore. When the army base closed, a lot of people were out of jobs and went elsewhere. People started moving out their businesses and a lot of poor people got dumped here and drug dealers moved in.”
Looking around The Wherehouse, Wilson was amazed at its transformation and was glad to see her childhood city coming back to life. “There are a lot of good people here,” said Wilson. “They are trying to bring the city back, and they are people of all colors. Â It was a wonderful place to live in at one time. It”™s great to see people walking on the street again. I sure hope this place is here to stay.”
That”™s exactly what Don and Michelle Bash are hoping, too. “We just opened in February, but didn”™t do it with a lot of fanfare; this didn”™t just happen overnight; 11 years of planning went into The Wherehouse,” said Bash. “Michelle takes care of the planning and does all the bookkeeping, which helped us get the seed money we needed to get started. She”™s got the financial acumen; I know how to run a restaurant. Together, we”™ve made a formidable pair when it comes to making The Wherehouse work.”
Bash says the financial plan put together by his wife and Charlene Finnerty, owner of Plans and Profits in Middletown and a SCORE volunteer, got Michelle Bash into the Key Bank for Women  program.
“The main headquarters was still here on Broadway,” said Bash, “and through the program, Michelle was certified as a woman/minority small-business owner. We are grateful Key saw the potential in our plan and in our enthusiasm and commitment; we know we are going to be a fixture here. We”™ve already built up a following just by word of mouth. In this economy, that”™s remarkable, to say the least. We”™re really glad Key came through for us and helped us create this great ”˜must visit”™ location.”
Right now, The Wherehouse is waiting for its liquor license and Bash says the waiting has worked in the restaurant”™s favor. “People are coming here because the food is good and reasonably priced … that”™s what truly makes a good restaurant. Yes, we”™ll eventually have beer and wine, but it”™s better that people remember the food and come back for more.” Bash, borrowing from LSD guru Timothy Leary (sans the psychedelic effects), says he hopes people will discover The Wherehouse, where they can “turn on, tune in and drop in ”“ for a great meal and good company.”
