When The Artist”™s Palate opened on Main Street in Poughkeepsie, the couple who owned it were told they were crazy to open a restaurant in that locale and even heard predictions they would close in about six months. Now, almost five years later, chefs and owners Megan and Charles Fell are opening a complementary restaurant called Canvas next door.
Their endeavor has been lauded by a New York Times restaurant critic in a 2007 review as “A joy on many levels, especially the food.” And their business acumen is helping revive a key section of Poughkeepsie, as five new restaurants will be opening in the neighborhood in coming months, within walking distance of the Bardavon theater and the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel in an area undergoing the first rumblings of a renaissance.
Charles is a Poughkeepsie native and Megan moved from Connecticut and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2000. They each worked as chefs at locales in the area until they met and married and pursued their dream of opening a restaurant.
“A lot of what we talked about was designing a place that we would want to go to,” she said. “So we wanted to have a restaurant that is constantly evolving, the food is always changing and art is constantly changing.”
Thus, the 30-item menu has only eight constant items that have proven to be crowd favorites and changes every two weeks. And every two months a new artist provides work to adorn the walls, which are set with special lighting to highlight the pieces. The building itself, which Charles called “industrial chic,” is a circa 1870 former clothing store with the original hardwood floors and ornate ceiling and a bar made of 150-year-old wooden floor joists recycled from neighborhood buildings. The effect in the 70-seat restaurant is striking, colorful and ever changing.
“Between the changing menu and the new art every two months, for us it means every two months we have a completely new restaurant,” Charles said. “And we have plenty of repeat customers, which tells us we are doing it right.”
They have served fresh, locally grown produce since they opened, saying it is much easier to get now as growers have become savvier about realizing opportunity with restaurants and the public has grown more sophisticated in seeking fresh food. They also have a local supplier for grass-fed beef.
But they are not satisfied with one successful restaurant. The couple are opening Canvas next door. They intend it to be something of a food and art club, with options for fine wine and micro-brews, gourmet small dishes, and art in a mutltitiered setting big enough for events and designed so as to accommodate quiet conversation. Canvas is set to open in August.
They say they are confident their new venture and the Main Street restaurant row will make it because of the increasingly diverse customers enjoying their fare. At first they said, only people from Poughkeepsie came, but as word spread, resorts such as Buttermilk Falls Inn and Spa in Milton began recommending the restaurant to guests. Soon customers started journeying from Red Hook and Rhinebeck and lately from Westchester, with many coming by train to see the Walkway over the Hudson and enjoy the area.
“We”™re happy that people are curious and adventurous,” Megan said.
