2 Best Restaurants in Rhinebeck, Hudson Valley

A sophisticated clientele crowds the bar, patio, and dining rooms of this lively Italian restaurant, once the showroom of a car dealership. The food, billed as "Hudson Valley Mediterranean," includes artfully crafted salads, house-made pastas, and hearty entrées. Baby greens provide a bed for roasted butternut squash, beets, and asparagus dressed with walnuts and crumbled goat cheese. Toppings for the "skizzas" (flatbread pizzas) range from a sausage–broccoli rabe–mozzarella combo to a goat cheese, mozzarella, arugula, pears, and figs option. Reservations are only accepted for parties of 6 or more.

Gianni Scappin, who's been serving excellent contemporary Italian cuisine at Cucina across the river in Woodstock since 2007, recently opened a laid-back yet elegant trattoria serving Italian-American specialties in the center of Rhinebeck. Go for the Neopolitan-style pizzas cooked in the wood-burning brick oven, housemade pastas, and excellent meats including a local rib eye topped with a spicy aioli.