Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/328566
Bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy, Rhinebeck Primarily a kitchen store offering cooking and bakeware, culinary tools, tabletop items, and small appliances, the 1,700-square-foot Bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy offers a tiny but impressive selection of local and imported specialty foods. Among best sellers, according to Sean Nutley, co-owner with Gregory Triana, are Fruition chocolates, a small-batch line made by Jacques Torres Chocolates alum Bryan Graham in New York 's Catskill Mountains (it's the only bean-to-bar line made north of New York City, Nutley says) and a line of honeys sourced from Greece's central Peloponnese region by The Olive Table, an importer based in Woodstock, Vt. The honeys are available in four varieties: fir of Vytina, pine, Reiki, and orange blossom. Nutley and Triana also have recently brought in an exclusive retail line of spe- cialty salts called GlamSalt, made in Stone Ridge by artisan Makiko Harada and sold to several New York City restaurants, plus Fish and Game in nearby Hudson, N.Y., which was a contender for Best New Restaurant in the 2014 James Beard Awards. Specialty items like honeys, salts, and chocolates are artfully displayed at the front end in Bluecashew. A nearby wall of imported products include Baron International's Caribbean Marinade Hot Jerk Sauce, Portuguese Repolho Relish, Zia Rosa's Italian products, and Fior di Riso, in addition to olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and condiments. Bluecashew first opened 10 years ago in High Falls, N.Y., about 25 minutes away from the Rhinebeck location, launched five years ago. In addition to its local residents ("This is a big second-home area with a high disposable income," Nutley says), the hamlet of Rhinebeck attracts transplants from New York City, weekend tour- ists from the region and abroad, and a notable celebrity clientele. (Chelsea Clinton helped put Rhinebeck in the national spotlight when she married there in 2010.) Overall, customers are educated food enthusiasts. Because of the tourist traffic, Rhinebeck is a "seven-day-a-week town," Nutley adds. Bluecashew's primary specialty food customers are shopping for gifts, or found something on a previous trip and returned for more. "I have customers come back and buy five jars of our [Coalma] Italian tuna or Greek honey to last them until their next visit." Clinton Cheese & Provisions, Clinton Corners Opened last December in Clinton Corners, N.Y., Clinton Cheese & Provisions serves a small community of locals and weekenders from Manhattan in a bucolic setting in Dutchess County. "Because of win- eries nearby and our direct exit from the [Taconic State] Parkway, we're easily accessible and also in the middle of nowhere," says Erik Morabito, store manager and co-owner with Erin Cafarelli. As the only grocery store in the tiny town center, the 24,400-square-foot Clinton Cheese & Provisions carries a well- Bluecashew Clinton Cheese & Provisions Scarborough Fare PHOTOS: DENISE PURCELL; OTTO'S MARKET SUMMER 2014 153 storeTour_hudsonValley.indd 153 6/5/14 8:12 AM