BRASSERIE LE BOUCHON
76 Main Street
Cold Spring, NY 10516
(845) 265-7676

If you're the kind of person who likes antiquing, driving through windy country roads, and visiting quaint little Hudson Valley villages, then Cold Spring should be your next day trip. It's even got a MetroNorth stop, so not having a car isn't an excuse. But I'm no tour guide. I didn't even do any antiquing when I wound up here. I was biking and the town was nearby. It was one step shy of random that Bro and drove this way at all. Nevertheless, I'm glad we did.

Le Bouchon sits in a colonial house on the main shopping street of Cold Spring, right next to all the chichi shops and bistros and a two block walk from the train. The inside is pure French bistro with deep red walls and that distinct smell of cream dishes and red wine deglazings. Le Bouchon attracts an older, relaxed crowd. The kind of fifty and sixty somethings who talk loudly and order a lot of wine. Bro and I were the youngest people here by a generation or two, but we didn't feel out of place. At least, I didn't.

The menu is pretty well priced, and we started with two classics. Bro ordered a bowl of Alsacienne Onion Soup, basically your standard French onion soup slathered in Gruyere, which I actually liked more than he did (he found it a bit thin), while I ordered the Escargot Parisienne. I won't lie. I've had better escargot. Too much garlic, not enough butter. In addition to the extra side of French Fries, which we both liked a lot, Bro ordered the Pork Jeanbonneau, a braised pork shank with apple relish and a celery remoulade. Not bad. My dinner was the Boudin Noir, a black blood sausage with mashed potatoes and apple. Wow. I wasn't expecting blood sausage to be that good. It was sweet and meaty and thickly syrupy. I must get this again. Although we did not order any mussels, the table next to us did and by the reaction of the women seated there, they were pretty good.

We would have ordered dessert, but we wanted to check out this ice cream place that was supposed to be very famous around the corner.