A Delightfully Unique Dining Experience

6 comments

Happy 2019! As we head into our third decade, our mission as a restaurant and as a gathering place for our community remains more important than ever.

We are passionately committed to providing our guests with a delightfully unique dining experience. As a Hudson Valley dining destination, we strive to consistently provide you with the freshest, highest quality food; celebrating the robust local bounty.

Over the last 20 years, providing you with the freshest, highest quality food and celebrating the robust local bounty has become increasingly easier. There has been so much growth in the local food scene as a result of the farm-to-table movement, both in terms of more farms growing quality ingredients locally and more diners understanding the benefits of eating local, sustainable food.

So much, I’m happy to say, that celebrating the robust local bounty is no longer something that makes Terrapin especially unique.

Today, most Hudson Valley restaurants are incorporating some form of local food into their menus. And just take a look at any local publication, like the Valley Table, to see all the new farm-to-table restaurants opening, many with acclaimed NYC chefs at the helm. Local organizations, like Hudson Valley Bounty and Farms2Tables, have done amazing work creating networks between farms and chefs. Follow us on Instagram to learn more about the important work Farms2Tables is doing; we have a collaboration planned with them later this summer.

My point is, we have to be a little more creative these days to provide you with a delightfully unique dining experience. I truly believe that one of the most important factors in Terrapin’s success and growth over the past two decades has been our staff and their relationships with you. Our team (many of whom have been with Terrapin an incredibly long time compared to staff turnover in the industry) is constantly working to make Terrapin a welcoming place for you and to go above and beyond what you expect when you choose to dine with us at Terrapin.

Yes, we have a pretty unique location in a restored, historic church right in the village of Rhinebeck, and yes, we can offer you everything from a nice dinner in our dining room to a more casual lunch or late night meal and drinks in the bistro; but these aren’t the things that keep you coming back.

This Wednesday, I’m closing the restaurant for dinner service so we can have our annual staff party. I apologize for any inconvenience, but I do hope you’ll agree with me when I say that the people behind Terrapin are very deserving of a night off for some fun together. While we take a night to celebrate together, I would like to share with our staff your thoughts on how we’re doing in achieving our mission.

Are we consistently providing you a delightfully unique dining experience?

What are we doing right and what could we be doing better to ensure Terrapin remains a top dining destination for you?

Please share your thoughts in the comments. We look forward to hearing from you.

6 responses to “A Delightfully Unique Dining Experience

  1. I’ve been a fan for a decade now and bring friends whenever I come up from Jersey.
    We are greeted with attentive service, putting us right at home.
    When missing you, I delight in reading your innovative, inviting menus. Don’t ever take off the duck quesadilla, a longtime favorite from the first bite. That item symbolizes your intriguingly delicious flair.
    Thank you for thriving so as to provide a continuing, evolving dining experience.

    1. Thanks Sandy. We’ll never take off the duck quesadilla. It’s been on the menu since the beginning and is still one of our most popular dishes.

  2. My husband and I spent many wonderful evenings at Terrapin enjoying both the delicious food and friendly, efficient service. Since he passed away, I’ve eaten there by myself (everyone there makes me feel very welcome and comfortable) and have taken several friends there. Everyone I’ve introduced to Terrapin has become a fan, even the one who had never gone there because she thought it was “snooty”. Since the setting is beautiful and the servers were so friendly, she came away raving about the place! And the food, outrageous! I always get the soup, and even had the Gazpacho for both an appetizer and dessert one night. Whenever I eat at another restaurant I judge it against Terrapin, and have yet to find one that doesn’t come in second. I’m going to be moving away from the area soon and will really miss this place.

  3. hello, this is just a weird FYI story/question– but piqued my interest. While thumbing thru an OLD magazine, RELIX ( a DeadHead publication, from Dec 2000 !!) someone had posted a photo of your Terrapin sign nailed on a tree ..your W.Hurley location on Spillway Rd, (( Tripping thru my memory lane, 40 + YRS ago , i dated a guy who lived in Hurleyville who attended culinary college in Sullivan Co}so I thought , ‘hummph’ , let me google & see if this place is still around ?? Alas, I followed the links, found the Rhinebeck website, checked out the menus, etc.. Place looks great & yummy, so this spring as I drive up for my 2x yr
    trip from west Jersey to VT to visit my 2 sons, I will DEF detour to taste some Terrapin”s delights.. Looking forward to dining there. My question> Are you Josh, or were u ever, A DEADHead, (vis- a vee) ,the sweet symphony “Terrapin Station” ,
    OR , why the name Terrapin ??? many Thks

    1. Hi Emilie, glad you found us. Yes, I’ve been to 60+ shows, mostly during my college years and Terrapin Station was the inspiration for the restaurant’s name. Looking forward to your visit!

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