Eric Gabryonwicz made a comment during our Tavern interview that didn’t make it into the video. He said, “The Hudson Valley is growing into a food capital.”

As I surveyed the enormous Harvest-on-Hudson dining room at the HV Restaurant Week kick-off reception, I understood what he meant.  This was a gathering of chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, food suppliers, tourism leaders and media members, all celebrating the bounty of the Valley.

It’s quite a bounty.  There are amazing products coming out of our region: award-winning wines, craft beers, artisanal cheeses, farm-raised meat and poultry, locally grown produce… not to mention the tremendous restaurants, many of which utilize those local ingredients. Eric was right, we are growing into a food capital!

And this will be the biggest HV Restaurant Week yet, running from March 15th-March 29th, with more than 135 participating restaurants.  Had your eye on a particular restaurant?  Now’s the time to try it!

Small Bites guest blogger, Linda Lombroso, wrote a nice post about the kick-off and the various attendees.  So as not to repeat what she already covered, I’ll report on a different angle: what we ate.  Harvest-on-Hudson not only hosted the reception but provided an impressive spread of food; local purveyors and sponsors also set up tables throughout the room, serving up samples of food and drink.

Conclusion: We ate and drank well.  Very, very well.

First off, isn’t Harvest-on-Hudson a beautiful space for an event?

I brought along my friend Jillian because she’s a food lover and I knew she would have a good time.  The two of us prowled the room sampling everything there was to offer.

We had barely walked in the door when we were presented with these strawberry cocktails.  I’m not even sure what alcohol was in them, but they went down real easy.

So did these: Hendrick Hudson gin with a piece of cucumber.  Who knew cucumber went so well with gin?

We were served two types of pizza: one sprinkled simply with basil, and another of fig, goat cheese and prosciutto — one of our clear favorites of the night.

I was horrified to learn that Jillian dislikes prosciutto.  She had me pick it off her slice and put it on mine, which I did, gladly. Prosciutto must never go to waste.

There were juicy lamb spring rolls.

Plus bacalao, beef empanadas, and a first for both of us, rabbit rillete on garlic toast.

I hesitated before taking the bite, unsure of what to expect. Would it be gamey? Rabbity?  Surprisingly, neither.  Just intensely flavored and smooth, almost like a bean dip.

A bite of American caviar.

Baldor Specialty Foods had a table where they showed off their meat and poultry products.

For the second time in my life, I tried foie gras.

There’s a texture and finish about foie gras that I’m just not able to enjoy yet.   May require a third try.

But the spicy pulled pork sliders with cucumber — those I could get behind.

We ate carrot bread, sunflower pesto, and another huge favorite, duck tacos with guacamole and bruschetta. Drippy and messy and delicious.

But for Jillian and me, nothing topped the crispy/creamy white truffle potato croquettes, which I believe we snagged on the first, second and third passes.

I think it was at this point when one of the servers pointed out, “I keep coming around to you two because I know you’re going to eat it.”  Yup, pretty much!

There were so many excellent local cheeses, like these huge hunks of parmesan and romano.

Here one of the vendors pointed out the drunken manchego to Jillian.

I love drunken manchego; it was served with a brightly flavored quince paste.

Holy Chicken!  Chicken bacon.

And chicken sliders.

Several vineyards were represented with their wines. Tuthilltown Spirits showed off their products, including their Hudson River Rum. One sip almost knocked me out — that was seriously potent and oaky rum.  I also tried their absinthe.

Hands down though, the drink that wowed us was the Kopparberg pear cider.

Served on ice, it was incredibly cooling and refreshing.  We just couldn’t get enough of that stuff, and the vendor gave Jillian a bottle to take home with her.

Of course, Harvest also provided an ample selection of desserts.

Our plate of cake, brownie, key lime pie and cream puff.

Lastly, at the Red Barn Produce table, they were taking photos of guests and putting them on complimentary fridge magnets.  So here it is on my fridge, a reminder of a fun night with interesting people and great food.

Where will you be heading for Restaurant Week?