Twenty-eight seats · One hearth · Est. 2016
An evening,
composed.
A dining room in the Hudson Valley, an hour upriver from the city.
Dinner is served at candlelight, and nowhere are you asked to hurry.
There is a room at the edge of the Hudson where the phones stay in pockets,
where the fire is lit at four and the first candle at five,
where nine courses arrive the way chapters do —
unhurried, and in order.
I · The Chef
Auguste Marchand
Auguste Marchand cooked for eleven years in the great houses of Lyon and Paris before deciding that the only kitchen worth running was a small one, far from any avenue, with a fire he could see from the pass.
He found this room — a nineteenth-century stone chapel above the river — in 2015. He kept the pew wood for the tables, the vaulted ceiling for the quiet, and the hearth for everything else. Vespers opened the following spring with twenty-eight seats and a single promise: that dinner would be treated as an evening, not a transaction.
His cooking has been called quiet cuisine — food that declines to shout. Three ingredients on a plate. A sauce made of the thing itself. The confidence to leave a course ungarnished when it is finished.
- i. The fire is the first seasoning.
- ii. The valley decides the menu; the kitchen merely edits.
- iii. A dish is finished when nothing more can be removed.
- iv. Luxury is time. We do not serve anything in a hurry.
II · The Dining Room
Twenty-eight chairs,
one candle each.
The room was a chapel, and it still behaves like one. Vaulted stone, a single hearth, tables of pew oak set wide apart. Light comes from beeswax and the fire; music is the room itself — silver, glass, low conversation.
- Seats
- 28, in one room
- Seatings
- Two, Tuesday–Saturday
- Hearth counter
- 4 chairs, facing the fire
- Table d'hôte
- One table of six, by the window
III · bis — The Seasonal Selection
À la Carte
Tuesday through Thursday, in the front room and at the hearth counter.
The selection follows the valley and changes without notice. Kindly tell us of any allergy; the kitchen takes them seriously and personally.
IV · The Cellar
Four hundred feet of quiet,
eleven degrees below the room.
Some nine hundred references rest under the chapel floor. What follows is the list we pour from tonight.
The cellar holds nothing by that description tonight.
Our sommelier keeps a short reserve of unlisted bottles. Ask, or clear the filters and browse the full list.
All wines are cellared on site at eleven degrees and served in Zalto stems. Coravin pours of the great bottles are offered by the half glass; corkage, with our compliments to the bottle you brought, is $95.
V · Private Dining & Events
The Chapter Room
Behind the vestry door is a room of fourteen chairs, its own hearth, and its own service. It has hosted proposals, peace treaties, one small wedding, and a great many birthdays.
- The Chapter RoomUp to 14 guests · a dedicated captain & sommelier · menus composed with the chef
- The Whole HouseAll 28 seats, one evening, entirely yours · from $18,000, inclusive of the room
- The Hearth CounterFour guests, facing the fire, served by the kitchen itself
For inquiries, write to events@vespershudson.com or telephone the house. We answer within the day.
VI · Reservations
A table is pursued
for a season. Begin here.
Tables are released sixty days ahead, at ten in the morning, and they go quickly.
- Date & Party
- Your Details
- Confirmation
The table is held.
We look forward to the evening.
A letter of confirmation is on its way to your email. If anything about the evening should change, telephone the house and a person will answer.
VII · The Practical Matter
Finding your way
to the table.
Hours
Tuesday – Saturday
First seating 5:15 – 6:15
Second seating 8:30 – 9:30
The house is dark Sunday and Monday. The fire needs rest too.
Dress
We ask for the elegance the room deserves. Jackets are suggested, never required; denim and sport shoes are kindly declined.
In doubt, dress as if the evening matters. It does.
Location
1 Chapel Lane
Garrison, New York 10524
Sixty minutes upriver by Metro-North to Garrison; the house car meets the 6:02 on request. Parking, and the night air, are complimentary.
Contact
+1 (845) 555-0128
reservations@vespershudson.com
The telephone is answered Tuesday through Saturday, from noon.
