Isabela
Michelin Star chef Jose Ramierz opens his seasonal American bistro, celebrating the bounty of the Hudson Valley.
About Isabela
At Isabela in Amenia, the menu begins and ends with place. Led by Michelin Star and James Beard Award-winning chef Jose Ramierz, the casually elegant bistro is built around a simple principle he calls cocina de cercanías—a “kitchen of the nearby.” Nearly everything on the table and behind the bar comes from the Hudson Valley or the surrounding Northeast, from flour and dairy to grains, seed oils, and most of the spirits. The result is food that feels deeply rooted, quietly confident, and refreshingly honest—vegetable-forward, seasonally responsive, and shaped by what the land is offering right now.
The menu is organized by size rather than course, encouraging an easy, bistro-style flow. Warm sourdough rolls give way to greens dressed with foraged flavors, gnudi that feel both comforting and refined, and fish dishes that shine with thoughtful contrasts of texture and temperature. Trout, fluke, and oysters appear alongside vegetarian mains and sides that give equal weight to plants and proteins. Even familiar dishes reveal subtle surprises—seed-laced condiments, herbaceous broths, or clever nods to European technique filtered through Hudson Valley ingredients.
That same local sensibility carries into the bar and dining room. Cocktails riff on classics using New York–made spirits, while the wine list favors low-intervention bottles chosen to complement, not compete with, the food. Desserts are unfussy but memorable, from rotating housemade ice creams to a cult-favorite rice pudding meant for sharing. With experience in the kitchen of New York City’s Per Se, Brooklyn Fare, and Semilla, Ramirez-Ruiz has created something different here: a restaurant that feels generous, grounded, and genuinely of its community—designed not just to impress, but to welcome people back again and again.
Photography by: Landon Speers
The menu is organized by size rather than course, encouraging an easy, bistro-style flow. Warm sourdough rolls give way to greens dressed with foraged flavors, gnudi that feel both comforting and refined, and fish dishes that shine with thoughtful contrasts of texture and temperature. Trout, fluke, and oysters appear alongside vegetarian mains and sides that give equal weight to plants and proteins. Even familiar dishes reveal subtle surprises—seed-laced condiments, herbaceous broths, or clever nods to European technique filtered through Hudson Valley ingredients.
That same local sensibility carries into the bar and dining room. Cocktails riff on classics using New York–made spirits, while the wine list favors low-intervention bottles chosen to complement, not compete with, the food. Desserts are unfussy but memorable, from rotating housemade ice creams to a cult-favorite rice pudding meant for sharing. With experience in the kitchen of New York City’s Per Se, Brooklyn Fare, and Semilla, Ramirez-Ruiz has created something different here: a restaurant that feels generous, grounded, and genuinely of its community—designed not just to impress, but to welcome people back again and again.
Photography by: Landon Speers
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(845) 789-1007
5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
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