RHINEBECK, N.Y. -- A small town feel with big city tastes is exactly what you'll find in the intimate settings of Calico in Rhineback.
"We've been here a little tiny bit over 20 years now. When we were looking for a place to have a restaurant, we knew that we wanted to be a restaurant and pastry shop. So we needed to find a place with two kitchens in it. We also knew we wanted to be someplace along the rail trail for people coming out of Manhattan," said Anthony Balassone, the owner and head chef.
The husband and wife team used their honeymoon as a springboard for what they wanted their restaurant to be.
"We got married and opened up the business in the same year. On our Honeymoon we went to Paris and we visited a lot of the bistros in the left bank, and what we do is we try to formulate that kind of feeling here at Calico. Everything that is prepared here is either made by myself or my wife. We're very small, we only have seven tables. So, we're very, very hands on," said Balassone. "We only have one location. So if you come in here and eat one of Leslie's pastries or dinner, one of the two of us has prepared it start to finish." said Balassone.
When you dine or grab dessert at Calico, you'll also be helping local charities.
"Each year for 20 years we've picked a different charity that we've raised money for. We've done dinners here and we've done other events outside of here to raise money for multiple sclerosis, cancer research, St. Jude's Children's Hospital. That's the thing we're most proud of," said Balassone.
With a bistro feel and bakery smell, the owners hope you'll be coming back again soon.
"We're hoping that they can see the amount of attention to detail we put into it -- the passion that we have for our profession. And we want them to walk out of here hopefully feeling like they gotten a great value for their dollar," said Balassone.