Bread + Bar offers up something different
KINGSTON, N.Y » Three years ago, Amanda and An- thony Stromoski opened up a place where the unlikely pairing of books and beer are the mainstay.
Today, the Kingston couple — high school sweethearts originally from New Jersey — say they have embarked on another weird hybrid idea: beer and bread.
The two have partnered with Kingston baker Aaron Quint in a new venture called Kingston Bread + Bar at 43 North Front St.
The threesome was wellknown to each other before opening up the new Uptown restaurant where Kovo Rotisserie
had been until closing in September 2019.
In November 2017, the Stromoski couple created the now popular Rough Draft Bar & Books at 82 John St., the former Kingston Academy building at Uptown’s historic four corners, where John and Crown street intersect.
Six months later, Quint — a self-described nosy neighbor living on Green Street — wound up baking bread in a 100 square-foot rented space in the rear of Rough Draft Bar and Books. He had been baking bread and selling it out of his Green Street home for about seven months.
But Quint, who is a former engineer, says he quickly ran out of space at Rough Draft so the three started looking around for something bigger. Quint called his business, at the time, the Kingston Bread Lab.
“We reached maximum capacity,” Quint said. “We were running out of space using every corner.”
The entrepreneurs found a Midtown spot, but that fell through. In October, they leased the 1,600-squarefoot Kovo Rotisserie building, did some renovations, bought ovens and basement refrigerators, then opened
Kingston Bread + Bar in February.
Quint now bakes bread there in a space eight times bigger than the one at Rough Draft.
“We thought that a restaurant like this, a casual kind of fast service, where you can get a variety of food, could be another good hit,” Amanda Stromoski said.
Anthony Stromoski says
the ambiance of Kingston Bread + Bar is “warm, relaxed, comfortable, bright, and clean.
“Kingston Bread Lab is now Kingston Bread + Bar, and we are now open six days a week in Uptown Kingston serving fresh-baked bread and pastries each morning; sandwiches and special menu offerings for lunch and dinner; and bagels every weekend,” the Kingston Bread + Bar pages says. “Plus, coffee, tea, and a full bar featuring craft beer, wine, and spirits.”
The restaurant features total seating for 40 under 10-foot high ceilings. About a dozen or so seats are at the bar where 16 taps spill out different beer types changing every day.
Kingston Bread + Bar employs 20 people, the owner said.
Bread, not surprisingly, is a featured menu attraction.
“All bread and pastries made in-house using natural leaven and organic flour,” the menu says. “All bread and bagels are vegan
unless specifically noted.”
Among selections are Upstate Levain, $8; A 50/50 white + whole wheat loaf made with local whole wheat; Kingston Country, $7; Classic sourdough, mostly white with a touch of local whole wheat; and baguette, $4; classic French bread, but fully sourdough with a mix of local whole wheats (available at 11:30 a.m.).
Each day, there are specially made loaves like Vollkornbrodt, Polenta, Miche, and Challah.
But it’s not just bread at the Kingston Bread + Bar.
There are lunch offerings such as The Roast Sandwich, $11; a daily combination of house-made meats served on house-made bread; The Veg Sandwich, $8; a take on a vegetarian sandwich. Stuffed with fresh, local ingredients, and the “Graband-Go Baguette Sandwich,” $7; butter, cured meat + cheese on 1/3 of a baguette.
Breakfast is served between 8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
Kingston Bread + Bar is open every day except Monday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
“All bread and pastries made in-house using natural leaven and organic flour. All bread and bagels are vegan unless specifically noted.” — Noted on the menu