Where to take the chill off in Hudson Valley
Businesses offer hot toddies, sweat sessions, more
Baby, it’s cold outside. But there are plenty of ways to warm up in the Hudson Valley, après ski, après shoveling or après schlepping.
Here are a few businesses that may have the cure you’re looking for.
Hot Bikram yoga at The Hot Spot Yoga — Kingston
The smiling, sweaty people featured on The Hot Spot’s website are dressed appropriately for exercising in a room where the temperature is 105 degrees, which is to say, scantily.
“You lose your inhibitions pretty quickly,” said owner Stephanie Nystrom, who started The Hot Spot in 2011 and moved to her Kingston Plaza location in 2017. Hot yoga, she said, reduces your risk of injury and is great for cardio, flexibility and mental discipline. “Your mind keeps telling you that it’s hard, you should stop, but you keep going.” Those who want to ease into it can try warm yoga, where the room is a mere 90 degrees.
218 Plaza Road, Kingston 845-331-8800; hotspotkingston.com
Hot chocolate at Verdigris Tea & Chocolate — Hudson
Verdigris Tea & Chocolate got its start in Park City, Utah, where owner Kim Bach’s mother ran the business for 18 years. Upon retirement 16 years ago, Bach’s mother shipped the fixtures, furniture and shelving to her daughter, who set up Verdigris in Hudson.
The café offers seven types of hot chocolate, all beginning with melted disks of organic dark, milk or white Valrhona chocolate. The most popular variety is Hudson Hot Chocolate: melted dark chocolate blended with milk (regular or vegan) and topped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle, Bach said.
Also popular is the spicy Mexican hot chocolate, with warming cinnamon and cayenne.
135 Warren St., Hudson 518-828-3139; verdigristea.com
Hot toddy at Huckleberry — New Paltz
The word “toddy” was first used in the late 18th century to describe a drink from India made with the fermented sap of palm trees. More recently and much closer to home, Huckleberry serves two varieties: a hot ginger toddy, made with bourbon, ginger syrup, lemon juice and a clove and cardamom liqueur; and a hot apple cider that includes spiced rum or bourbon, orange slices, mulled clove and cinnamon sticks (also available in a virgin variety).
“They’re very popular and delicious,” bartender Kelly Martin said. Toddies are on the menu from October until the region melts in the spring.
21 Church St., New Paltz 845-633-8443; huckleberrynewpaltz.com
Pho at Miss Saigon Pho — Wappingers Falls
Owner Leon Bui came to America from Vietnam in 1998 when he was 23, carrying with him a family recipe for pho, a complex beef-based soup that he serves in his simple restaurant. “The broth takes eight hours then another hour with the seasonings,” Bui said.
Steaming bowls of pho are accompanied by noodles, sprouts, sliced jalapenos, cilantro, Thai basil, lime wedges and a choice of beef, chicken or shrimp. Bui recommends a generous application of hoisin, Sriracha and chili garlic sauce, which are served on the side. (“When you eat french fries, you can’t miss the ketchup,” he explained by comparison.)
1582 US-9, Wappingers Falls 845-765-2100; misssaigon-ny.com
Blankets at Bosco’s Mercantile — Saugerties
Five days after a weekend visit in 2016 to her cousin’s place in the Hudson Valley, Laura Huron leased a retail space in Saugerties and was ready to realize her beddingstore dreams. Two months later, she packed up her New York City apartment and moved up full-time, burned out after a long career in merchandising for Armani, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and others.
When choosing products for her shop, Huron considers only fair trade manufacturers, organic materials and environmental effects. Stock includes organic wool and cotton momo blankets from Guatemala, recycled wool throws designed in Scotland and woven in India, and German blankets made with organic Turkish cotton. “We’re all about cozy,” she said.