Babette's Kitchen brings a feast of fine foods to Millerton

MILLERTON — Babette’s Kitchen on Center Street promises “simply good food,â€� with services ranging from catering to light lunch and dinner, all made from scratch, at the sunny side street shop.  

Buffy Arbogast and Beth Daidone opened their doors on June 2, in the space formerly occupied by the Side Street Café.  

“We wanted to expand our catering business,� said Daidone, and Millerton is a “fast growing happenin’ little town,� continued Arbogast, finishing the thought.

Arbogast and Daidone also have a Babette’s Kitchen in Millbrook, N.Y.  Catering is available through both establishments.  

“The Millbrook shop has a broader range of foods. We carry more baked goods and our cooler is always full.  As business increases we will have more food here,â€� said Arbogast.    

The Savory Hand Pie is the most popular item on the menu at both locations.  It is a “butter pastry filled with meat and vegetable fillings,â€� said Arbogast.  

Also popular: the chicken mango salad.

“It is our spring salad.  We try to keep the menu seasonal, and change it four times a year,â€� said Arbogast.  

The Millerton kitchen is open for lunch and dinner (served from 2 to 8 p.m.).  There are some baked goods for the late breakfast crowd, hot and cold drinks including a variety of coffee drinks, SoCo Ice Cream (made nearby in Massachusetts) in exotic flavors, gelatos and sorbets (try the spicy Mexicali chocolate or the nutty pistachio gelato).  The ice cream comes straight up on a cone, pressed between chocolate cookies, or converted into shakes, floats, sundaes and splits.  

Fresh baked pies are always available, with flavors such as strawberry rhubarb, nectarine and blueberry.  

“All of our fruit pies are seasonal,â€� said Arbogast.  A regular pie (10 inches) costs $20 and mini pies (7 inches) are $10.    

Arbogast and Daidone have wrapped environmental awareness into their business plan.  The plastic cups used for cold drinks, for example, are made from corn and are fully compostable.  Happily, Arbogast adds, the cups also happen to be less expensive than standard plastic cups.

The cups for hot drinks are triple insulated and compostable, so a sleeve is not needed.   

“We use heavier napkins,� said Arbogast, which reduces the “amount of napkins people might take if they were the thinner napkins,� added Daidone.

“When people take food out I always ask if they need utensils or they are taking it home. This helps my costs and also the environment. I try and make everyone that works here aware of that,â€� said Arbogast.   

Though its owners are new to the area, they are already reaching out to the community, donating baked goods to different organizations and supporting local businesses and food vendors when possible.

Arbogast and Daidone met while both were working at a restaurant in Millbrook, The Tin Horn.  

“We had the same vision.  We just clicked,â€� said Daidone.  “We decided to step out and do it on our own.â€�

They started cooking together and promoting their food at the Millbrook Farmers Market and eventually opened a kitchen in Millbrook for their catering business.  

“Our catering is a much broader range of high-end food,â€� said Daidone.   The storefront came next, to “feature what we do,â€� said Arbogast.  

The Millbrook Babette’s Kitchen features a broader range food. But at both locations, “we try and keep everything simple and make everything from scratch.  We lean toward comfort food,â€� both chefs said.  

Though their hours are long and the kitchen can get hot in weather like this week’s 90-degree days, the cooks are happy to be in their own two kitchens.

“We work seven days a week, and when you’re doing it for yourself it’s a love,â€� said Arbogast.       

Located at 56 South Center St., Babette’s Kitchen is open Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.  For catering services or other food inquiries, call 518-789-0202.