
The team at the restaurant at the Pink House in West Cornwall, Connecticut. Manager Michael Regan, left, Chef Gabe McMackin, center, and Chef Cedric Durand, right.
Jennifer Almquist
The team at the restaurant at the Pink House in West Cornwall, Connecticut. Manager Michael Regan, left, Chef Gabe McMackin, center, and Chef Cedric Durand, right.
The Creators series is about people with vision who have done the hard work to bring their dreams to life.
Michelin-award winning chef Gabe McMackin grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut next to a nature preserve and a sheep farm. Educated at the Washington Montessori School, Taft ‘94, and Skidmore College, McMackin notes that it was washing dishes as a teenager at local Hopkins Inn that galvanized his passion for food and hospitality into a career.
Working at Sperry’s in Saratoga, The Mayflower, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Thomas Moran’s Petite Syrah, Roberta’s in Brooklyn, Gramercy Tavern, then becoming corporate chef for merchandising at Martha Stewart, McMackin learned the ropes from some of America’s greatest chefs. His own culinary jewel, The Finch, so named for the birds that Darwin believed illustrated natural selection through their diversity, opened in Brooklyn in 2014. Ten months later McMackin was awarded his first Michelin star. In March of 2017, The New Yorker reviewed The Finch favorably saying, “. . . it’s the intrepid eater who will be most rewarded.” After closing The Finch, due in part to the pressures of Covid, McMackin became Executive Chef at Troutbeck in Amenia.
This June, McMackin is coming home. He and his team are opening the Restaurant at The Pink House on Lower River Road in historic West Cornwall, just south of the covered bridge. Their opening date is to be announced. Their new space has a stone terrace filled with the sound of the nearby Housatonic River. Michael Regan from Sharon is the Manager. Chef Cedric Durand, a native of southern France will be the in charge of the kitchen. Most recently he was Executive Chef [EC] of Le Gratin, one of Daniel Bouloud’s restaurants in Manhattan. McMackin described his new endeavor:
Our style and techniques are informed by cuisines from around the world, but the lens is very much focused on West Cornwall. The food that will be served is seasonal American food. It’s what makes sense here and now, it’s what we’re able to get our hands on from people close by. It’s casual first and foremost, but it can also be a little dressed up. We want people to feel excited to be with us! The Pink House will be a place for everyone in the community to celebrate, a place to meet friends, a place to feel well taken care of and well fed. The food and drink will be delicious and magical without being precious. It’s a place to go for great food that’s about so much more than the food.
Gabe McMackin said cooking is like poetry: "It’s the best ingredients with the least amount done to them."Jennifer Almquist
Jennifer Almquist: Tell us more about you as a young person, as a child. What were some of the inspirations that began this passion for cooking food?
Gabe McMackin: So much about this time of year takes me to my origins. Springtime, to listen to new life happen around here, seeing different colors change. I loved seeing things come out of ground. As a little kid seeing what was happening in the garden, getting excited for those first things that I could eat like asparagus, or things that were wild. To make a salad out of wood sorrel and garlic chives, things that were not going to be super tasty, but I could make, was an exciting thing as a little person. Recognizing what different things tasted like felt natural. I liked this thing, I didn’t like that thing as much; this one was bitter, and I didn’t like it at all. I was not manipulating things as much as just tasting them, touching them, feeling them. Appreciating what a raspberry tasted like as opposed to a blueberry, or a wild grape.
As I got older, I seemed to appreciate things less, I stopped paying close attention. I was still sensitive to things and food, but I stopped as excited about it. There were things that came back to me in waves, allowing me to see things in a fresh light. I might think about that in terms of food or in terms of hospitality, and it would affect my perspective.
I got a job in a restaurant washing dishes at the Hopkins Inn in New Preston when I was 17 and learned about how to wash dishes well. That’s the foundation that every restaurant is built on. If you don’t have a happy dish washer, if you don’t take care of your plates well, you can’t really serve your guests well. The rhythm being in that place was infectious.
I liked making pancakes with my father. Making maple syrup was an incredible opportunity to manipulate something from the natural world in an authentic way. Growing something, harvesting something, felt immediate. Later I figured out what it meant to manipulate those things. What it meant to present them to other people. To have people say this is delicious was really satisfying. I felt there a special tool in my toolkit. Sometimes it is a joy, sometimes it’s a compulsion. I must tune this thing. I haven’t been able to make this thing as great as it could be. Does it taste right?
JA: From your elemental experience of a raspberry, do you still seek pure essence in your cooking?
GM: If it doesn’t taste like the raspberry you’re missing that spirit, you’re missing that essence of raspberry. If it’s not there, why is it on the plate? If you are not using something well, you show the ingredient disrespect, plus you’re not using all the magical things available. I love the idea of sticking to what is from here. The food that’s going to make the most impact is going to be the one most full of life.
JA: Is cooking like poetry to you?
GM: Yes, the best words and the best order; it’s the best ingredients with the least amount done to them.
JA: Did you have traditional training in a culinary school? Have you been able to remain yourself, not too influenced by another style or chef?
GM: I’ve been able to work for very talented people. My apprenticeships working with people informed my understanding of technique. Some chefs have palates that have amazed me. The way they think creatively about building flavors and dishes, telling stories in food has been very powerful. The education that I’ve gotten in food, or in hospitality, has not only been from restaurants, but it has also come from the world. I haven’t done culinary school, but I know how to learn. I can turn that magnifying lens on a peach for the essence of that peach. I want to study animal butchery, I want to learn how to fix problems, or build a vinaigrette tolerant of high temperatures.
JA: Tell us about your experience at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
GM: Stone Barns does things the right way. They have a beautiful system, the practice of making food and caring for ingredients. They look deeply. They’ve created a formula that I don’t think could work anywhere else in the world. To achieve something that is satisfying on so many different levels, intellectually, practically, functionally - it’s something that you would struggle to replicate. The spirit of food being connected in every part of you, the ways that it was sourced, the ways that it was prepared, the ways that it’s been stored, the way that it’s been cooked. I learned to do things on a deep level as a form of respect.
JA: What was it like working for Thomas Moran at Le Petite Syrah in New Preston?
GM: I learned a lot from him about how to cook, how to think, how to move, how to work, both in his system and how to do my own thing. He gave me a lot of positive encouragement and some creative freedom to develop ideas.
JA: What do you find challenging working in a professional kitchen?
GM: There is a switch in my brain that lets me change my pattern when I’m in the restaurant mindset, especially in the kitchen as a cook mindset. I will go to the ends of the earth to make something happen, while in a different environment I have a hard time following instruction. The challenge of being a product of the Montessori education, a deeply ADD person, and somebody who has a problem with authority, it’s hard to have somebody say do it this way and just say yes. I can do that in a restaurant because of brute force. You need to be so clear about what you want, what you need, when you need it, as everything is happening at once. There is different language being used. The sense of urgency is vital and the navigating the forms of communication is intensely challenging.
JA: How do you handle tension in the kitchen?
GM: It is a pitfall that people working in restaurants, over many generations, have fallen into - they’re horrible to each other. We create this pressure for ourselves. Sometimes there is an imbalance between the guest and the host. There must be mutual respect for this type of environment to thrive, for me to do what I love.
JA: It has been said of you that you remain an oasis of calm. How do you maintain that in a busy kitchen?
GM: I ‘ve had good mentors that helped me see the dance for what it is. To know each table has its own rhythm. If you are choreographing the whole dance, each table can be perfectly in sync with the other tables, with the kitchen, with the bar.
JA: Has there been a downside, a dark moment when you were against the wall?
GM: All the time. Closing The Finch was a difficult decision. Covid forced me to make that choice. We did not want to pivot into being a different kind of a space, like a grocery store. Others chose that path to keep the lights on. I did not have the money to put into retooling, and didn’t have the appetite to fight with the landlord I was always in conflict with. Getting a restaurant open is tremendous success, telling the story is tremendous success, yet we hold ourselves to the standard of existing forever and making tons of money. I worked so hard to make that restaurant profitable, that when we shut down it was in some ways a relief. The opportunity to be there was magic.
JA: Were you sad that last moment closing the door to The Finch?
GM: I was one of many people doing that during Covid. Yeah, it’s still very hard.
JA: They say you made something great from nothing.
GM: I took a tattoo parlor and turned it into a restaurant.
JA: As your life moved from city to country, your personal life expanded with your wife FonLin Nyeu and your two sons, Jasper Fox Nyeu-McMackin and Blaise Tyger Nyeu-McMackin. Is it just a different set of pressures living in the country, or can you return to that original boy with the raspberry in his palm?
GM: I get to focus on different aspects of my life. Being in Litchfield County feels like home again. I’m with my family. My father is here, my mother is here, my sisters live nearby. I am renewing old relationships with people who had a big impact on my life. It is different type of kinetic energy I feed off here. I’m happy to have the knowledge and experience of spending 20 years of my life living in New York, but I am thrilled to have my kids go run around in the yard, thrilled to have a stream to wander along, or to just be with people at this pace now.
JA: Your clientele here in Litchfield County will be sophisticated group, but also a different mixture of people. How will your style adjust to not being in the city?
GM: Returning to this place is an incredible feeling and connecting deeply with this audience feels natural. Much of what I am inspired by is from this part of the world.
JA: For the average person, there has been a food renaissance which includes nutrition, the origins of your food, our microbiome, eating local foods, organic farming, composting food scraps, etc. Has your role as chef changed as well?
GM: I think a lot of what I do is teach. Not just how to follow a recipe, or how to build this dish. People come into the kitchen to learn as a part of their journey.
JA: Is it hard to create a team in the kitchen?
GM: You know that person you are training is not going to be with you forever. I would prefer to build a team, provide incentives for people to grow with the company, and commit to staying. It is hard to find cooks, servers, bartenders that want to stay together. I learned that valuable lesson at my first job at Hopkins Inn. To sit with everybody, no matter how deep in the weeds you are, to take the time to really be together as a team.
JA: What was it like to work for Martha Stewart?
As the Corporate Chef for merchandising, I built a line of retail food that we sold through Costco and did projects for the magazine. Martha is one of the magic creatures in the world of making food and lifestyle.
JA: How do you find balance with your personal and professional life?
GM: I took a period of family leave when my newest child Blaise was born. He is going to be two in in August, and Jasper will be 9. I had put a lower priority on making time to be with the kids, and be with my wife, and needed to change that.
JA: Tell us about creating The Finch. You said at the time, “The reason I made this place is not for the recognition. It’s to be a part of a conversation with our guests, with our staff, with all the cooks, with all the people who make or grow or produce the food we use.” Did you achieve those goals?
GM: The Finch was all my own doing, and it was magical. We opened in 2014 and it was everything all at once. Our success required me to apply brute force to what was going on. 8 1/2 months after The Finch opened, we had a baby. Just before that we found out we were getting a Michelin Star, then questioning what it means to get a Michelin Star? I see consistency as a part of why we were given the award. I don’t see it as the origins of our award. I see it as a vote of confidence and as an award for driving an exciting process. I was not trying to be fancy or formal, but because people are gravitating toward us, how do we make this thing make money? Is it impossible? OK, we can try and change these 17 things. It was all wonderful, it was all pressure, which that takes its toll over time.
JA: How did you balance working at The Finch and Troutbeck?
GM: I was doing both things seven days a week. That was hard on me, very hard on my wife and our baby. After closing The Finch, I joined Troutbeck fully. It was wonderful to work in that beautiful space, to be able to tell those kinds of stories, to practice the craft of doing things on a large scale.
JA: Please share with us your farewell to The Finch.
GM: I am overwhelmingly grateful. We have gone beyond what we thought was possible in making this restaurant live. It has been an honor, and we are full of the memories you helped us create. But it is time to close The Finch and find a new path.
Olympic Rings at Bergisel stadium and ski jump in Innsbruck, Austria.
Thanks to funds raised by Northwest Corner: Students Without Borders, and with additional assistance from the 21st Century Fund and the HVRHS Alumni Association, 31 Housatonic Valley Regional High School students and seven teachers spent seven days during April break traveling in Italy and Germany.
We started right out of the gates in Munich, Germany’s welcoming environment. Under the lead of our lively tour director, Artin, we explored Munich, seeing culture reflected in its people and beauty.
We then moved on to Dachau, a solemn but enlightening and historical place. For me and the other students, the camp wasn’t just something to mourn but something to learn from.
Travelling south, we expected to wake up from naps in Austria but were surprised to still be in Germany. Our bus pulled up to Neuschwanstein Castle, a 19th-century palace that served as inspiration for Disneyland. This was an unexpected addition to our itinerary, courtesy of our chaperones, who helped us scratch off this bucket list destination.
We then visited Innsbruck, an Austrian city nestled in the Alps, to see the famous Bergisel Olympic ski jump.
Above the vineyards of San Gimignano, Italy.Provided
Next, we found ourselves in Verona and then Florence. In Florence, we stood in awe at the immense size of the Duomo, the Uffizi and the many statues scattered throughout the city, truly understanding that Florence is an artistic and architectural wonder in Italy.
We then journeyed to my highlight of the trip, San Gimignano, a hill town among the vineyards of outer Tuscany. Not many tours hit this city, making it void of tourist traps and crowding — just historical architecture, amazing views, and great food.
Ending off the week with the leaning tower of Pisa and then landing in Rome, seeing where Julius Caesar died and the Colosseum, was surreal to me and many others. We were all so grateful to the sponsors and fundraisers who put us on the planes, making it possible to experience these amazing opportunities.
Ayden Wheeler is a junior at HVRHS. His parents got engaged 30 years ago in Germany, and he was excited to visit the region where they had traveled. Ayden hopes to travel to France and England with the HVRHS International Travel Club next year.
After 100 days, Trump has totally outsmarted and outclassed the Democrats
After Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, he has totally outsmarted, outclassed and outplayed the Democrats.
For all Trump’s myriad faults, the Democrats are worse. That goes for veracity, decorum, cognitive ability, fealty to democracy, hypocrisy — you name it.
The Democrats and media just gave us four years of the biggest con job of modern times — the coverup of a sitting president’s unfitness for office. New books are showing just how bad Joe Biden really was during his shadowy term.
Trump, by contrast, is in front of the cameras every day. He never stops talking. He has remarkable energy, vigor, memory and acuity for 78. He has already answered more press questions in three months than Biden did in four years.
Trump exaggerates and self-promotes, but so do the Dems. Trump just lacks their political veneer. He’s an honest liar, so to speak. You know where he stands, and he delivers on promises. Regardless of how much he golfs, he gets more done each week than Congress does each year. Tee it up!
Trump is smarter than the Democrats. He learned a lot from his first term. The perpetual war waged against him is just as fierce this time around, but Trump was ready for it this time. He learned how to play the game.
That’s why he and Elon Musk have taken a sledgehammer to government reduction and bureaucratic red tape. They have to. If they tried to cut incrementally, the Democrats would block every step.
Trump has also mellowed. He texts less and is more disciplined. And unlike Biden, whose strings were pulled by his staff, Trump runs his own team.
Like most Americans, Trump wants to fix tariff imbalances and trade deficits. The Democrats and press reflexively fight him every step of the way. But new trade deals are in the works, and we just signed a rare-earth minerals deal with Ukraine. Trump is shaking up the planet. It needs it. The old status quo is out. Gaza as the new Riviera? Good idea.
On the border, the lying Dems insisted there was no crisis even as they let in millions of illegals. Trump fixed it in 100 days. Illegal entries are down by 99.9 percent! Order at the border - as promised!
As always, the Dems resist. They demand the return of a deported immigrant from El Salvador, claiming he didn’t get “due process.” Meanwhile, they support a liberal judge who just helped another escape due process by allegedly sneaking him out of her Milwaukee courthouse to evade ICE arrest. That judge belongs in jail.
The Democrats are leaderless, rudderless and clueless. Their agenda is indefensible, so they just chant and scream and call Trump a dictator, fascist and Nazi. No substance, just noise.
All this sound and fury signifying nothing is why the Dems are hemorrhaging supporters. They’re running on empty. Their old cliches don’t work anymore. They’re outplayed, outsmarted and outclassed.
Mark Godburn
Norfolk
Watching protests, remembering ancestors
While watching all the protests taking place across the country recently, it occurred to methat probably every one of those people I could see on the TV screen had an ancestor who came to this country because he/she couldn’t stand being pushed around.
From the Mayflower passengers to the recent southern border immigrants, covering a span of five hundred years, these people have been saying to themselves, “I’m not going to take this any longer! I’m going to get on a ship (or cross the desert) and go to America!”
And these ancestors usually found that when they got here, they might have been very hungry and very cold (or hot) and unsheltered, but at least there was no king or dictator here with the power of life or death over them. The government told them that they were free people and could become citizens, and they did.
Donald Trump’s grandfather did that. He came to this country from Germany to avoid the draft — possible death in warfare. So did my late husband’s grandfather. As young men, these German citizens were told they must die for a king’s whim, like it or not. So they came here instead. And, my mother-in-law’s ancestors came to Massachusetts from England in 1630 to avoid King Charles I’s religious restrictions, which could lead to conscription in civil war, or to death by execution for disobedience. Here, the king’s army didn’t have the power to grab them, or had been rendered powerless by defeat by our Founding Fathers.
All these young men would have been horrified to hear about what our present president Donald Trump is doing to American citizens and legal immigrants today. So are all their descendants now. No wonder they are protesting! And no wonder the crowds are so huge. Every one of those protesters — those who aren’t immigrants themselves, like me — would have had an ancestor who wasn’t going to be pushed around. It’s in their blood!
Gaile Binzen
Salisbury
Prayer Day gratitude
With grateful hearts, we offer our thanks to the wonderful Lakeville/Salisbury community members who came together on May 1 and celebrated the 74th National Day of Prayer.
From the glorious music and singing led by musician Michael Brown at the keyboard, to the heartfelt prayers given by community members, God’s goodness, hope and encouragement was availed to all.We so appreciate all the participants, from different walks of life, who led prayers for the government, all fire, police, and emergency workers, military/veterans, schools, churches, families, the arts/media, and businesses.
Thank you to those who took time out of their busy lives and came together as a community, united in prayer.Prayer is as vital to us now as it was to our founding fathers who prayed for God’s wisdom in the forming of this great nation.As Pres. John F. Kennedy so eloquently said, “Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking God’s help and blessing.”
Marcia and Paul Ramunni
Salisbury
125 years ago — May 1900
SALISBURY — Billy Washington is the proud possessor of a new wheel.
Geo. McCann seems to be a successful fisherman. On Wednesday he returned from Twin Lakes with a fine lot of pickerel, which were estimated to weigh over 30 pounds.
The E.W. Spurr Co. have received from Prof. Tucker, the New York State Chemist, a certificate of analysis which certifies that Devoe Lead and Zinc is made only of lead, zinc, color, turpentine dryer and linseed oil; nothing else; no adulteration.
SHARON — Miss Nenah Ryan has lost a very valuable Angora cat. She would be very glad for any information concerning its whereabouts.
LIME ROCK — More than the usual amount of sickness has prevailed among our citizens this spring. Mrs. F. Brasie has been ill for some weeks from inflammation on the eyes, but is now around again. Frank Cashdollar is recovering from pneumonia. James Cummings has one of the regular grip colds which everyone has experienced lately. Victor Quillard, who has been afflicted with paralysis of the spine since last fall, remains about the same.
LIME ROCK — Michael Dunn and Miss Mary Malcuit were married last Thursday. The house on Elm Avenue, last occupied by Mr. Lamont, had been made ready and the young couple began housekeeping at once. Mrs. Dunn was taken sick with measles the following day, but is now recovering.
Many of our farmers have been plowing the past week.
The enumerators who will take the twelfth census will be required to wear badges, 60,000 of which have been ordered by the government. When you see a man approaching wearing on his breast a big German silver shield, surmounted by an eagle and engraved with the legend “United States Census, 1900” get down the family Bible and be prepared to give names and ages of your household on demand.
“Dick,” the family horse of W.B. Perry, died Monday morning in spite of great efforts to save his life. He was a faithful old steed, and has been owned by Mr. Perry for 19 years. His age was 21 years.
100 years ago — May 1925
Mrs. Ora Hoysradt has received word from the war department at Brooklyn that the remains of her son, Sergeant William Ostrander, who was killed while in action in France, will arrive May 11th. At this writing it is not possible to announce any definite plans for interment.
The countryside is now presenting a very beautiful appearance in its new green dress with the floral trimmings of early spring. This is the time of year when one is glad to live in the country. The lawn mower is now taking its innings.
50 years ago — May 1975
Two men, one armed, held up the Edgewood Restaurant on Route 343 near Amenia Wednesday mid-afternoon, escaping with $5,000. No injuries were reported. The New York State Police immediately set up road blocks in Amenia and on the Connecticut border and a helicopter scanned the area trying to locate a blue van allegedly used as the getaway vehicle. Connecticut police were assisting. The robbers were both believed to be about 5’ 11” tall and 180 pounds. They were wearing denim jackets, blue jeans, ski masks and gloves at the time of the holdup. As The Journal went to press the police, as one Amenia resident put it, were “hot on the trail of suspects.”
An overnight explosion of red algae in Lakeville’s Lake Wononscopomuc late last week brought residents to the lakeshore by the droves, curious to see for themselves the water’s condition. The reddish algae, which for a time late last week were the consistency of jelly or pudding, floated on the surface frightening many residents and fishermen, and even baffling and amazing state scientists who visited the lake Tuesday to take samples and water measurements.
Four Northwest Corner towns are expected to join forces shortly in the operation of two separate solid waste transfer stations. Salisbury and Sharon will cooperate in the use of a facility to be built by Salisbury on a tract acquired by the town a short distance south of The Hotchkiss School on the west side of Route 41. Kent and Cornwall are in extensive discussions with representatives of the State Department of Solid Waste Management about building a transfer station in the vicinity of the present Kent town dump near the Cornwall-Kent border.
Carol Crawford, 12, is the first girl to ever make Millerton’s Little League team. Coach Craig Summers said that she is “a good ball player. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have made the team.” He said that her teammates treat her just like any other player.
Lakeville firemen extinguished a fire last Wednesday evening in a bedroom at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Metz on Smith Hill in Salisbury. The blaze reportedly started when a lamp fell over, igniting some bedding. It was confined to the master bedroom, which was extensively damaged, nearby rooms suffered some smoke damage.
The dog-gonedest things happen to a dog warden these days. The other day Salisbury Dog Warden Hezekiah Goodwin received a telephone call from Canaan Dog Warden Alfred Thomen about a dog marooned on an island in the Housatonic River. As First Selectman Charlotte Reid related the story, because the island was closer to Salisbury, the canine became Salisbury’s responsibility and Mr. Goodwin had to hunt up a boat and go after the creature. But by the time he got there the dog was gone.
25 years ago — May 2000
Work on the Holley House Museum has begun on a top-to-bottom renovation that will include structural work on basement floors, floor joists, columns and stone walls. Repairs will be done on the roof, chimneys, porches and wood siding. John Milton Holley, a wealthy industrialist, built the temple-fronted segment of the house in 1808-1809. It’s located a stone’s throw from the Salisbury blast furnace that he owned. The original wing of the house was built in 1768 for the furnace’s then-owner and iron master, Richard Smith.
During her visit to the state House of Representatives, Rachel Bronson, a sixth-grader at Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village, was struck by how chaotic the chamber was. “Everyone was talking at once,” she said in awe-struck tones. “I don’t think anyone was listening to the person that was speaking.” She also noted that “almost everyone in the room was talking on their cell phones.”