ROSENDALE, N.Y. — Bistrot le Chat Barbu, a new French restaurant, has opened at the site of the former Rosendale Café in the town, promising to serve up an array of French-inspired dishes infused with history.
The restaurant’s soft opening last week was the first time the building had seen a consistent stream of customers since the Rosendale Café closed its doors in 2022. While only open for dinner right now, chef and owner Devin Delgado said he plans to expand to lunch and even brunch service.
Delgado, who lives in Lake Katrine, moved to the Hudson Valley last year after previously working as a private chef in New York City. “I have dear friends up here, deep family roots,” he said. “My great uncle owns a mountain in Margaretville, all of the uncles on my mother’s side of the family are park rangers for Ulster County, Delaware County. I’ve been coming up here all of my life, and I decided this is where I want to live and do what I want for myself.”
In regards to finding the space at 434 Main St., Delgado said his father tipped him off to it. “My father attended a reading by a local author here at the café space, after it had been closed. Mark (Morganstern) and Sue (Dorsey), the owners of 30 years, were still doing events,” Delgado said. “He said, ‘you have to come look at this place.'”
“Walked through that side door and that was it, and said, ‘I have to do it,'” Delgado continued. “The space demands it.”
Le Chat Barbu, meaning “the bearded cat” in English, focuses on a French-inspired menu, an homage to Delgado’s training as a chef. “I started in the French culinary tradition, as most people in this country are trained,” Delgado said. “There’s just something about a bistro in particular, hearty portions, simple but delicious food. It speaks to my soul,” he said.
Off the restaurants March menu, Delgado recommended the coq au vin jaune, which he described as a “little spin on coq au vin.” “It’s not red wine, it’s yellow wine from the Jura region of France,” he said. “It incorporates bacon and crème fraîche, and that only makes it that much better.”
While the restaurant focuses on homestyle French cuisine, Delgado said he hopes to blend influences from throughout French history, a process he calls “decolonial cuisine.” “Everywhere that France colonized during Europe’s heyday of trying to rule the world, we’re kind of taking those ingredients from those indigenous cultures and meshing the two, bringing them back to grand-mère’s house,” he said. “Expect to see a lot of Martinican, Senegalese, Vietnamese, or French Indochina, influences from Montréal, Québec, anywhere France put its footstep.”
“Of course, my favorite of all the French colonies is New Orleans, so when I can sneak on a cheeky étouffée or red beans and rice, it’ll be there,” Delgado added.
Currently, Bistrot le Chat Barbu is open from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and from 5 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. However, Delgado anticipates lunch and brunch service in the future. Delgado is also waiting on a liquor license, which he hopes will arrive soon. “That is desperately needed, people want a glass of wine and a beer,” he said.
“Next week, I’m doing dinner price-fix all the time, and then the week thereafter I hope to open for lunch,” Delgado said. “After lunch, in short order, both days weekend brunch.”
Delgado said he hopes Bistrot le Chat Barbu cements its place as a local staple in the Rosendale community. “We’re really hoping to become a local restaurant that also serves the interests and needs of destination diners,” he said. “I’d like to capture business from the luxury boutique hotel going across the street just as much as the local, beloved historian, Bill.”
Bistro le Chat Barbu currently posts information and updates on its Instagram, @le_chat_barbu.
