KITTY’S RESTAURANT + MARKET
An ongoing collaboration with Hudson-based artists, the project was catalyzed by a New York State grant to repurpose a series of old railroad-owned barns into a bustling community of restaurant, market, events space, and wine shop. Just under an acre of outdoor space, the landscape will provide an immediate rest stop for weary travelers just off the Empire Line from NYC or elsewhere. Grab a bottle of wine from the wine shop, a snack from the market, or a menu for a hot meal and head out to the garden where you can rest your bones and sit amongst the leaves.
Coffee• Hash Browns• Smiles• Fresh Produce• Rotisserie Chicken• Seltzer• Train Snacks• Toothpaste• Cold Beer• Dry Goods• Sausages• Nightcrawlers
The landscape is within the ten-year-storm floodplain of the Hudson River, and so the design is a reimagined floodplain, an animated field of mounded planted islands rather than a strict arrangement of paths and dining spaces. The mounds will be built with reused riprap found on site, so that they can serve as drainage basins in storms and elevate the soil and plants from salty floodwater. The paths are all paved in crushed granite and drain rock underneath that, so the site acts as a giant french drain, filtering water and letting it seep back into the soil around the site.
The restrictions in place to safeguard the community from Covid-19 are making the opening of this outdoor space more important than ever. In order to accomodate Kitty’s restaurant and market, a temporary outdoor space is being constructed while construction on the entirety of the project is scheduled to begin later this year. Kitty’s will now have several windows that are repurposed as takeout windows. The team and I worked quickly to find ways to make the temp space feel good and comfortable for restaurant seekers and wait staff. The area should be a haven for anyone escaping the city this summer. We quickly rounded up willow fencing, wine barrel planters with plants that will eventually be planted on the site, including the dark and romantic Thuja evergreen shrub along with springy white Gaura wildflowers. The ground will be stabilized with local decomposed bluestone, which is the paving that will be used for the entire site eventually. Silver lining - great time for a mock-up.
Retaining walls being placed December 2020! Mounds coming soon.
Our last minute covid induced temporary space for summer/fall 2020!
