When posed with Simon & Garfunkel’s famous question, New Paltz olive oil and vinegar enthusiasts answer with a resounding ‘yes!’
But if you are going to Scarborough Fare, you should know that you won’t find it in the quaint cottage at 8 N. Front St. As of April 1, Scarborough Fare has moved across the street into a charming historical building where the first public school in New Paltz once stood, located at 15 N. Front St.
“When you walk into Scarborough Fare, you not only enter our store, you enter our home,” according to Scarborough Fare’s brochure. “There is no better way to shop to satisfy your palate and zest for culinary adventure.”
Pioneered by Donna and Cory Wirthmann, mother and son proprietors, the original shop on the northwest corner of North Front Street and Church Street opened eight years ago.
According to Hudson Valley One, the Wirthmanns have been looking to branch out from their predominantly olive oil and vinegar product line for quite some time. When Adam Monteverde of Mexican Kitchen decided to close his whole foods grocery store, the Root Cellar, the Wirthmanns saw it as a golden opportunity they couldn’t possibly pass up.
Monteverde’s recent renovation—the construction of wooden shelves and vegetable bins—fit perfectly with the Wirthmanns vision of selling fresh produce, meats and cheeses.
If you’re looking to incorporate the shop’s specialty olive oil and vinegars into a vegetable-oriented recipe, Scarborough Fare has cut out the middle man by offering peppers, onions, potatoes and olives. Mozzarella and parmesan made by Gardiner-based Casa del Caciocavallo, along with salami from Magnanini Farm Winery in Wallkill are three additional new products now on display.
For Scarborough Fare, more shelf space means more nonperishable items. The rustic wooden shelves stocked with dry pastas from the Al Dente Pasta Company, tomato sauces imported from Italy and a cornucopia of antipasti spreads will make any customer feel like they are in Florence-based market. That’s amore!
The incorporation of kitchenware and cooking gadgets into the expanded space would make Martha Stewart herself proud. With the myriad of teapots, infusers, French presses, pasta machines and olive oil sprayer bottles, New Paltz food enthusiasts will no longer have to travel all the way to Target to enhance their kitchen repertoire.
Scarborough Fare’s coffee and tea selection has also expanded. With at least 65 varieties of Harney teas, Scarborough Fare sells the second-largest volume of Harney teas of any small store in lower New York State.
Not your cup of tea? Wanting something spicier? Look no further! Scarborough Fare is now offering their new selection of gourmet sea salt and in-house blended spice mixtures.
“Whether you’re seasoning a fish filet for baking, salting an olive oil dish for bread dipping or even rimming a cocktail glass for drinking, we have the necessary items to help you shine like a professional,” according to Scarborough Fare’s website.
Scarborough Fare operates in a democratic fashion: whatever the people want, the people will get. “Whenever somebody says, ‘Do you have…,’ we put it on the list,” Donna said in an interview with Hudson Valley One.
But it is the Tasting Bar that gives Scarborough Fare its edge, providing customers with a unique and tasteful experience. Rows upon rows of infused extra virgin olive oils, single varietal extra virgin olive oils, blended extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars and white balsamic vinegars will make any foodie salivate.
The biggest selection of gourmet olive oils and vinegars in the Hudson Valley comes with big responsibility. Scarborough Fare lends an environmentally friendly hand by selling refillable glass bottles so that customers may return to explore more great oils and vinegars, without the plastic waste.
According to Scarborough Fare’s official Facebook page, New Paltz community members are extremely pleased with the shop’s new location and their broadened inventory, leaving enthusiastic comments like “Can’t wait!” and “See you soon!”
“Building something from a dream, you nourish it with creativity, give life to ideas and then manifest a wonderful place to bring everything and everyone together,” according to the shop’s official Facebook Page. “Such a place is how Scarborough Fare came to be.”
Scarborough Fare is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information about this artisanal shop, visit their website at www.scarboroughfarenp.com.
