Like everyone else in this town, we love The Hudson. We love to grab a seat at the lively bar and sip on a Fig & Ginger Mule (Figenza vodka, ginger beer and lime) during happy hour. We love to settle in on the deck with out-of-town friends while everyone snaps pictures of Capitol Butte and noshes on a leisurely lunch of quinoa salads. But we really love making ourselves comfortable in the contemporary dining room for dinner. Designed by Catherine Hayes of Hayes Inc. Architecture/Interiors in Scottsdale, the interior is an on-trend mix of urban chic meets earth tones that reflect Sedona’s beauty.
The Hudson, owned by Mark and Lisa Shugrue and helmed by Executive Chef Jeff Storcz, calls itself a neighborhood restaurant, and trust us, the neighborhood has taken that moniker seriously – you almost always need a reservation for dinner. The menu features sophisticated yet accessible comfort food. Start with the Beer-Battered Calamari topped with julienned vegetables and served with a spicy chili-paste orange marmalade. Hands down this is one of the best calamari appetizers in town, and you could easily turn it into a meal. The Thai Scallops are one of the restaurant’s specialties. The dish features a tower of rice noodles topped with carrots, red peppers and snow peas surrounded by five pan-seared scallops sitting in a slightly spicy peanut sauce. The Hudson Mushroom Burger is a house favorite. The burger is adorned with Portobello mushrooms, spicy jalapeno bacon, haystack onion strings, arugula and truffled Gouda. It’s served on a bolillo bun smeared with garlic aioli. Choose from fries or green mango slaw as your side dish. (We are obsessed with The Hudson’s fries, however, the crunchy slaw makes this a hard decision.)
Dessert? You’d be foolish not to try Ellie’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, which is like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup on steroids. A chocolate cookie crust is topped with peanut butter mousse that’s encased in bittersweet chocolate ganache. The entire concoction rests in a pool of dark chocolate sauce. With one of the best views in town and a menu to rival it, The Hudson is the restaurant we’ve all been waiting for. – Erika Ayn Finch. Photo courtesy of The Hudson.
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