(ROCKLAND COUNTY, New York) January 22, 2022– Hudson Market on Main in Nyack opened in November of 2019 as a collaboration between Rockland Community College’s Hospitality & Culinary Arts Center and FLIK Hospitality Group. The café, located at 5 North Broadway, is known for its innovative menu featuring ingredients primarily sourced from Hudson Valley vendors including the Nyack Farmers Market, Hudson Valley Harvest in Kingston, Catskills Mountain Sugar House in Grahamsville, and more. The Market, temporarily closing on January 29th, is seeking a new hospitality partner to bring additional innovations to the center in time for a re-opening this summer.
The RCC Hospitality & Culinary Arts Center was created in response to the growth in restaurants and tourism in the Mid-Hudson Valley and the resulting need for more qualified workers. It offers fast-track culinary arts degrees and certificate programs, workforce-ready training for veterans and under-served populations, and a state-of-the-industry teaching kitchen which offers cooking classes for the community. The Market was established as part of the Center to provide additional real-world learning opportunities for culinary students while also serving the community and visitors to the Nyack area. Classes for RCC Culinary students will continue uninterrupted in the same building. During the spring semester, RCC Culinary students will offer a pop-up Market experience twice weekly. On these days, members of the public will be able to experience and enjoy meals freshly prepared by the students. Items will be available for take-out or dine-in experience.
The Food Enthusiast classes for the community, spearheaded by Mark Davidoff, Director of the Nyack Extension Site, will also continue. The upcoming schedule includes February 17th – Love is in the Air, March 10 – Pasta Making, April 7 – Holiday appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, and May 12 – Spring Special. More information on these classes can be found at https://sunyrockland.edu/about/campustour/hospitality-and-culinary-arts-center/
In addition, the Rockland County Visitor’s Center will be re-located to the building lobby where people will be able to access the materials which include maps of the region, brochures and rack cards for various venues and entertainment options across the county.
“We are grateful for the collaboration with FLIK to launch the Market and appreciate the relationship and the support they provided for the Culinary Arts Center students,” says Davidoff. While the agreement with FLIK is coming to an end for the Market, RCC will continue to work with FLIK at the Hawk’s Nest (student café) on the Main Campus in Suffern, concessions for events at the Field House, as well as other catering opportunities on the RCC campus.
“As a partner in the culinary collaborative, we are so proud to have been a part of this state-of-the-art café and culinary staple in the Nyack community. Together we were able to develop a restaurant that supported the local community during the height of the global pandemic, offered Hudson Valley vendors an exclusive retail location, and served a center for Rockland tourism. Though our relationship is changing, we are still committed to working with RCC’s Hospitality & Culinary Arts Center to provide a pipeline for future employment opportunities,” said a spokesperson for FLIK Hospitality Group.
Chris Spezial, Program Director for the Hospitality & Culinary Arts Center noted, “The relationship with FLIK was invaluable for our students. They experienced first-hand what goes into running and managing a retail establishment offering a real-world experience. We look forward to a similar relationship with the new partner when the Market reopens.” More information on registering for classes visit https://sunyrockland.edu/programs/culinary-arts/.
The opportunity to partner on the Hudson Market on Main will be posted on Bidnet Direct as of January 24, 2022.
About Rockland Community College, State University of New York
Rockland Community College offers a safe, supportive learning environment for thousands of students from diverse backgrounds. Thanks to the school’s affordable tuition, students who start out at RCC before transferring to four-year colleges can save as much as $100,000 on their education. For more information visit https://sunyrockland.edu/