Rhinebeck Welcomes Little Goat, a Charming All-Day Café and Bakery With Nancy Meyers-Inspired Interiors

Not much is ever truly new in Rhinebeck. “The businesses there have been around for a long time—it seems like forever,” Hudson Valley resident and Inness hotelier Taavo Somer says of the historic town. Which is why when a store in a restored 18th-century townhouse finally did become available on Main Street, it wasn’t even a question that he’d sign a lease. The only question was whether someone else would beat him to it.

Somer prevailed. On May 28, he and longtime collaborator Erin Winters open Little Goat: a bakery, pantry, and all-day café that epitomizes that low-key countryside chic that the Hudson Valley is known for. “We’re calling it a cafe, a bakery, and a pantry because we want to hit all these different aspects of what we think the town needs,” Somer says.

Photo: Kate Sears

What does that look like, exactly? There’s bread from nearby Sparrowbush Baker, cheeses from Talbott & Arding, and balsamic vinegars from Flamingo Estate. On an entry table, abundant flower arrangements come courtesy of famed florist Ariel Dearie. (Some of her repeat customers? Sofia Coppola, Marc Jacobs, and Annie Leibovitz.) Grab-and-go food, including rotisserie chicken, are ready for the taking. In the back, waiters serve Mediterranean-inspired dishes like flatbread with broccoli rabe, stracciatella, and Calabrian chili, as well as grilled Hudson Valley steelhead trout from a menu by executive chef Brian Paragas (previously of Blackberry Farm and Zahav).