Cauldron Restaurant and Bar, Montgomery NY

I've been meaning to go to the Cauldron Restaurant in Montgomery for months now, but it seems that I never travel that section of the road anymore, so I always seem to forget. The restaurant is owned by the family of one of my former students, Giovanni La Piana (one of my favorite former students), and I've tried their food at Montgomery Day and The Walden Harvest Festival and liked what I had. Well, today we were out and couldn't decide where to eat and suddenly it came to me. We've gotta give the Cauldron a try. We're glad we did and we've added a new favorite to our list.

The Cauldron isn't big. There is bar area with a few tables, and a small dining room. It's decorated in red and white with a warm feel and posters on the wall. Giovanni seated us, gave us the menus, and explained the specials. He told us that all of the pasta is homemade and all of the vegetables are local. From farm to table is how he explained it. If you're a localvore this will make you happy. Shortly after we ordered we were given fresh baked focaccia bread,

We ordered off the specials menu and I had the Cioppini (see the top photo). It was clams, shrimp, calamari, in a spicy sauce with carrots and celery over home made linguini. The best description is delicious with just the right amount of heat. The calamari was cooked perfectly and it almost melted in my mouth. The shrimp and clams were just right too, as were the carrots and celery. The pasta was amazing. There was so much on my plate I had to bring half of it home, and that's rare for me, but I have a nice lunch waiting for me tomorrow.

Teresa got the butternut squash ravioli with a nice white sauce on it. I took a bite and it was very tasty. Both of our meals came with a choice of salad or soup. Looking at the soup choices we decided that was the way to go. I got the French Onion, which was excellent. Teresa had the Tuscan soup with broccoli rabe that had a nice flavor that even I liked. She loved it.

Both dishes were eighteen dollars and worth every penny of that. Overall, this was a great meal out and I highly recommend the Cauldron Restaurant. They are located at 631 State Route 17K in Montgomery New York, next door to the Spruce Lodge. The phone number is (845) 567-1760. They also make a pretty mean pizza and they used to be known as Colletta's Pizza. Stop in and you'll be glad you did. Tell them I sent you.