Where the Valley Comes to the Table
A 48-seat seasonal restaurant crafting weekly-rotating menus exclusively from Hudson Valley farms, wild foragers, and local fisheries.
Each week, Chef-Owner Margot Ellison writes a new menu around what's ripening, what's been foraged, and what the creek and valley offer. No two weeks at Thistledown are ever the same.
Stone Walls. Open Fire.
Honest Cooking.
Built in 1847 to grind grain from surrounding farms, the mill sat dormant for decades before Margot Ellison saw its bones — the massive timber frame, the creek rushing below, the stone walls that hold the cool even in August.
Today, those same walls frame an intimate dining room where 48 guests gather around an open kitchen. The pass looks out onto the dining room; the dining room looks out onto the creek. Everything connects.
Read Our Full StoryWays to Dine
From an intimate weeknight dinner to a celebratory tasting menu, every experience at Thistledown is rooted in the season and shaped by the land.
Dinner Service
Our à la carte menu changes weekly, reflecting the freshest harvests from our network of Hudson Valley farms and foragers. Five to seven dishes, each telling the story of a single ingredient at its peak.
View This Week's Menu →Tasting Menu
A seven-course journey through the week's most exceptional ingredients, often built around a single farm's harvest. Available every evening with optional wine pairings selected from small regional producers.
Explore the Tasting Menu →Weekend Brunch
A more relaxed affair with the same commitment to provenance. Fresh-milled pancakes, pasture-raised eggs, house-cured charcuterie, and seasonal fruit from the orchards that line the valley.
See Brunch Offerings →Private Dining
The Mill Room, our private dining space overlooking the creek, seats up to 16 for bespoke multi-course meals. Ideal for celebrations, intimate gatherings, and corporate retreats seeking something truly memorable.
Plan Your Event →Gift Cards
Give the experience of a meal at Thistledown. Digital and physical gift cards available in any amount — perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, or simply sharing something beautiful with someone you love.
Purchase a Gift Card →Thirty Miles.
Twelve Farms.
Zero Compromises.
Every ingredient on our menu is sourced within a 30-mile radius of the mill. We work directly with a network of Hudson Valley farmers, wild foragers, and local fisheries — not because it's fashionable, but because it's how the best food has always been made.
Dishes are often planned around single-farm harvests and foraged finds from the surrounding Catskill foothills. When the season shifts, so does every plate.
Meet Our FarmersThistledown doesn't just serve food from the Hudson Valley — it channels the valley's rhythm, its patience, its quiet insistence on beauty. Margot Ellison has built something rare: a restaurant that feels inevitable.
Sitting at the pass, watching the kitchen work in near-silence as the creek rushes below — it's the most transportive dining experience within two hours of the city.
Chef-Owner
Margot Ellison
After a decade cooking in kitchens across Copenhagen, Lyon, and New York, Margot returned to the Hudson Valley — where she grew up — with a singular vision: a restaurant where the menu is written by the land, not the chef.
At Thistledown, she leads a small, dedicated team through the open pass, where diners can watch every dish come together. It's cooking without pretense — just deep technique applied to extraordinary ingredients.
More About MargotJoin Us at the Mill
Stottville, NY 12172
Two hours north of Manhattan, just off Route 9 in Columbia County. The mill sits at the bend of Stottville Creek.
5:30 PM – 10:00 PM
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
With only 48 seats, we strongly recommend booking in advance, especially for Friday and Saturday evenings and the tasting menu.