If you stopped by The Grand in Croton-on-Hudson one night this winter, you may have caught a set by Brooklyn singer-songwriter Steve Gunn or were immersed in the sonic world of I Am a Snow Angel.
On Wednesdays, a jazz combo or bluegrass band takes the stage. Fridays are reserved for all-ages-dinner-and-a-movie nights. Perhaps a bar mitzvah or wedding is being celebrated. In March a one-woman show based on the writings of Colette is in the spotlight.
You get the picture: This restaurant and live performance venue that soft-opened a few months ago is as diverse as the village itself.
“Being rooted in Croton, that’s what Croton is, that’s my experience,” Cara Politi, part of the venue’s management team, said one mid-January evening. “I think what we’re saying with the music, the eclectic nature of it, is that there is all of this talent here.”
We were sitting at a table in the mezzanine overlooking the stage a few hours before showtime. The house drum kit, a Gretsch, waited patiently; an upright piano was lined up against the wall.
Van Morrison and Big Star played on the sound system; downstairs, glasses clinked around the oval-shaped bar top — a custom-made cherrywood piece locally harvested by Leif Lorenzen of Croton River Woodworking.
Hometown craftsmanship is part of the Croton connection to The Grand, which took about a year and a half to be transformed from a former doctor’s office into a performance space with professional lighting, sound and projection, and a modern kitchen.
The Grand’s restaurant, under Chef Nick Ciofone, serves a local, seasonal menu that during a January visit ranged from potato and leek beignets to smoky pork ribs.
The team behind The Grand saw a need for a venue that embraced the community while reaching out to the NYC crowd.
“We’re going to be leaning more into other areas that you don’t see as much around here,” said Politi, who helps book the talent. “Things that you might have to go to the city for, go to Brooklyn for, and we want to make sure you can do that right in your backyard.”
She added: “We’re going to have Broadway people here; we want to be sort of on that level. We have a lot of artists that live here. You don’t have to go to 54 below to workshop your cabaret, you can workshop it here.”
Performers have included the folk/jazz singer-songwriter KJ Denhert and The Evening News, the bluegrass outfit Big Draw, the Dan Zlotnick Band, and alt-country-folk artist Holly Macve.
The Grand’s vibe shifts with each audience.
“It’s based on the performer. It’s really fun to see already in the first couple of months we’ve grown this real neighborhood contingent, but then we have people coming every night from out of town,” said Politi, whose background includes a stint at the Manhattan comedy club Caveat.
The venue’s “countywide opening” is scheduled for Feb. 27, but the roster of performers already has been robust, and the kitchen has been running at full steam. Right now, The Grand is open Wednesdays through Saturdays and some Sundays, although hopes are to eventually be open seven days a week
The Grand
130 Grand St.
Croton-on-Hudson
