There are plenty of ways for a French brasserie to announce itself. At Mr. Cat in Hudson, it starts with a warm bowl of pistachios.
While menus are studied and cocktails are ordered, guests crack shells at the table as the dining room hums all around. Mid-week during the dinner wave, families with toddlers share the space with couples lingering over martinis. Conversation flows between the clink of glasses and the din of a busy room. It’s casually elegant without asking anyone to dress up on a weeknight.
An Everyday Brasserie
“I didn’t want to create a precious spot—some place that felt like you could only go and celebrate glorious moments in your life,” says Mr. Cat culinary director Hagan Whelchel. What he wanted, instead, was somewhere “that you could be like, ‘I had a great roasted chicken on Tuesday. I’m gonna go get my burger fix on Friday and, God willing, Sunday I’m gonna get chicken and waffles.'”
Mr. Cat Brasserie occupies what was once the full-service restaurant at Kitty’s, part of Nice & Weird’s ongoing reimagining of its Hudson waterfront campus. The hospitality group, which also operates Kitty’s Market, Grapefruit Wines, and The Caboose event space, among other projects, brought in Whelchel to help shape that next chapter. His résumé includes training under Alain Ducasse and time within Thomas Keller’s restaurant group.
Rather than recreating the fine dining kitchens where he built his career, Whelchel had a different goal: “What we really, really wanted to provide Hudson with was a fun, kind of eclectic, really technique-driven but whimsical neighborhood spot.”
Brilliant at the Basics
“There’s a frame of reference that you always want to hit no matter what,” Whelchel says. “Then your 10 pieces of flair are how chefs become storytellers through food.”
Mr. Cat’s flair is woven throughout the menu, where familiar dishes and a thoughtfully curated beverage program are treated with precision rather than reinvention. The wine list is organized by flavor, instead of varietal, making it easy to navigate, while classic cocktails share the page with a handful of house originals. Throughout, everything feels carefully considered without taking itself too seriously, as evidenced by the tongue-in-cheek dish names.
The menu opens with every classic brasserie craving, from cold oysters dressed in pink peppercorn mignonette and sharply sauced shrimp cocktail to escargot tucked beneath impossibly light puff pastry and a country pâté with all the necessary accomplices: cornichons, Dijon, radish, toasted sourdough. The salads are no afterthought, either, whether it’s Bibb lettuce with Champagne vinaigrette and blue cheese, warm goat cheese over greens, or the aptly named “frisée that fights back” with smoky bacon and a soft egg. “French onion soup that took its time” and hand-cut beef tartare over fried bread round out a menu that feels grounded in tradition without living in the past.
For mains, the menu lands squarely in comfort-food territory, though it keeps its collar buttoned. Steak frites arrives with shallot jam and maître d’hôtel butter, while the mussels, which Whelchel estimates to be the most popular so far, are served over a saffron broth that somehow manages to feel both rich and bright. A dry-aged burger topped with Comté, shallot confit, cornichons, and dijonnaise is given the same spotlight as Parisian gnocchi in brown butter and a seared salmon served with blistered seasonal vegetables and red quinoa. The half chicken, finished with thyme-scented jus, corn, bacon, favas, and green garlic, is the dish Whelchel says “we measure ourselves by.”
The sides are treated with the same care as everything else. Whipped potatoes, bubbling gratin macaroni, crisp fries, and garlicky spinach aren’t just there to fill out a plate. They’re meant to be shared, stolen from across the table, and appreciated on their own.
A restrained but indulgent, dessert menu offers a seasonal tarte Tatin alongside chocolate mousse, crème caramel, and profiteroles. The latter arrives accompanied by a tableside pour of warm, jet-black chocolate so dark it seems destined to be bitter, but instead delivers a rich, fudgelike finish. Still, it’s the remarkably delicate crème caramel that quietly steals the show. Thoughtful after-dinner pairings, from Pineau des Charentes and Cognac to pear eau-de-vie and tomato liqueur, offer one last course worth exploring.
Whelchel describes the opening menu as “brilliant at the basics,” borrowing a phrase from legendary basketball coach John Wooden. His approach is as much culinary as it is practical. Before introducing increasingly ambitious dishes, he wanted the kitchen to master consistency together. Every dish becomes another opportunity for the team to build confidence before taking the next creative step.
He’s just as invested in developing the people behind the food. “You can have a whole bunch of people that are scheduled on a shift, but that doesn’t make a team,” he says. “My sous chef, line cook, runner, GM, bartender, host…we’re all thinking the same way. That’s what really makes a cohesive team.”
That teamwork is easy to spot during service. An atmosphere this relaxed only works when everyone is paying attention. Water glasses are quietly refilled, empty pistachio bowls disappear almost unnoticed, and front-of-house staff move between sections, taking ownership of every table and guest’s experience.
Built for Hudson
Since arriving in the Hudson Valley from Los Angeles in January, Whelchel has been building relationships with local producers, including Bartlett House in Ghent, and Ardith Mae Farm in Stuyvesant. “I’m still learning the region,” he says. “The more I get to know the producers here, the more naturally they’ll become part of what we’re doing, and that’ll influence the menu a bit more.”
The transition from Kitty’s into two distinct concepts (the market and the now-separately branded brasserie) also gave the team room to sharpen each experience. While Kitty’s Market serves commuters and grab-and-go guests stepping off the train, Mr. Cat invites people to stay awhile. Sitting just across from Hudson’s Amtrak station, Whelchel sees the restaurant as both an introduction to the city and a place locals return to throughout the week.
Whelchel isn’t shy about the standard he’s chasing. “I really want it to be the Balthazar of Hudson,” he says.
It’s a lofty benchmark. But Mr. Cat isn’t trying to become the restaurant everyone has to try. It’s trying to become the one they can’t stop coming back to.
Mr. Cat Brasserie is located at 60 South Front Street in Hudson. Dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday from 5–10 p.m., with brunch and dinner on Saturdays from 10 a.m.–10 p.m. and brunch on Sundays from 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
