Our Story
The Kinderhook Knitting Mill is a community-minded space in the heart of Kinderhook that brings together food, art, and design in an 1870s textile mill. The Knitting Mill was conceived in the heart of the pandemic by two close friends, restaurateur Yen Ngo and artist Darren Waterston, who shared a desire to nourish together with food and art.
The businesses of The Mill — which include a curated pantry store, wine shop, botanical perfumery, art gallery and museum — share an ethos of cooperation and collaboration that is evident in the connective thread that ties everyone together in the mutual goal of cultivating a thriving village center to nourish the community.
Anchoring the Knitting Mill are The Aviary, The Nest and Morningbird. Morningbird, our all-day cafe and lunch eatery, offers a rotating selection of housemade pastries and casual Southeast Asian dishes, along with a curated retail selection of publications, ceramics, coffee & tea. The Aviary and The Nest are open Wednesday to Saturday evenings from 5p-9p, and features an eclectic, rotating menu highlighting produce from our Hudson Valley farm partners.
Meet the Team
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Yen Ngo
Founder
Ms. Yen Ngo explains, “this is a continuation of the story of my journey in food, modern in spirit, anchored by my heritage, and pushing myself to explore beyond my own cultural boundaries in hopes of connecting a culinary community through my experiences.” She trained as a chef and worked in fine dining restaurants in Washington D.C., Santa Fe, and San Francisco before settling in New York.
“The Aviary Kinderhook is a chance for me to build something unlike anything I’ve had the chance to do in the past. I was born in the mountain town of Da Lat Vietnam, and the isolation here, the quiet, the calm …takes me back to my roots. Far away enough from any buzzing metropolis, and steeped in a community that deeply cares. I hope that The Aviary Kinderhook enriches and highlights the wonderful landscapes that surround this project I hold dear to my heart.”
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Darren Waterston
Founder
Darren has been exhibiting his paintings, works on paper, and installations in the U.S. and abroad since the early 1990s. He graduated with a BFA from the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA in 1988, having previously studied at the Akademie der Künste and the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, both in Germany. In addition to his many solo exhibitions at galleries across North America (most recently: In the Gloaming, DC Moore Gallery, 2023), Darren’s work has been featured at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA), the Smithsonian’s Freer/Sackler Galleries, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Before the art career, however, Darren grew up in California’s Central Valley surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains, mass agriculture, fig and pomegranate groves, and a complex mosaic of immigrant cultures. In Fresno, Darren’s Mexican grandmother founded and operated two “Spanish American” restaurants featuring local producers, from produce to tortillas. After many years immersed in the visual arts and food cultures of Los Angeles and San Francisco, Darren moved to New York City in 2010 where he met Yen Ngo.
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Hannah Wong
Executive Chef
After a short stint in academic publishing, Hannah attended Johnson & Wales and began her culinary career at Daniel Boulud’s db bistro Moderne before moving on to Michelin-starred Gramercy Tavern and Battersby. She also worked in private events and teaching kitchens (and competed on Chopped!) before partnering with Yen Ngo to open Van Da, modern Vietnamese restaurant, in 2019. She moved to Kinderhook in the summer of 2020, after a decade of living in NYC, to help open Morningbird and The Aviary. Fun fact: she is a Fulbright scholar.
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SJ McLaughlin
General Manager
SJ is born and raised in the upper Hudson Valley, with 20+ years of hospitality experience. She loves being outdoors with her dog Ginger and foraging for good things.