How Chef Shaina Loew-Banayan Built Café Mutton into a Prune-Loving Powerhouse
In the small city of Hudson, New York, there’s a restaurant tucked away on the quieter, uphill side of town that’s making a name for itself by serving lamb neck sandwiches, unapologetically rich breakfasts, and cocktails with names that make you giggle and then come back for more. Welcome to Café Mutton, the culinary vision of Chef Shaina Loew-Banayan, a chef who’s as bold as their menu and as thoughtful as the food is delicious. Earning cult status for its irreverent charm and rustic-meets-radical fare, the restaurant also has quietly become one of the most prune-positive places to eat in the Northeast.
Yes—prunes.
“They can be good for you and, you know, help you poop if you need to poop. But they can also just be delicious thing you want to eat. They’re delicious. They are really good,” says the chef who uses prunes often in a variety of ways on their menu.
And nowhere is that love more obvious—or more hilarious—than in Café Mutton’s most infamous cocktail: the Poo Driver. It’s a clever, tongue-in-cheek twist on the classic Screwdriver, made with prune juice instead of orange. The name gets a chuckle; the drink gets reordered. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Shaina’s vibe: honest, unpretentious, and fun.
From Butcher Shops to Brunch Lines
Before Café Mutton, Shaina spent years honing culinary skills in kitchens in both NYC and Hudson. But they really longed to open a place of their own. When a lease came available in Hudson during the pandemic, the lease within a week and Cafe Mutton’s opened its doors three months later.
The menu changes daily and is hyperlocal, with most produce and meat coming from farms within 15 miles. Shaina enjoys direct contact with suppliers and farmers who often bring to Cafe Mutton what they can’t sell to other chefs. Why? Cafe Mutton is a place where somehow, underappreciated cuts of meat become pure magic.
“I get bored really easily and I don’t have a lot of discipline, so I just like to try new things. Our menu is not that big, so we’re just constantly funneling in things that people have that are different or something new that we’re working on,” Shaina explains.
Café Mutton is intimate—some might say cramped—but it buzzes with warmth. You’ll find mismatched mugs, a wall-mounted specials menu, and a soundtrack that swings from Fleetwood Mac to 90s girl bands. On any given day, the crowd might include old-school Hudsonites or weekenders from the city. It also includes local chefs on their day off. The restaurant is open only for brunch, except on Fridays where they are open through dinner.
Shaina has been twice nominated for a James Beard award. In addition, Cafe Mutton was named one of the 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022 by Bon Appetit and the New York Times. Folks travel from near and far to try their creations.
“We do get a mix of tourism. But I really love serving our locals. That’s a really important part of what we do. I think my favorite part about being here is seeing people come in two or three times a week and just enjoy themselves, and that we’re a part of their weekly experience. I think it’s just super fun and it just makes me feel so good that people wanna spend time here” shares Shaina.
Café Mutton is Love Letter to Prunes and the People Who Deserve Better Food
Among the hearty fare like stewed beef tongue on brothy beans, black pudding gratin, lard-fried toast, it might surprise some to see how often prunes show up on the menu. But in Shaina’s hands, they’re no joke. They get stewed into savory reductions and folded into cakes. And yes, they get mixed into a cocktail that playfully reclaims the fruit’s digestive reputation.
‘It’s actually a really delicious cocktail, even though it is a little bit of a prank. It’s actually very good and people really like it. It has a cult following,” they admit. “Obviously it’s a word play on a screwdriver, but it doesn’t have much to do with a screwdriver at all. It’s vodka, prune juice, lemon, and a little bit of Fernet Branca.”
The success of the Poo Driver—and the prune-forward dishes that have followed—isn’t just novelty. Shaina excels at rewriting the narrative around foods that are too often dismissed. And in a restaurant like Café Mutton, where wit and wisdom go hand in hand, that kind of storytelling matters.
“Prunes flavor is so deep. They’re fruity and they have a really nice, kind of dense but delicious texture. They go with so many different things,” Shaina informs. “People are so used to pairing wine with food, and that’s such a big part of our culture that is still growing and developing. But I think most people don’t always go for the meat-with-fruit situation on the plate, but I think it’s pretty natural and pretty complimentary.”
Come for the Vibes, Stay for the Prunes
“Prunes are amazing. Everybody should eat them every day, maybe four times a day. Everybody should cook with prunes. Prunes are the best fruit. Prunes come from plums, which I think a lot of people don’t realize. Plums are awesome,” Shaina says with a grin.
So, if you’re heading to Hudson, take Shaina’s advice: “You have to walk all the way up to the upper side of Hudson… but it’s worth it. You can expect to have a bit of fun here.” What you’ll find is not just a meal, but a moment—a joyful, deeply personal restaurant that cooks with care, jokes with edge, and loves a good fruit-forward rebrand.
And whatever you do, don’t skip the Poo Driver. It might just change how you feel about prunes forever.
Article written by Alison Needham for California Prunes. Images and video by James Collier, Paprika Studios.