Our Story

The Kinderhook Knitting Mill is a community-centered space in the heart of Kinderhook, uniting food, art, and design within an 1870s textile mill. Conceived in the midst of the pandemic by close friends—restaurateur Yen Ngo and artist Darren Waterston—the project grew from a shared desire to nourish both body and spirit through the pairing of food and art.

The Mill’s businesses—a curated pantry store, wine shop, botanical perfumery, art gallery, and museum—share an ethos of cooperation and collaboration. Together, they weave a connective thread through the community, working toward the shared goal of cultivating a vibrant village center.

Anchoring the Knitting Mill are The Aviary, The Nest, and Morningbird. Morningbird, an all-day café and lunch eatery, offers a rotating selection of house-made pastries and casual Southeast Asian dishes, alongside a curated selection of publications, ceramics, coffee, and tea. The Aviary and The Nest feature an eclectic, seasonal menu spotlighting produce from our Hudson Valley farm partners.

Meet the Team

  • Executive Chef Robert Howay brings more than two decades of kitchen experience to The Aviary, an Asian-inspired restaurant in the historic Kinderhook Knitting Mill. His cooking reflects a steady, deliberate path that began in Memphis, Tennessee, where he first worked in small neighborhood restaurants, and continued through formative time in New Orleans before leading him to New York City. There, he honed his craft in some of the city’s most exacting dining rooms and hospitality groups, experiences that shaped both his versatility and his quiet approach to leadership.

    Now rooted in the Hudson Valley, Robert guides The Aviary with a calm, ingredient-driven style informed by his Southern upbringing and early years in Okinawa, Japan. He describes cooking as a craft built on care and humility, and he remains committed to creating food that feels genuine, seasonal, and true to its ingredients.

  • “This is a continuation of my journey in food—modern in spirit, anchored by my heritage, and driven by a desire to push beyond my own cultural boundaries in the hope of connecting a culinary community through my experiences,” says founder Yen Ngo. Trained as a chef, she honed her skills 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 create something unlike anything I’ve done before. 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 enough from any buzzing metropolis, and embraced by a community that deeply cares, I hope The Aviary Kinderhook will enrich and celebrate the beautiful landscapes that surround this project so close to my heart.”

  • Darren has been exhibiting his paintings, works on paper, and installations in the U.S. and abroad since the early 1990s. He earned his BFA from the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1988, after studying at both the Akademie der Künste and the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Germany. His many solo exhibitions across North America include In the Gloaming at DC Moore Gallery (2023). His work has also 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 his career as an artist, Darren grew up in California’s Central Valley, surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains, mass agriculture, fig and pomegranate groves, and a rich mosaic of immigrant cultures. In Fresno, his Mexican grandmother founded and operated two “Spanish American” restaurants, sourcing ingredients from local producers—from fresh produce to handmade tortillas. After 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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