Though the siren call of New York City can be hard to resist, sometimes the pull to your roots is stronger- especially when it means a chance to help foster the local community.

Sarah Suarez honed her craft working at some of the city’s most beloved hospitality locales, including Diner, Marlow & Sons, and Gramercy Tavern. But her love for restaurants charts back to her childhood growing up in Orange County in the Hudson Valley.

“I’ve loved restaurants ever since I was a kid — my dad was definitely into always taking me out to meals whenever my mom had to work late and it kind of became our ritual,” recalls Suarez. “When I was 16, he helped me get a job in this little ‘fancy’ restaurant called Ile-de-France, and I’ve worked in restaurants ever since.”

That path took her to New York City, where she met her husband, Nick, who shared her passion for food and was working at Wine Spectator magazine during the day while attending the French Culinary Institute at night. “He grew up in a household that was all equally obsessed with cooking,” says Suarez. “His mom used to be a chef and his dad was a commercial film director doing a lot of food commercials.”

Naturally, they started dreaming of opening their own restaurant one day, but they knew it was important to also own the building that housed it. “After working in restaurants for so long, I definitely knew how challenging it can be in New York City to be beholden to a landlord,” says Suarez. “So we basically knew that if we could sell our apartment in Brooklyn and then move somewhere where we could buy property, that we’d be in a more stable position.”

When they began looking for a place where they might make their dream a reality, Suarez felt a draw to the region that had instilled her love for food: the Hudson Valley. During their search in the area, a chance run-in with a friend in Hudson revealed there was a building that might be the perfect fit in nearby Germantown, so they decided to do a drive-by.

“We didn’t want something that felt trendy or of the moment, but more like a tavern or something you would encounter passing through a place that could also be your beloved local as well. “

“It was just a magical kind of day. I think that there might’ve been a wedding in town in the little inn across the street, and people were sitting out on the porch,” recalls Suarez. “And Germantown is tiny — it’s a little hamlet. There are only a few businesses, but they’re all owner-operated and a lot of them have been there for generations. So we were pretty charmed by the town when we drove through.”

The more time they spent in Germantown getting to know people, the more it felt like the right fit. And for Suarez, it was a reminder of the community spirit she grew up with. “We just felt very welcomed,” says Suarez. They bought the building on the corner of Church and Main streets and moved into the apartment upstairs. It was fitting to their vision that they happened to be living above the restaurant. “We wanted a meeting place — some- where simple and classic that felt like an extension of our own home,” she says. “We didn’t want something that felt trendy or of the moment, but more like a tavern or something you would encounter passing through a place that could also be your beloved local as well.”

They brought on Post Company (formerly Studio Tack) to transform that vision into physical form after meeting one of the designers’ moms who lived in Germantown. “Once we met the Post Company team, we just felt like they got us,” recalls Suarez. “We liked the fact that, while their studio was based in New York City, they had a connection to the area. And we felt like they understood how we wanted to strike a balance between a space that was beautiful and creative, but that wasn’t overly designed or felt too fancy.”

It was also one of the designers from Post Company who suggested the name for the restaurant. “Gaskins was my last name before Nick and I got married, and that’s what people would refer to me as instead of Sarah,” she explains. “It ended up feeling really perfect because the town is full of owner-operated businesses, many of which have the name of the owner. But also, my father, who passed away when I was in my early 20s, was definitely the one who got me into and excited about food, so it felt very apt to pass on his name to the restaurant.”

The fare on offer at Gaskins is simple, seasonal, and comforting. “Our background is in creating and serving food that’s nourishing and that uses ingredients from nearby, but that’s not overwrought or overly fancy,” says Suarez. “So much of why we ended up in the Hudson Valley was working with the farms and making a commitment to purchasing from people and not giant companies.”

While she has enjoyed seeing the region blossom with new creative small businesses during the past five years, Suarez acknowledges that it’s a complicated topic. “Growing up in the Hudson Valley, I’ve seen a lot of these small towns deteriorate or lose their livelihoods due to plants closing and things changing,” she says. “I think it’s exciting to see these areas revived and people enjoying them, but my biggest concern is whether it’s positively impacting the people who are already here. It’s important that people invest in the areas that they’re visiting to help those communities thrive.”

In fact, Suarez is so passionate about seeing her local community flourish that last year she successfully ran for a position on the town board, having already spent several years on the Germantown Economic Advisory Committee. “It was definitely a quick course in politics in a small town,” she laughs. “But it’s been a great way to try to give back and make a positive impact in Germantown on a day-to-day level.”

Her focus has been trying to help Germantown become a more energy- efficient community and to invigorate the town’s public spaces for annual events where the community can connect — whether it’s outdoors over a meal or a holiday event. “Those are the ways you really get to see one another as humans,” says Suarez. “It’s when you all come together and work together on an event and we see the fruits of our labor together — it feels really connective.”