We don’t just make breakfast, We Make Mornings
Seed to Plate
Our kitchen is rooted in an appreciation for respecting ingredients with an emphasis of home-cultivated and in-house prepared condiments for special entrees. Fifteen-raised garden beds cultivated and nurtured by the Radelich and Leman family offers a true (back)Yard-to-Table experience during harvest season. What about non-harvest times? Rotating entrees will feature hand-crafted accompaniments made from onsite summer crops, or culinarily-transformed local produce.
Culinary Heritage
Thoughtful-yet-simple, treasuring family traditions while exploring culinary curiosities.
“I watched as I played, I watched as I nibbled, I watched as I ran through the kitchen with wild abandon in my childhood. It wasn’t just about preparing a meal, but the preparation of ingredients which preserves our culinary heritage. Learning by my Grandmother’s apron strings, by my Father’s stock pots, and by my Mother’s eagle-eye for presentation; now, I offer to my guests the meal known as Breakfast. Unpretentious and delicious, just like my family used to make. ”
– Marianna Radelich Leman
hap·pi·ness noun. Liking what you do
35+ years of hospitality and the culinary love of previous generations… my philosophy is simple:
- Respect Ingredients – choose fresh, living-food ingredients, transformed with purpose
- Celebrate Cuisine – inspired by family recipes, paying homage to tradition and culture
- Value People – sincere service by an appreciated staff where classic hospitality is the goalpost
Overnight Escapes
Little hotel with big personality
Old-world vibe
Modern amenities
Vintage setting
Painstakingly restored
Architectural details
Small town happy
Welcome to the Inn of Happiness
Leslie Leman
Husband, Owner, Executive Innkeeper
Marianna Leman
Daughter, Owner, Executive Chef
See Her Bio
I never really cooked until I got married and moved to Australia. That’s because I never needed to. Literally raised in a restaurant, all I ever had to do was place an order. Childhood weekends were at grandma’s house.
Grandma and my Great Aunt carefully prepared farm fresh food. Peeling, preparing, cooking, repeat. Daily meals enjoyed, and packaging preserves until the next harvest. This is where my “seed-to-stem” philosophy originated. I realize now, it wasn’t just preserving food, but preserving a culinary heritage. I watched as I played, I watched as I nibbled, I watched as I ran through the kitchen with wild abandon. Mesmerized at rituals like “the sauce” made from bushels of ripe tomatoes, there was an honest respect for ingredients, and a joy found in the journey.
Back in the restaurant, dad would spend hours making stocks and reductions from scratch. Laboriously breaking down a side of beef, butchering the cuts, utilizing every ounce. Nothing was wasted. My “play” was peeling, chopping, and experimenting with food. As if through osmosis, my mom likewise taught me her ways. The art of serving and the responsibility of leading. How to be tough, and fair; how to be determined, and gracious.
Eventually we landed back home in Windham, working alongside my parents at their hotel Albergo Allegria, Italian for the “Inn of Happiness.” The gift of hospitality was cultivated, watered by the sweat of young entrepreneurship. After 37 years the time was right to offer our breakfast creations to non-lodging guests, we were propelled by the arrival of TripAdvisor’s 2018 “Top 25 Small Hotels in the USA” award. Affectionately named “&Breakfast by Albergo,” the open house was December, 2019. Then, there was the economic shutdown. What does a restaurant kid do? Pivot!
During the dead-quiet months that followed March of 2020, several initiatives were born. For nine consecutive weeks I filmed Facebook LIVE cooking demos every day. Albeit for my own sanity, viewers joined my journey where I dove down culinary rabbit holes of creation and revisited flavors of my childhood. Footage was honest, raw, and featured an “Education Meets Comic Relief” approach. At this same time “Albergo at Home” initiative was born where labor-intensive items, like our “Private Reserve Preserves” were available for purchase alongside pop-up dinner meals inspired by my curiosity of Moroccan and Indian flavors. Then, enter the invention of my Quiche Kit…. a homemade butter-crust pastry (the way my Grandma showed me) with build-your-own flavor profiles that any culinary novice could assemble and bake at home. The best of all, was a recreation of the Australian Meat Pie – artisan made and hand rolled pastry with slowly cooked beef and onions… a trip to Leslie’s homeland without the airfare! As we roll with the ups and downs of tourism trends, these recipes will come back out of their binders and created for all to enjoy once again.
New approaches to the summer of 2023, my “Kitchen of Happiness” will share delicious grab-and-go creations. Our House Recipe Granola, Biscotti Signature Lenore, Vito’s-Stock-Pot-Inspired-Soups, and Simply Sublime Snacks will be available for purchase. I’m excited to share with you, more aromas and flavors from my childhood.
Albergo Allegria’s Cooking Channel
Watch videos from our very own kitchen and learn how to make our favorites!
Caponata Eggplant So Simple
Your own personal cooking class on how to make Caponata, Sicilian Eggplant dish, from Chef Vito! Use for omelette fillings, appetizers, or add to pasta. Prepare in fall with ripe eggplant. Freezing adds to the flavor so you can savor it throughout the winter. Part 2:...
How To Choose the Right Eggplant
Sicilian Caponata dish require male eggplants for best flavor. Do you know which eggplants to buy? Short, quirky video shows how to choose a better eggplant. Albergo Allegria Bed and Breakfast Hotel in Windham, NY serves a rockin' breakfast; during your stay you may...
Super Easy and the BEST Ever Pizza on the Grill
Part 1: Rolling out the dough. Line up your ingredients and enjoy this BEST Ever Pizza. So simple, you may never order in pizza again! Albergo Allegria Bed & Breakfast Hotel Innkeepers bring you this treat. Part 2: Pizza is ready in 10 minutes with a fantastic,...