Manor Ink July 2020

28 | JULY 2020 | MANOR INK
FEATURES
CANINE CAROUSERS Whimsy infuses Rob Rayevsky’s illustrations for childrens’ books. Seen here are two from Pirate Pup, done with author Caroline Stutson. Images courtesy of Rob Rayevsky
Busboy, cab driver, illustrator or chef? Yes!
By Edward Lundquist | Manor Ink
Few people can say that they have
mastered art in multiple fields,
especially ones as different and
vast as illustration and cooking.
Rob Rayevsky has.
Rayevsky, a well-recognized face in
Livingston Manor and Parksville, is best
known for his children’s book illustrations
and his food. He was owner and chef at
the now closed Rolling River Cafe and
Inn in Parksville for ten years, and now he
cooks for and runs Upward Kitchen at the
Upward Brewing Company in Livingston
Manor with his daughter
LOCAL
ARTIST
PROFILE
Miriam. However, his life
is much bigger than most
people may realize.
Rayevsky was born in
Moscow in 1955, and worked in a shipping
factory. When he immigrated to the
US in 1979, his first job was at the Concord
Resort Hotel, where he worked for
a few years. A friend who also worked
there told the management that Rayevsky
had a degree from Russia as a waiter (they
do have schools for this in Russia), but
he was only hired as a busboy due to his
almost nonexistent English.
Afterwards, he returned to New York
City, where he started driving a taxi, improving
his linguistic skills. Rayevsky recalled
that one time he drove a taxi for the
late Robin Williams, right after the movie
“Moscow on the Hudson” came out.
“I pretended that I didn’t know who
he was, which, looking back, was silly,
because I could have asked him for an
autograph or something.”
After driving taxis for a while, though,
he decided to go back to
his artistic roots. In Russia,
Rayevsky’s parents had
encouraged his artistic
pursuits, and sent him to
an art school when he was
nine years old. “I had just
Rob Rayevsky sort of always seen myself
as an artist,” Rayevsky said. So he went
back to college for illustration, where
his professor recommended that he try
illustrating childrens’ books. He took this
advice, and went around to different publishers
showing a portfolio of his work.
Rayevsky published his first book in
1985 with Macmillan. Called Hitchety
Hatchety Up I Go!, it’s a story of a tiny
boy who steals things from a cranky old
woman down the road. Rob worked as an
illustrator until 2007, but as the illustration
business started to get more and
more commercial, he found it less interesting
and left the field. His last book was
Hey You!, a collection of poems.
After his art career, he turned his hand
to cooking. Rayevsky originally wanted
to have a “fry shop,” offering french fries
with different toppings. However, his
vision changed on a trip to Spain when
he became inspired by Spanish tapas
and wine bars. He and his wife Kim then
bought the property in Parksville and he
opened the Rolling River Cafe, a place
where he could both cook and display
his art, and that of local artists. The Cafe
was run by Rob and his daughter Miriam
where they experimented with different
cuisines to develop their creative menus.
After ten years, they decided to move on
from Rolling River Cafe and work with the
RAYVEKSY IN PRINT
Six of Rob Rayevsky’s books are
available in the Livingston Manor Free
Library:
n Antonyms, Synonyms, Homonyms,
with Kim Rayevsky
n Squash It: A True and Ridiculous
Tale, with Eric Kimmel
n Pirate Pup, with Caroline Stutson
n Two Fools and a Horse, with Sally
Derby
n Under New York, with Linda Oatman
High
n Hey You: Poems to Skyscrapers,
Mosquitoes and other Fun Things,
with Paul Janeczko
Upward Brewing Company, joining the
two businesses in a new collaboration.
Rayevsky believes there is a balance between
art and cooking, a sort of harmony.
If the meal comes out well and tastes good,
it has a similar satisfaction as a piece of
art. The originality of the menus at both
his restaurants is a sort of test, utilizing
simplicity, good materials and whatever
works best, to produce a delicious repast.
Rob appreciates the happy medium of
sociability in both passions.
“Not too much,” he said, laughing. “But
just enough interaction with people to be
comfortable”