Brooklyn family.
Catskills double-wide.
Wildlife, design, food & drink, travel, real estate, country characters, adventures, waterfalls.
Wildlife, design, food & drink, travel, real estate, country characters, adventures, waterfalls.
All in Food and Drink
The egg sandwich at See and Be goes above and beyond the basic BEC. Made-to-order with the freshest possible ingredients, this spectacular, fully customizable Catskills breakfast sandwich is worth a drive to Cairo, but it really should come with a warning: It may forever ruin the bacon-egg-and-cheese from your go-to corner bodega. (Side note: It can even be vegan-ized!)
Inquiring Minds Bookstore and Coffee House sells new books alongside used books, has a super kids section as well as a giant grown-up selection, and pours notably delicious coffee, tea, and lemonade. When it’s too cold or too hot or too rainy to enjoy the outdoors, this Saugerties book shop can really save the day.
Left Bank Ciders in Catskill, NY makes small-batch hard apple cider from local apples, some foraged and some shared by neighbors who’ve inherited orchards of 100-year-old heritage apple trees. Their ciders are more complex and less sweet than your typical American on-tap cider—and they also serve local non-alcoholic cider, for any non-drinkers in tow.
Tanners Boat House, a New England seafood shack in Tannersville, has lobster rolls, lakeside views, a little beach with canoe, kayak, paddle board, and tube rentals, a giant playground next door, beer, wine, booze, and a trolley to take you back to town. This is their first summer of operation and it’s 2022’s best new full-service family-friendly destination in the Catskills.
Did you know that Sfoglini makes all of their pasta in the quaint Hudson Valley town of Coxsackie? Sfoglini makes fun, colorful pasta shapes, combining American ingredients with Italian techniques. The result is a rustic, rough-textured pasta that clings to sauce far better than its slippery, mass-produced supermarket counterparts.
Red Star Cafe has opened as Cairo’s first coffee house. It’s literally a house, complete with a breezy porch, a wide and welcoming indoor seating area, and a back-corner study nook. Plus, it’s the only spot in town with an espresso machine and free WiFi, and in these parts, that’s a pretty big deal.
With a counter-service menu of baked goods (flaky croissants, brownies with fun toppings, muffins) and simple grab-and-go fare (salads, yogurt parfaits, hummus cups), Red Star hits the spot, whether you’re wrangling a couple of kids or just toting a laptop.
Don’t go to Disney World for the food. Go to Disney for the rides and princess-sightings, and eat the silliest, sweetest, weirdest, most delicious things you can while you’re there. A Brooklyn food critic shares favorite Disney food and drinks, plus offers tips on booking hot tables, and makes the most of club level dining at the Disney resorts.
A new Catskills ice cream shop is taking milkshakes to the next level. At Cutie’s Sweets & Treats in Cairo, the rims of old-fashioned milkshake glasses are rolled in cake frosting, which works as a sugary glue to blanket with candy, sprinkles, popcorn, or graham cracker crumbs. Then, the glasses are filled with creamy shakes and piled high with treats.
Serving Catskills-brewed craft beer, wine, cocktails, and a full food menu, Cairo's Old Factory Brewing Company has what you need, whether you’re looking to bring all your friends to a ginormous sports bar or just want to sip a local beer on their breezy 95-foot porch. Plus, they've got a kids menu and brunch deal for early birds.
Mansion + Reed, our favorite general store in the Hudson Valley, is now serving some of the best coffee for miles around. The owners, twin sisters Lia and Justine Post, pour a fine cup of cappuccino, a smooth and chocolatey cold brew, and signature espresso drinks like the Maple Cinnamon Latte, made with a shot local syrup, a sprinkle of spicy Ceylon cinnamon, and oat milk or Ronnybrook farm creamline milk. It’s caffeine heaven, and when it gets too hot for a steamy latte, you can order it iced.
Furlong’s, one of the classic East Durham Irish pubs of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, reopened last August after it had been closed for a decade. The new owner of what is now called Five Furlong’s Tavern is native Irishman Garrett Doyle. He also founded Manhattan’s Tuttles Bar & Grill in Murray Hill, and he has made the most of Furlong’s enormous backyard by building out some of the best outdoor seating in the area.
Boston makes a great kid-friendly vacation destination, especially if your family includes some history buffs. We visited Boston with our 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter. Here’s our #1 hotel recommendation, plus the most family-friendly historical highlights, some fun finds for younger kids, and the tastiest things we ate.
Black Horse Farms in Athens, NY is so much more than a typical farm stand. With two balmy greenhouses, tons of plants and garden supplies, ridiculously delicious house-made cookies, loads of local food, and everything you need to make a simple-yet-delicious meal, it’s a destination-worthy shopping experience, especially on a cold and rainy spring day.
If you found a lone refrigerator advertising fresh milk in an empty field in the Catskills, what would you do? At End of the Lane Farm in Cornwallville, you’d be smart to pool all the money you’ve got in your car, pop it in the cash box affixed to a nearby tree, and grab all the creamline cow’s milk, cheese, butter, and goat milk you can afford.
Some of the best tea in the Catskills comes from Catskill Mountain Tea Company, a one-woman business run by Ashley Carr in South Westerlo. A native to the Catskill and mid-Hudson Valley area, Ashley curates a health-promoting collection of black tea, green tea, and herbal tea blends that celebrate the aromas and flavors of her home in the Catskill Mountains.
