A scenic view through Autumn trees foliage to the Catskill Mountains beyond
The 600,000 acres of the Catskill Mountain preserve do not begin to manifest the vast natural resources of New York State, which also includes the majestic Hudson Valley and its Palisades, the Finger Lakes, Adirondacks, the Thousand Islands, Saratoga and Niagara Falls. But within the Catskills’ rugged boundaries are scores of ski, hiking and hunting trails, fish hatcheries, historic sites (including the Thomas Coles National Historic Site, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and the Rip Van Winkel Bridge) and 43 areas for winter sports.
One of the best of the last attractions is Windham, just 150 miles from Manhattan (two-and-a-half hours’ drive up the winding and very beautiful in summer and fall Taconic Parkway, just west of the Massachusetts border (Boston is 205 miles away).
Windham vies with Hunter Mountain as the state’s finest ski area, and, while protected by the state from overdevelopment, the little town of 1,700 people is at the cusp of going upscale, à la Aspen, Colorado, while maintaining its small town atmosphere. New ownership of the Windham Mountain resort, re-branded as the Windham Mountain Club, ploughed more than $70 million into it, promising members luxury condos and vacation homes within “rare time in rarefied air” and a “gastronomic glow-up.” Memberships can go as high as $200,000.
But before that happens—and a number of locals are opposed, with about 1,800 homes already in the area, many for winter and summer—Windham continues to be a year-round attractions with a wide range of Airbnb’s, motels and hotels, restaurants, art galleries, a charming Briars & Brambles Bookstore, and a slew of casual restaurants serving everything from pizza and sushi to Mexican (Zicatelas 2) and Chinese (Qin-Fang), as well as an extensive weekend Farmer’s Market selling the full bounty of the Catskills. Soon the tomatoes and the corn will be showing up in baskets all along Route 23.
Since my son owns a place in Windham called Hill Haus as a Airbnb, I’ve had ample opportunities
The Catskill Mountain Country Store is a first-rate breakfast and lunch place with Catskill products ... [+]
to visit the one-mile long village and sample a good number of the restaurants in and out of town. I am also a fan of the Main Street Market, which carries an enormous number of New York State food products, excellent beef and lamb and they even make their own mozzarella fresh daily.
Huge breakfasts with dozens of options draw families to the Vatskill Country Store year-round.
My favorite place is the Catskill Mountain Country Store, serving breakfast and lunch (until 5 PM), as well as being a repository of Catskill crafts, cheeses and toys. The breakfast menu is huge, yet three cooks manage to keep up with ebb and flow of visitors who come hungry and leave satisfied. Their buttermilk pancakes ($12.99), Belgian waffles ($6.99), banana pecan French toast ($14.99), corned beef hash ($5), smoked trout ($17.99) and eggs Benedict ($13.99) are terrific, portions gargantuan, the coffee ever-flowing and the service knows how to handle large parties of parent and kids. There’s also a plant nursery, playground complete with pirate ship, and an animal petting area.
There is, of course, a Windham Diner in town, and it’s very popular ,though I thought the food was more filling rather than delicious, and waiting for your food can take a while. You can get a pita pizza for $10.45 and a 16-ounce sirloin for $27.95 with mushrooms and onions.
Union and Post is a hotel with attached restaurant that does a fine fried chicken and fries.
Union and Post, just outside of town, with an attached boutique hotel, is a big, gregarious place, again with some slow service when I visited, but they make a good Windham “OG” Burger ($27) with cheddar, bacon, maple jam, spicy mayo on a brioche bun, and the bar area is wide and handsome.
Tipp Tavern is an Irish bar and gastro-pub with good American fare and outdoor patio.
Tipp Tavern in town is a more casual Irish Sports Bar , where the food is sumptuously mounted, from its three bean nachos ($14) and Buffalo wings ($14), Italian flat breads with mozzarella and tomato ($16), a loaded-up corned beef Irish sandwich with sauerkraut on rye ($20), an excellent sirloin burger with cheddar caramelized onions and bacon on a brioche bun ($20), and Dublin-style fried fish and chips ($24). You can also get a full Irish breakfast ($26) with bacon, sausage, baked beans, black and white pudding two eggs, french fries and toast, which should put you in good stead for skiing or hiking the rest of the day.
Tap House Grille is a convivial place in Wndham's center with a large bar, varied menu and live ... [+]
The Taphouse Grille is similar to the Tavern, with a large U-shaped bar, very good live entertainment on weekends and a menu with some out-of-the ordinary fare up here, like softshell crab tempura ($18); sushi ($16 to $19); very good baby back ribs ($38, with three sides); and a stuffed fried chicken sandwich with melted blue cheese crumbles, bacon lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado with spicy mayo ($24). Service is efficient and cordial.
Day June's name is a pun on the French for lunch, déjeuner.
One of the real charmers, just outside of town, is called Day June Luncheonette—a play on the French word déjeuner for lunch—with a buttercup yellow, clapboard façade, the comfortable, lived-in look of a mountain eatery.
Owner Jeremiah Stone is actually a classically trained New York restaurateur, who owns Contra and Wildair on the Lower East Side and is known for his commitment to using local products, so he’s worked to make connections with Catskill farmers for produce and dairy.
Day June was long a luncheonette with an old-fashioned legacy whose new owners are serving some of ... [+]
Stone and his partners took over Day-June from a retired couple as a precursor to their brand new upscale hotel and restaurant Matilda, which took three years to open. “Meanwhile we wanted to bring some New York to Windham, and we were selling American wagyu and fine olive oils at our store next door. The luncheonette allows us to keep our staff engaged and try out dishes. Matilda is more like what Alice Waters set out to do at Chez Panisse, using the best local ingredients.”
The New York egg cream is a delightful addition to Day June's menu.
My family and I were very impressed by our lunch, which consisted of “The Franco” sandwich of very juicy corned beef, pickles special sauce, melted cheese and crusted Arborio bread ($17); a veggie burger on a milk bun ($15); a delicious chopped salad of iceberg lettuce, salami, provolone olives and tomatoes ($15), very good fries ($5), and to my utter surprise and delight, an impeccably made New York egg cream ($6)—I went through two of them with childish glee.
Stone is aware of the brouhaha over developing Windham into a luxury destination, but says, “There are already a lot of very rich people up here who are willing to pay for fine food, but we’re still a small town. To try to turn Windham into the next Aspen will never happen.”
One more thing: If you have occasion to drink Windham’s well water, you’ll never buy the bottled stuff again.
