The Mountains- Premiere Issue

THE MOUNTAINS |

SUMMER

F R O M T H E C AT S K I L L S TO T H E B E R K S H I R E S

D I V E I N TO S U M M E R

PREMIERE ISSUE

| PREMIERE ISSUE | SUMMER

Old Chatham, New Dreams

Dining In The ‘Un-Hamptons’

Berkshires Bliss Beckons

My Mother, The Artist

By Richard Pérez-Feria

By Heather Thomson

The Perfect Hudson Picnic

By Colu Henry

Fine Wine As Poetry

By Anthony Giglio

T H E M O U N TA I N S M E D I A C O M

T H E M O U N TA I N S M E D I A C O M @themountainsmedia

By Hal Rubenstein

By Alexis Auleta

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©2021 Corcoran Group LLC. All rights reserved. Corcoran® and the Corcoran Logo are registered service marks owned by Corcoran Group LLC. Corcoran Group LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.

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10 The Team 14 You Are Here 16 The Summit

18 moments 20 Street: Hudson

75 mode I INS DE

24 The Weekend: Berkshires 26 The Weekend: Kingston 28 Extra! Extra!: News, With A View 30 The Gi : A Single Bite

Thirsty: Anthony Giglio

87

Hundred Bucks: Agway

88 Mountain View: Woodlands

37 makers

• PRE M IERE ISSUE •

Colu Henry: And For Her Next Role...

By Richard Pérez-Feria | Photography by Tara Donne

Norman Jean Roy: A Tasteful Second Act Pictures and Words by Kevin Sessums

31 We Have Questions: Gary Shteyngart

Sarah Gray Miller: Civilized Irreverance

32 The Picks: Swimming

Joseph Kusnick: Old Chatham, At Rest

34 The Picks: Ice Cream

By Richard Pérez-Feria Photography by Peter Aaron exclusively for The Mountains

By Rebecca Hardiman

Renee Iacone: The Room Where It Happens

By Alexis Auleta Photography by Holly Hughes exclusively for The Mountains

NIGHT Creek Bar’s Magical Forest

By Rebecca Hardiman | Photography by Greg Scibior

DIARY The Fire Within

By Martha Frankel

GO The Falls In Summer Photography by Michael O’Neal exclusively for The Mountains

WE LOVE Farm To Fabled on the cover Photographer BRYAN DERBALLA captured his friend Cameron Cuchulainn at a perfect moment in a super secret location; (above) Horse sanctuary Equine Advocates in Chatham, NY is where Abby and Sarah were lucky enough to retire.

82

86 Big Idea: Buying A Farm

20 Get: Household Must-Haves

23 Big Picture: Vassar College

Still Hungry: Hal Rubenstein

84 Jane’s Lane: Berkshires

SUMMER 2022

20 Numbers: Zipline

22 Encore: Oskar Espina Ruiz

77

Reported by Isabel Hochman

THE SPOT Together, Alone

By Richard Pérez-Feria

HEROES Down The Stretch

By Jennifer Cook

PASSION Fly-Fishing, But More Pictures and Words by Jonathan Mehring

88 Dirt: Gardening 90 Do This: Bears, Deer 92

The Expert: Tag Sales

93

Mountaineer: Diane Reeder

94 High Life: Dispensaries 95

Just A Tip: Hostess Gi

96 Drive: E-Truck 98 RSVP: Arts Calendar 99 Drama: Theater Musts 100 Move: Tennis Destination 102 Move: Roller Skating 103 AKA Pit Stop: Moonburger 104 Perfect: Mary Giuliani 105 Just A Tip: Outdoor Kitchens 105 Green: Woodstock Bring Your Own 106 Heaven: Canyon Ranch, Berkshires 106 We Have Questions: Abby Pendergist 108 Then Now Next: Abbe Aronson 110 Punch List: Survival Guide 112 Halfway There: West Taghkanic Diner

FURNITURE • LIGHTING REUPHOLSTERY • DESIGN

THE team Hal Rubenstein “Still Hungry” The award-winning journalist has cooked a deliciously unique career covering food (New York, Details) and fashion (InStyle, The New York Times).

“Every morning, everyone—and I do mean everyone—gets up asking the same two questions: “What am I going to wear?” and “What am I going to eat?”

I like having the answers.

Jane Larkworthy “Jane’s Lane” A beauty editor for more than three decades at Jane, W, The Cut, Larkworthy now calls the Berkshires home.

“This is such a magical place. Being given this platform to spread the word about my favorite people and places is fantastic.”

Anthony Giglio “Thirsty” Giglio is Wine Director for the AmEx Centurion Global Lounge Network and a Contributing Editor to Food & Wine.

“The wine list at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis restored my faith in wine list writing, in general, and in wine demystification in particular.”

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Mehring’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and National Geographic and clients include Vans, Adidas and Red Bull.

“I’m excited to share my love for upstate New York in this publication dedicated to the area.”

Jan Kallwejt “You Are Here” The Poland-based Kallwejt’s work has been published in numerous magazines for more than two decades.

“Working on the map for The Mountains was great.

The research was the fun part and I learned a lot about the region.”

Alexis Auleta “Room Where It Happens” Auleta is a magazine writer turned psychotherapist. “When asked, I jumped at the opportunity to profile my mother, the artist. Having her as an interview subject was a fabulous, if unexpected, experience.”

(Rubenstein) TAGHI NAZERDAD; (Giglio) MARC FIORITO/GAMMA NINE PHOTOGRAPHY

Jonathan Mehring “Fly-Fishing, But More”

Alan Katz FOUNDER | CEO

Richard Pérez-Feria EDITOR IN CHIEF CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kathleen Gates EXECUTIVE EDITOR Rebecca Hardiman PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Erika Phenner COPY CHIEF | RESEARCH DIRECTOR Sarah Carpenter MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL Mia Cárdenas ASSOCIATE EDITOR Isabel Hochman DIGITAL STRATEGY DIRECTOR Amy Boshnack DESIGN DIRECTOR, DIGITAL Grace Martinez DESIGNER Linda Gates EDITORS AT LARGE Hal Rubenstein, Mike Steele PHOTOGRAPHER AT LARGE Michael O’Neal EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Toni Gerunda CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Abbe Aronson, Anthony Giglio, Jane Larkworthy

James Long, Marco Medrano, Todd Plummer Kevin Sessums, Maddy Tank, Heather Thomson WRITERS Alexis Auleta, Jonah Bayliss, Robyn Perry Coe Jennifer Cook, Martha Frankel, Gabrielle Grosbety Sandy MacDonald, Simon Murray, Jack Rico Terry Rosen, Mitch Rustad, Dee Salomon PHOTOGRAPHERS / ARTISTS Peter Aaron, Benjamin Baptiste Jane Beiles, Julia Clark, Sean Davidson Tim Davis , Donna DeMari, Bryan Derballa Tara Donne, Marc Fiorito, Daliah Friedland Adrian Gault, John Halpern, Steve Heller Jan Kallwejt, Eric Limon, Jonathan Mehring Greg Scibior, Matthew Sussman

EXECUTIVE SALES DIRECTOR Amy Smith ACCOUNT MANAGER Sherri Jo Williams FINANCE AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Caryn Whitman CREATIVE DIRECTOR Betsy Low MARKETING DIRECTOR Bill Gibbons MARKETING STRATEGIST Randi MacColl TEXAS SALES DIRECTORS Ellen Lewis, Michael Stafford LEWIS STAFFORD COMPANY, INC

DETROIT SALES DIRECTORS Colleen Lafferty, Joan Cullen MAIORANA + PARTNERS

CANADA SALES DIRECTORS Lori Dodd, Bob Dodd DODD MEDIA GROUP

PRODUCTION Digital Workflow Solutions PUBLIC RELATIONS Abbe Aronson ABBE DOES IT

THE MOUNTAINS GUIDES Hugh Biber, Dan Borchert, Barry Brown, Larry Burstein, Lisa Dallos, Christopher Daly Ken Frydman, Richard Gellman , Larry Hutcher, Kristina Juzaitis, Neal Kusnetz, Julia Light Larry Menkes, Michael Rotgin, Mike Steele, Ron Stokes, Michael Zivyak THE MOUNTAINS is published four times a year by MountainView Media 1 LLC Volume 1, No.1 | Summer 2022 Copyright © 2022 MountainView Media 1 LLC All rights reserved No words or images from this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without the expressed written permission from MountainView Media 1 LLC

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Welcome to this magical place we call The Mountains. From the Catskills to the Berkshires—and all points in between— we’re covering the people, places and things that move, amaze and inspire us.

You are here. We are, too.

Art by Jan Kallwejt exclusively for The Mountains

Albany Cooperstown

Boston

T H E

M O U N T A I N S

New York City

THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

ummit the s

Hello.

“Kids, get in the car. We’re going to the mountains!”

From early memories of piling into my parents’ Chevy for our summer trip to the Catskills’ bungalow colony, then to the grand hotels, to sleepaway camp and even my prom at Grossinger’s....to a weekend home with our kids in Columbia County, this unique part of the world has shaped me and my family.

But after decades of living in and visiting upstate, I always felt something was missing: a media source that truly reflected the region as a whole—from the Catskills to the Berkshires, and everything in between.

It struck me at random times: when my son broke his arm (where to take him?), when our heater broke (who to call?) or when I would stumble upon a waterfall, an artisanal cheesemaker, a guy who made pizza in a field of sunflowers just a short drive away (why didn’t I know about this?) and who should I tell so they know, too?

So, I assembled an A-list of writers, photographers, marketers and sellers, many of whom I’d met and worked with while in executive roles at New York Magazine, Cargo, Vanity Fair, Interview and DuJour. base camp “The style Our mission: to capture the stunning beauty, the and service all start here character—and the characters—of this region we love, with the launch issue of so you can maximize your mountain time, whether The Mountains.” you’re a longtime local, newcomer or visitor.

Artists, makers, farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs. History, culture, cuisine, outdoor adventure. The style and service all start here with our launch issue. Check out themountainsmedia.com for the latest news, follow us @themountainsmedia on Instagram and Facebook and share this issue with a friend or two. We have all sorts of other experiences coming your way.

Even that seven-year-old in his parents’ car somehow always knew that it was cooler in The Mountains. For now, climb into a comfortable reading spot and…enjoy!

–Alan Katz FOUNDER/CEO

^ƾ Ʊ s

(Young Alan) JERRY KATZ

P.S. Issue #2 will drop this Fall.

If you’d like to subscribe, please visit themountainsmedia.com/subscriptions.

We'd love you to sign up for our newsletter at themountainsmedia.com/newsletter.

Hold tight friends— you’re in for a wild ride!

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moments life, a little bit at a time

hang zen What could be more fun than making a splash with your friends at a Catskills watering hole?

Nothing, that’s what.

Photography by Bryan Derballa THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

moments | life,

a little bit at a time

ST R E ET

Hudson, You Clean Up Nice This epicenter of style has always been cool.

By Todd Plummer | Photography by Julia Clark exclusively for The Mountains

style mile Hudson’s Warren Street is where you wear a flouncy dress during the day just for a stroll, because, why not?

T H E

M O U N T A I N S

the well-documented influx of hipsters and young professionals alike in Hudson has no end in sight. The cool kids escape congested city streets in search of a little more space and air. But they’re not settling. Ask any of the Su mme r 2022

pretty young things who now call Hudson home: the red-hot epicenter of upstate art galleries, seen-and-beseen restaurants, and, yes, where you can sport your finest threads. Truth is, Hudson’s never been cooler.

Longtime residents, on the other hand, will tell you that their tony riverside village has always been cool. This, after all, is the place where artists, writers and communities of all stripes have escaped to find solace in nature not so far from Gotham. There’s something about the fresh air here, something about the mighty Hudson River rolling by that just feels right for creative, carefree living, that has long inspired outsiders to hang their hat here.

Today, it’s the mix of these two residents—the old guard and the new—that makes Hudson stand out. It doesn’t matter if you’re 27 or 77, if you can capture that laissez-faire town attitude, that casual je ne sais quoi, you’ll feel right at home in Hudson.

Warren Street is where you wear a beret (tilted just so) and your fave magazine tote down the street just to walk the dog. This is where you wear a flouncy dress during the day just for a stroll, because, why not? This is where a white linen suit makes perfect sense for running your errands.

So, while some may have left the pomp and circumstance of the city far behind, just know that Hudson, too, is a place that appreciates good dressing—and “good” here is measured by how authentic you are, and not by which labels you’re wearing. In other towns you can show off your Brioni suits and Chanel flats, because other towns feel the need to show off—but Hudson knows it doesn’t need to. It’s always been a bad ass—and super stylish—destination.

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Outdoor Georgian Teak Sofa “Outdoor living spaces should be as well thought out and beautifully designed as indoor ones,” says Darren Henault, interior designer and owner of bespoke furniture and decor store Tent New York in Amenia, NY. Henault’s must-have this season is a Georgian teak collection sofa. “Craft, skill and style matter just as much on the patio as they do in the parlor,” says Henault, who lives in Millbrook with his partner and twin daughters. The designer’s inspiration for this piece was twofold: visits to Brighton Pavilion and a jaunt to the famed Patrick Moorehead Antiques both in England.

TentNewYork.com $16,159

moments | life,

a little bit at a time

came together by way of Sears & Roebuck’s prefab housing division.

Appreciative Master clarinetist, Oskar Espina Ruiz, is king of Litchfield County’s audiences have been flocking to this esteemed Music Mountain. | By Sandy MacDonald acoustical marvel ever since. Six years ago, globally acclaimed clarinetist, the choruses i’ve sung with have taken me Oskar Espina Ruiz, likewise a prodigy, who began all over the world: Switzerland, Uruguay, Japan… performing with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra Somehow, though, a premier New England music in his mid-teens, accepted the reins from Jacques’s mecca has eluded me all this time, awaiting son, Nick Gordon, an NBC executive who had run unnoticed in my very backyard. Tucked away in the show for nearly a half-century.

Falls Village, a well-preserved 19th-century hamlet For Music Mountain’s long-time devotees, the northwest of Hartford, is the venerable roster has changed only incrementally. Espina concert venue Music Mountain.

Ruiz is an experienced festival founder and In 1930, at the onset of the Great curator who does all his Depression, Jacques Gordon—a child Oskar scouting in person. “The prodigy Russian violinist who led the Espina artists that I present are Chicago Symphony in the 1920s— Ruiz artists with whom I have either snapped up this 130-acre sylvan paradise played or heard live. Here, it’s and erected a 300-seat concert hall. common for artists to return Don’t let your eyes deceive you: and the quality has always What may look like retro been over the top.”

Colonial Revival actually EN CO R E

The Hills Are Alive

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Avid skier Larry Corlear, of Glens Falls, NY, had a small problem on the home front: cold, wet ski boots strewn across a cluttered mudroom.

The boots stayed wet, the floor chaotic. An engineer by trade, Corlear got to work inventing his own elegant solution, the Puelche Dryer, a highly functional yet stylish stainless-steel shoe and boot drying rack with retracting pegs. The dryer is super practical for mountain living. PuelcheDryer.com $1,299-$3,999

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Aarke Water Carbonator Longtime Catskiller JT McKay opened bluecashew Kitchen Homestead in Kingston after being enchanted for years with the location. Now his culinary concept shop sells high-quality cookware including the Aarke Carbonator. “I love things that strike that fine line between technology and history,” he says. We do, too.

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Vassar, Take 1 As the cameras rolled, Poughkeepsie’s elite campus glittered. | By Mitch Rustad as a pop culture maniac, I adore high- and decidedly low-brow television and films in equal measure. Whether it’s a train-wreck of a reality show escapism or a brilliantly written, heartstopping thriller, I’m so in.

But as a long-time television writer and blogger— and now even writing my own TV scripts—I find myself paying attention to far more than just the storylines. I scan every scene, noticing the oddball stuff and the visual worlds Hollywood creates: the quirky extra sitting in a café; a lonely glimpse of a rural road; a picturesque university quad. Here’s the thing, many of these terrific productions are filmed right here in our neck of the woods.

As a rabid Sex And The City fan, I couldn’t wait to see Mindy Kaling’s HBO Max show, The Sex Lives Of College Girls. In fact, I think I binged the entire

that’s a rapp Renée Rapp stars in HBO Max’s The Sex Lives Of College Girls filming at Vassar College.

first season in one weekend. The beautiful campus of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie became the stand-in for the fictional, elite Essex College, the setting for the girls’ wild shenanigans (season two’s currently in production). I was hooked the instant I watched earnest, good-girl Kimberly, a small-town, sheltered character, try to win over her new coworkers at Sips, the show’s on-campus coffee shop.

Oh, and look out for a local Millbrook diner featured in the buzzy five-part HBO limited series about Watergate, The White House Plumbers, starring the always great Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux. Better find that remote.

moments | life,

a little bit at a time

birds of a heather Thomson reveals her go-to spots in her beloved Berkshires. of my instructor, Shannon Vorce.

Pilates allows me to hold space, and to feel the difference as I connect on a deeper plane. It’s meditative and wildly efficient movement with grace.

the palate. And, boy, do they ever! Paul focuses his creations on the history, geography and medicinal origins of the botanicals and spirits he works with, and thus creates a theme for each individual potent cocktail. In short, he tells a grand story with every drink. Cheers!

SATURDAY, 7:30 P.M.

Sunset with Jesse, Baldwin Hill

T HE W EEKEN D

My Berkshires The former RHONY standout stays close to home with this exclusive must-do itinerary. | By Heather Thomson SATURDAY, 8:15 A.M.

Morning Hike, Catamount Catamount Mountain Resort 78 Catamount Road, Hillsdale, NY

M O U N T A I N S

ingredients. Marjoram + Roux is amazing for both breakfast and lunch and they have delicious, prepared foods to go—perfect for picnics). My husband, Jonathan, swears they make the best tuna he’s ever had. Espresso or cappuccino? Pastries? Chocolates?

Yes, yes, yes, yes and more.

SATURDAY, 1:05 P.M.

30 Elm Court Great Barrington

Working Lunch, Marjoram + Roux 47 Railroad Street Great Barrington I adore Marjoram + Roux. This restaurant uses all fresh and local

Su mme r 2022

Egremont Jesse is my Standard Poodle and Baldwin Hill is a favorite spot in the Berkshires’ South County. While there’s no real area to sit (it’s mostly privately owned), the crossroads at the top is a local meeting spot with stunning views of the Berkshires hills on all sides. There’s simply no better way to watch the day end.

Good night, sun.

1373 Boardman Street Sheffield Kathleen Tillett and her son Patrick McBride represent four generations of designers, artists, creators and innovators of textile design. The mother-son team showcase a new way of working with and creating hand-printed fabrics. Here, Patrick works on a design pattern for my new home office. With sensibility for one-ofa-kind fabrics and design, I’m in the best of hands for something special and unique.

SATURDAY, 8:15 P.M.

SATURDAY, 3:02 P.M.

Pilates, The Pilates Space

For me, The Pilates Space is a safe sanctuary where I can have judgement-free conversations with my body to cultivate self-awareness and be empowered through the guided, nourishing movements

Dinner, John Andrews Farmhouse 224 Hillsdale Road Egremont

SATURDAY, 5:22 P.M.

Happy Hour, MoonCloud 47 Railroad Street Great Barrington The buzzy cocktail lounge MoonCloud is all about experiencing a passionate spirits maestro in a warm, enchanting space. Master mixologist Billy Jack Paul develops seasonality and brilliantly one-of-a-kind flavors in his cocktails that are designed to stimulate and seduce

John Andrews, who’s known to locals as J.A., is a farmhouse dining spot that has been a staple for delicious local cuisine in south Berkshire County for more than three decades. Proprietor, chef, forager, Dan Smith—an Iowa native who planted his roots firmly in the Berkshires—is the beloved chef of the casually stylish restaurant.

Everything he cooks is drawn from locally procured provisions. Chef Dan is insanely talented and clearly hardworking—all of which you can taste in every unforgettable bite. What a way to end a perfect Berkshires evening.

(main) LYDIA McBRIDE

T H E

Catamount Mountain Resort is literally where I grew up. From learning to ski here as a child, to teaching as an instructor through college—this is my hometown mountain and where I discovered my true love for the outdoors.

And I’m still creating memories here. Catamount is among the best midsized ski areas on the East Coast, with the most varied terrain in southern New England. In the summer I love to hike there and have fun with my family and friends.

These are the best days ever!

SATURDAY, 4:45 P.M.

Design & Development, Tillett Textiles

AEgreyson

moments | life,

a little bit at a time

T HE W EEKEN D

Kingston, You Had Me At ‘Hello’

cafés, high-end restaurants and sprawling resorts which have made it an ideal getaway anytime of the year.

Here’s how I spend an idyllic 24 hours on a Saturday in the Kingston I love.

Spending a perfect day in a sexy, resurgent town.

By Jack Rico kingston is one of the first places I visited when I moved Upstate more than a decade ago. What struck me immediately was its history and old-world charm. Right now, it’s experiencing something of a renaissance marked by new luxury hotels, quaint

10:15 A.M. I start my morning in Uptown Kingston at this indelibly charming place I discovered a few years ago called Rough Draft Bar & Books. It’s a café, bar and bookstore that looks like the set of a love story—clearly part of its allure. As a journalist, my love for books is real and whenever I walk in here, the enchanting

atmosphere alone beckons me to crack open a classic tome as I sip on a frothy cappuccino. People all around me are immersed in their reading, others engaging in apparent deep conversations. It’s a vibe I always want to live in.

11:22 A.M. Just outside the bookstore is The Four Corners, a historic intersection where the stone houses on all four corners were built prior to the Revolutionary War. I take my time absorbing it, take photographs and muse how these blocks appear almost untouched by modern times. Now there are shops just around the corner, such as Exit Nineteen, an eclectic store with unique furniture and gifts. My wife is a big fan and never leaves here empty handed. Nearby is the Old Dutch Church, a landmark structure and cemetery that has a prayer board where they have colorful slips of paper and pencils and encourage one and all to stop and

“Take a Prayer, Leave a Prayer.” It’s a nice way to stop—if only for a moment—and just reflect.

1:05 P.M. I meet up with my wife at the Rondout, Kingston’s downtown waterfront, for lunch at one of our favorite eateries, Ole Savannah Southern Table & Bar. This place is right on the Hudson River housed in a former 1880s steamboat building and carries with it a tasty Southern menu. We have a seasonal special appetizer of Tuna Poke Oysters made with ponzu sauce and tobiko. We can’t get enough of them and order seconds of what we fondly call, “oysters on crack!” (they were that good).

2:30 P.M. Following our delicious meal, we decide to check out an exhibit at the West Strand Art Gallery.

The exhibit is called Metaphors featuring a collection of artists addressing issues of racial and gender boundaries through

SURROUNDED BY COLOR

North Adams, Mass. massmoca.org

jack and chill

with Captain Dan’s catamaran from Hudson Sailing. Getting on a catamaran on a summer day, a chilled sangria on hand, sun and river refreshing the skin… three hours have never flown by so quickly. It’s no wonder why I’m always taken aback by the majestic beauty of the Catskills mountains from the river. It has truly become one of the great summer joys of living in this corner of the planet.

JACQUELINE HERNÁNDEZ

Journalist and podcast host Jack Rico shares his perfect Saturday in his favorite town of Kingston.

their art. We are intrigued by the paintings by Rodríguez Colero which are quite striking in their combination of classical and urban influences.

4:02 P.M. We now have reservations for a chartered sail with close friends.

There are quite a few marinas to choose from, but we usually go

7:05 P.M. Following the relaxing river excursion, we head over to Hutton Brickyards, a one-time brick manufacturing plant now turned into a luxury hotel/resort, for dinner at the River Pavilion, where an open-air restaurant with wood-burning ovens awaits us. As we sit down with the humbling panoramas of the Hudson in our sights, the place is buzzing with beautiful people and great, vibey music. It’s seriously mountains chic at its best and the delicious

food is inspired by the region’s own harvest. If we didn’t already live nearby, I’d love to wake up in one of their cabins overlooking an unobstructed view of the river in all its glory.

SUNDAY, 7:10 A.M. Getting an early start this morning as today is beach day! First stop is Dolce in Uptown for a to-go order of coffees and Nutella crepes as we head over to Kingston Point Beach, the perfect spot for a lazy Sunday brunch. Being early is key, before it gets too crowded. As the time passes by, I find myself thinking 24 hours just isn’t enough time to be in Kingston. Can we make it longer, please?

4 27 wa rren hu d son, ny t he ga ll ery at 2 00l ex , nyc info@finchhudson.com 518.828.3430 @finchhudson

28

Su mme r 2022

By Mia Cárdenas

Stars align at annual film fest.

And Chill

Woodstock

In what can only be described as incredible, three new hotels in the Catskills earned spots among Travel + Leisure’s “100 Best New Hotels Worldwide,’ the magazine’s annual “It List.” The hotels—Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, Inness in Accord and Piaule Catskill (pictured above) in Catskill—are all upscale stays located on the west side of the Hudson River. Isn’t it time for a staycation?

C a t s k i l l s’ H o t e l s P r o p s I N

here are very few things that are deal breakers when I seek out a luxe destination, mainly, is the bed linens situation. So, when I heard the buzzy Apple Tree Inn in the Berkshires was awash in ridiculously high threadcount Frette sheets, a personal favorite, I was sold. Apple Tree Inn is the resort equivalent of a warm hug, particularly if you stay in one of the 13 rooms in the 1885 Victorian main house.

And, yes, great food abounds, but, for me, its those dreamy sheets waiting for me to make the world disappear.

Sweet dreams.

–RPF

T

Goodnight, Berkshires

C H E C K

So, what does Berkshires Distillery founder and owner Chris Weld say is his go-to bourbon cocktail for the summer?

He keeps it classic with a Whiskey Sour using Berkshires Mountain Distillers Bourbon.

SOUR POWER

Chris Weld

–RPF

You’re either in love with this fantastical property or you’re not (I’m all in).

If living on the Hudson River (Hyde Park) in a gorg Hollywood Hills/ Bird Streets-style crib is the stuff of your dreams, 46 Ledgerock Lane is your once-in-a-lifetime home. It’s time to take your (real estate) shot.

Full Disclosure: I’ve known the selling agent, Corcoran’s nicest executive, Jason Karadus, for decades and he knew exactly what he was doing sending me information on this $45 million five bedroom, seven bath modern masterpiece sitting on more than ten pristine acres of Hudson Valley’s bucolic environment. He had me at modern masterpiece.

A River Runs Through It

CASA

W I T H A V I EW

TAST E M A K E R

N EWS ,

Poughkeepsie

In

Pizza

Perfect

Hudson & Packard

Chef/Restaurateur/Owner of Merchants Social in Hudson

–John DeLucie

I don’t know where everyone has gone but it seems as if no one wants to work in a restaurant anymore. We’ve found a motivated, talented chef, a very capable sous chef and some really good cooks—so, you never know. Believe!”

Play Airlines, Iceland’s colorful equivalent to Southwest, has daily roundtrip service to Reykjavik from New York’s Stewart International Airport in Newburgh and can connect to 22 European cities including London, Paris, Copenhagen and many others. Play was the first carrier to use Stewart’s $37 million international arrivals and customs facility that had been under construction for several years. Play’s affable CEO Birgir Jónsson was on the inaugural flight to New York in June.

In Iceland

TIME

PLAY

THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

of Natalie Portman, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Connelly and Lucy Liu. “The event is really open and speaks to the culture of Woodstock,” says Blaustein. “There’s an accessibility to interact with everyone.

We’ve got high-quality films, but with a casual and intimate vibe.”

film crew Opening night; Matt Dillon and Jonathan Gray; Bill Pullman

S

ince its recent change in ownership, longstanding Egremont, MA ski shop Kenver, Ltd. is filling its shelves with all manner of warm weather gear. “It’s been more than six years since we’ve been open for spring and summer,” says the store’s General Manager JC Duryee. “So, we’re excited to be adding a large assortment of new

activities and products.”

Beyond the standard non-winter fare, you’d expect—mountain bikes, canoes, outdoor wear, camping equipment— Kenver’s got its finger on the pulse of evolving customer interests. “We found that pickleball was a growing sport in the area, so we’ve brought in Baddle paddles and apparel,” he says.

–IH

Kenver goes way beyond the slopes.

RETAIL HOT FLASH

What the heck is “Detroit pizza” was my first question, when I heard about Poughkeepsie’s Hudson & Packard pizza shop taking second place for “Best Pan Pizza” in the world(!) at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas last fall for one of their creations, “Holé Molé.” Detroit pizza, I learned, is thicker than regular New York pies and square. This I had to try. Second-best pan pizza in the world?

We’ll see about that.

In a word, “Wow!” From the first bite of this just-this-side-of-burned crust to the multiple layers of cheese, tomato sauce and sausage, this may have very well been the best pizza I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a lot of pizza, friends).

Owner Charlie Webb is, no great shock here, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.

C’mon now and plan your next Poughkeepsie pizza adventure. You, too, will be amazed.

–RPF

(Piaule) SEAN DAVIDSON; (DeLucie) PHIL MANSFIELD; (pizza) SVEN GONZÁLEZ; (theater) CHRIS HALLMAN; (Dillon) DION OGUST; (Pullman) CHRIS RECEK; (Guido’s) BENJAMIN BAPTISTE

happily ever after Crane Lake Summer Camp in Stockbridge, MA was the stunning setting Michelle and Molly chose to exchange their vows. The magical moment was captured by photographer Eric Limon. The newlyweds even paddled off into the sunset in a vintage canoe. Perfection. –Erika Phenner

E LOV

What could be a better place to experience indie film (and live music) than the artcentric community of Woodstock? Open to the public, the annual Woodstock Film Festival, this year being held from September 28 to October 2, “feels like you’re walking into a warm embrace,” says co-founder and executive director Meira Blaustein.

The four-day festival— which features movie screenings, music performances and expert panels—has been historically wellattended by a diverse bevy of actors, directors, screenwriters and other industry folks, has attracted the likes

After exiting from New York City’s NoMad and Eleven Madison Park—annually ranked among the top restaurants on the planet—restaurateur Will Guidara moved to Kingston (pre-pandemic) and purchased the Migdale Castle estate in the billionaire-laden, bucolic village of Millbrook. The sprawling 350-acre compound, built in 1927 for Andrew Carnegie’s only daughter and most recently occupied by billionaire art dealer Guy Wildenstein and his colorful family, had been renovated by the Wildensteins to the tune of $50 million in 2000.

Guidara’s intention has always been to develop Second Mountain, as the property is now called, as a luxury resort with 77 rooms, suites, cabins, cottages, rental pool units, glamping tents and unparalleled dining experiences from Brian Lockwood, a former chef de cuisine of NoMad. The notoriously private Millbrook residents (including the Divine Miss M, Bette Midler) have staged a ferocious battle on multiple fronts—Traffic!

Environment! Noise!—all but killing any hopes of Second Mountain ever becoming a reality, and angering most business owners who covet the additional revenues sure to follow those hotel guests.

Though not likely to be exactly what Will Guidara first envisioned for his Millbrook dream project, he remains hopeful the town board will support a scaled down version of his proposal. For now, his vision is best seen from a distance. (Couldn’t resist. Sorry, Bette).

Proposed luxury resort Second Mountain still on life support. | By Richard Pérez-Feria

Through The Mill(brook)

stay tuned

It might have been five years in the making, but the totally revamped Guido’s Fresh Marketplace in Great Barrington was well worth the wait.

As co-owner Matt Masiero showed me around the store I’ve been shopping at since I was a kid, I couldn’t believe the sheer size of it. In addition to its traditional offerings— meats and seafood, gourmet cheeses, prepared foods, baked goods, fresh flowers— the new and genuinely vastly improved Guido’s now boasts a barbecue station, a burrito bar, a café and a smoothie bar—plus a gorgeous outdoor patio and fireplace, giving it even more of a community feel. Other upgrades, Masiero tells me, include more in-person demos and cool features such as fresh mozzarella made in-house daily. “If it wasn’t a destination before,” he says, “it’s certainly going to be one now.” Like Gwen Stefani might say: No doubt.

–Isabel Hochman

this is us Owners Chris and Matt Masiero at Guido’s.

Guido’s!

Ciao,

moments | life,

a little bit at a time breakfast club A Single Bite’s mission is

T HE GIF T

Breaking Bread Sullivan County feels A Single Bite’s lasting impact. | By Mia Cárdenas sullivan county is home to Sims and Kristen Foster, co-founders of non-profit A Single Bite. Three years past launch, they say their mission has been centered around community, education, feeding and empowering students and families about the food they eat, and where it comes from.

“In 2019, we set out to establish an educational program for students and within the first quarter, our primary goal was reached,” says A Single Bite’s Executive Director, Audrey Garro.

The organization now has educational programs in three different schools within

telling their story about the reality of food insecurity in Sullivan County. “By March 20, 2020 we were feeding 600 people and sending out 2,500 servings of food every week,” she says. “By summer, we were feeding folks twice a week.”

To keep the word of “Students become mouth going, Garro says the more aware about organization stays active in their fundraising efforts Sullivan County where the choices they by hosting cocktail parties, middle school students make when they eat.” receiving products from local are engaged in farmers and most recently nutritional education, hosting one of their larger fundraising agricultural and natural sciences, cooking events at Resorts World Catskills with and food education and social skill and celebrity Chef Scott Conant. workforce development. “There has been a “At A Single Bite, we’re feeding and positive reaction from the students,” Garro educating our neighbors with real food, says. “They become more aware about the and encouraging our community to choose choices they make when they eat.” better food options so they grow to be When COVID hit, Garro says A Single healthier adults,” she says.

Bite was fortunate that the media kept

A SINGLE BITE

centered around community education and feeding Sullivan County families.

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W E HAV E QU E ST I O NS

Love In The Time Of COVID

BRIGITTE LACOMBE

Gary Shteyngart’s Our Country Friends captures the local angst and friendships during those endless days of quarantine. i love a funny book and author Gary Shteyngart’s newest novel, Our Country Friends, is a very funny book. It’s also a super-fresh, moving tale that follows a pack of friends (and one self-important Hollywood actor) as they ride out the pandemic together with hilarity and hijinks. Even better: it was penned—and is set—in the Catskills. Shteyngart, best

known for 2010’s Super Sad True Love Story, grew up summering in these parts—and it shows. Lucky for us, the satirist, who lives both here and in Manhattan, gamely agreed to answer our most pressing questions.

–Rebecca Hardiman

Is your place in the Catskills similar to the compound you portray in the book?

It’s in the Greater Rhinebeck area. Sadly, I only have one guest house, so there’s no room for the crazy shenanigans that take place in my book. But like Sasha, the protagonist, I do have a nice, covered porch and beautiful meadows all around.

How key was having a sense of humor when you and yours decamped to the Catskills during the pandemic?

It was BYOH—Bring Your Own Humor.

In the book, there’s a restaurant that’s known for its hand sanitizer and there was one in Hudson I kept returning to because the sanitizer was so nice.

The food was OK, too.

Why did you choose the Catskills as opposed to, say, the Hamptons?

I spent my summers in a Russian bungalow colony in the Catskills and it was the best part of my childhood. I’ve been in love ever since. What are the Hamptons?

Time to reveal your favorite local spot.

I love walking Mills Mansion right at the edge of the Hudson. What a lovely hike!

How would the book been different if you’d written it in New York City?

It would suck.

moments | life,

Swim Whims

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a little bit at a time

Photography by Brian Derballa

Lake Garfield Beach 78 Tyringham Road Monterey, MA 01245 413.528.3831 Gain access to the public beach—from Tyringham Road. Lifeguards are on duty during the summer season.

Lakeville Lake (also known as Lake Wononscopomuc) 36 Ethan Allen Street Lakeville, CT 06039 860.435.5186 Water activities abound here—beyond swimming and fishing, you can rent standing paddle boards, kayaks, canoes and row boats. Season stickers or day passes are required for both residents and non-residents.

Kingston Point Beach 102 Delaware Avenue Kingston 12401 845.481.7330 With beautiful river and Rhinebeck views, this town beach is located right along the Hudson.

Bonus: there’s a dog park just across the road.

Copake Falls 253 NY-344 Copake Falls, NY 12517 518.329.3993 Located within the Taconic State Park, splash around in the Ore Pit Pond (check ahead to confirm if lifeguards are on duty) or climb to Bash Bish Falls, the highest single-drop waterfall in Massachusetts.

Umpachene Falls Umpachene Falls Road Southfield, MA 01259 413.229.8116 Officially open only to residents of New Marlborough, this hidden gem’s an incredible spot for hiking and picnicking, as well as swimming.

tire in the hole This irrestible tire swing is located in the former community swimming hole in Livingston Manor.

Sadly, it’s now private property and swimming is no longer allowed. Happily, there are plenty of other options.

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Reported by Isabel Hochman

Experience the beauty of light

TM

L U X U R Y. L U T R O N .C O M

413-528-4999 www.tunestreetgb.net 117 State Rd Great Barrington, MA 01230

moments

Cream Of The Crop SoCo Creamery Scoop Shop 5 Railroad Street Great Barrington 01230 413.644.9866 SoCoCreamery.com

READY FOR COLLEGE. READY FOR LIFE. A co-ed boarding and day school for grades 9-12 & PG. Advanced Math/Science Research, Advanced Humanities Research, Sustainability, a range of arts offerings, and championship athletics on a stunning 400-acre campus in the Berkshires.

Sheffield, MA admission@berkshireschool.org www.berkshireschool.org | SCHEDULE A VISIT 413-229-1003

Known for its decadent hot fudge served all year round, SoCo dishes up other favorites too, such as espresso cookie loaded with bits of organic chocolate sandwich cookies. Scrumptious.

Cherries Ice Cream 4162 US-209 Stone Ridge, NY 12484 847.377.1153 CherriesIceCream.com Gingersnap & Marmalade in a spiced molasses ice cream? Yes, please!

Cherries’ dairy’s sourced from local farms including Del’s Dairy Farm in Red Hook and Gillette Creamery in Gardiner, NY.

High Lawn Farm 535 Summer Street Lee, MA 01238 413.281.7569 HighLawnFarm.com Farm-fresh Jersey milk is the secret ingredient to High Lawn’s tasty treats, including strawberry cheesecake and black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream.

Arethusa Farm 822 Bantam Road Bantam, CT 06750 860.361.6460 ArethusaFarm.com

Gifts | Home Decor | Flowers

With 16 percent butterfat, this premium, oldfashioned ice cream is divine. One of our seasonal favorites: with dark chocolate chunks.

Alleyway Ice Cream 135 Partition Street Saugerties, NY 12477 845.244.0507 AlleywayIceCream.com

10 Academy Street Salisbury, CT T: 860.596.4381 honeychurchhome.com

Try a scoop of ube Heath Bar crunch or Thai tea cookies & cream at this local favorite that adds a funky twist on the classics.

Reported by Isabel Hochman

makers genius, in human form

oh henry! Colu Henry, the celebrated Hudson-based cookbook author of Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food, reveals what it takes to have the perfect family (and friends) picnic. We have our basket and blanket at the ready.

Photography by Tara Donne THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

makers

AND FOR HER NEXT ROLE… Huds on-based cookbook author Co lu Hen ry wants to entertain us. Yes, ple ase .

By Richard Pérez-Feria Photography by Tara Donne

IT WAS NO SURPRiSE TO ME, even within the first few minutes of meeting Colu Henry, that I knew for a fact she was born an entertainer—not so much in the LOOK-AT-ME-I’M-A-STAR undeniability of, say, Lady Gaga, but in a you-can’t-take-your-eyes-off-of-her quality that more closely resembles… let’s go with Cate Blanchett. There’s just something special about this particular cookbook author, and I endeavored to find out more.

In the several eclectic lives Colu Henry has lived prior to landing in this corner of the globe to become a celebrated Hudson-based maker, she had pursued a career as a cabaret singer in New York City right out of Emerson College and followed that up with stints in restaurant public relations and fashion. But it was nearly a decade ago now that Henry, while working at the venerable magazine food bible, Bon Appétit, decided to publish personal recipes on Instagram with the catchy hashtag #backpocketpasta and yada-yada-yada, by golly it worked! One guess to what her first cookbook’s title was. Her second published effort— released earlier this year—is the gorgeously executed Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food (Abrams).

And here we are.

To be completely transparent, for many years now I’ve been given a head’s up about just how delightful (and talented) Colu Henry was from close friends of hers and Chad Silver, her husband who’s also quite the (furniture) maker himself. The Italian cooking standout and my mutual pals were emphatic: “Richard, you’ll absolutely love her—everyone does.” Being me, I was more than a little skeptical; I mean, who’s that nice, right? Well, Colu Henry is that nice. Almost annoyingly, effortlessly engaging, I-can’t-wait-to-have-a-long-brunch-with-you nice. And I instantly realized that she’s exactly the kind of person we all could use in our lives—and in our country—right now.

So, yeah, she’s an up-and-coming cookbook author with an approachable, relatable vibe, but Colu Henry, friends, is so much more than that. The verdict is in: Even from the confines of her assuredly charming Catskills kitchen, Colu Henry was and is an unabashed entertainer.

Take a bow, Colu. Brava!

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the following is an excerpt from henry’s cookbook, Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food.

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brunch break Colu Henry is

almost annoyingly, effortlessly engaging, I-can’t-wait-to-have-along-brunch-with-you nice. She’s exactly the kind of person we all could use in our lives right now.

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A FAMiLY PiCNiC

By Colu Henry

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night before, which she gently reheated in the oven, and then dressed My friend Tamar and I established a family picnic tradition about with garlicky chive oil and wide ribbons of Treviso radicchio. We also one year into our friendship. (In my opinion, an appropriate time to drizzled the eggs with the garlicky oil and some pickled chiles. The put a tradition into place, as you know you’ve really committed to beets were tossed with homemade sherry vinegar and topped with the relationship.) Our family picnic dinner consists of odds and ends, flaky salt. We combined our cheese and cured meats and put the board leftover from the week, and plenty of wine. down in the center of the table. Her husband Pete’s father had made In recent months, this tradition has also become part of our bread, which we tore apart with our hands and sopped our plates with. routine with our no longer “new” neighbors Chris and Kelly. Because In my book (now literally), it is still one of the most satisfying meals in as soon as I get the five P.M. text “Drinks?,” we all know what it really my forty-four-year-old history. means—I dust off the front porch chairs We’ve also enjoyed dinners with outsourced and, unrequested, take out the leftover olives We drizzled the eggs with the fried chicken, complemented with homemade I stored with the Italian artichokes in olive garlicky oil and some pickled chicken liver mousse, roasted red peppers in oil from last weekend, a wheel of alreadychiles...In my book, it is still one olive oil with capers and herbs, cream laden wedged-into Camembert, a few slices of last of the most satisfying meals in polenta, and the remains of a layer cake created night’s pork roast or chicken, and whatever my forty-four-year-old history. by the brilliant pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz. else I can forage. There is also usually An evening of leftover, recipe-tested shrimp pâté spread onto something pickled. We are all very, very good wine drinkers, so one endive leaves and smashed into our mouths is also high on the list, must arrive prepared with sustenance. (Luck favors those that do, so as is one with day-old roasted root vegetables with yogurt dressing I’m told.) There are more meats, cheeses, and crackers on their end to and a side of meatballs swimming in cinnamon-spiked tomato round out this meal, and in a flash it’s ten P.M. sauce. There are no rules for a family picnic menu (although they In our ever-growing friend-family, these picnics generally take generally tend never to be the same twice), I just happen to host a lot place at a walkable location on a Friday or Saturday evening. But of cocktail parties, which is why mine tend to be meat, cheese, and do what feels right to you. If a Monday comes around and it feels brine forward. They are all about creating merriment and the ease of appropriate, you should most certainly lean in and embrace it. There entertaining with your chosen family and throwing together a simple is no “right night” to cobble together a meal with friends. and soulful meal that is assembled with what you have as opposed to For some inspiration, please allow me to provide you with some shopping, preparing, and cooking in advance. examples of family picnics past: One evening, I brought over roasted And, if you cook often, infrequently, or barely at all, I have faith beets to Tamar’s, the remains of a there is always something in your fridge or pantry you can pull together meat and cheese plate, and some eggs TH E MOUNTAI NS minute to feel nourishing and special, even if it’s filling a bowl full of potato to soft boil. I also had some leftover WHO? Colu Henry chips and opening a bottle of Champagne on a stormy day to thank homemade mayonnaise, so I brought WHat? Cookbook author Mother Nature for her wild and wily ways. Wouldn’t you agree? that too. Tamar had braised beef the talks family picnics in Hudson Su mme r 2022

rules of engagement Colu Henry and husband, furniture maker and artist Chad Silver, celebrate family and friends at the ultimate Hudson picnic.

“There are no rules for a family picnic menu—although they generally tend never to be the same twice—I just happen to host a lot of cocktail parties, which is why mine tend to be meat, cheese and brine forward. Picnics are about creating merriment and the ease of entertaining with your chosen family,” Henry says.

Hudson

COLUMBIA COUNTY

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makers

NORMAN JEAN ROY’S TASTEFUL SECOND ACT Th e famed photographe r-tu rne d - bake r’s ‘determi n ed del i cacy ’ is on dis pl ay at Bre adfolks.

Pictures and Words by Kevin Sessums

I

recently returned to my home in Hudson, NY from a two-month sojourn in London and fell right back into my routine which basically is built upon my heading on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings to Breadfolks Bakery down a few blocks on Warren Street where I live so I can get a loaf of country bread, a couple of croissants and an orange morning bun. I’ve eaten croissants across the globe and the best ones I’ve ever had are concocted by photographer/baker Norman Jean Roy at Breadfolks. ¶ Norman and I have trudged the glamorous magazine byways over the years, but our paths never really crossed until we both ended up here on Warren Street finally crossing over croissants. Just as he brought artistry to glamour photography, he brings his artistic touch—a kind of determined delicacy—to his baking. Having studied at the San Francisco Baking Institute, Norman has mastered the kitchen in the way he mastered the dark room, and the results now can be found on tables all over the Hudson Valley and beyond. ¶ I was standing in line one morning with a woman who told me she drove down from Vermont just to buy his baked goods.

I pretended to be shocked, but I understood There’s a keenness to his kitchen artistry just as there is to his way with a camera. His Hudson photographs could airily be described as deliciously arch. But I’m COLUMBIA selfishly glad such deliciousness can now be found in the airy arch COUNTY of his croissants. ¶ They frame my weekends in Hudson.

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bread spread (clockwise, from top left)) The author with the delicious evidence still on his lips; Kevin Sessums’ Warren Street loft is ready for breakfast; Norman Jean Roy, the remarkable photographer, in front of his out-ofthis-world Hudson bakery, Breadfolks; the prized purchases from Breadfolks.

“Just as Norman brought artistry to glamour photography, he brings his artistic touch to his baking,” Sessums writes of his favorite croissant creator and fellow former celebrity magazine trooper.

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let’s get loud Sarah Gray Miller, owner of the eclectic collective UnQuiet in Coxsackie, says her store is filled with “local stuff, ridiculous stuff,” including objects stamped with “Rhinebeck,” vintage pennants, species of bugs and skeletons and anything else that catches her fancy.

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makers

CiViLiZED iRREVERENCE Designer Sarah Gray Miller l aunches her whimsical antiqu e shop, Unquiet, in a former Coxsackie firehouse—and has a spe ake asy on its way.

By Rebecca Hardiman met Sarah Gray Miller, owner of Coxsackie’s new creative collective, UnQuiet, years ago at InStyle Home Magazine, where she was my boss, though “boss” hardly seems the right word. Sarah Gray was—is—subversive and unconventional, a witty, irrepressible party girl with a hint of her childhood Natchez, MS twang and a keen, discerning eye for design, the cheekier the better. Miller, whose long magazine publishing career was largely devoted to shelteresque publications (she was the editor in chief of Saveur, O At Home, InStyle Home, Country Living and Modern Farmer), describes her aesthetic as, “Kind of like a crazy, alcoholic, confirmed bachelor British uncle.”

Like many of the likeminded Hudson Valley friends she would come to meet, Miller left Manhattan for Greene County in 2007, part of an early wave of exiles from the city. Within two years, she’d happily discovered her tribe was made up of sculptors, musicians, artists, writers, stylists. Or, as she calls them, “Creatives who like to have a good time. I found myself surrounded by erudite, sophisticated people who weren’t the least bit snobby or pretentious. We were all wanting a sense of community and we were all hyper-social. We entertained at each other’s houses, the kind of experiences I never had in New York City.”

When COVID-19 hit and Gotham’s magazine industry slipped yet further into free fall, Miller knew it was time to pivot. She left her career, sold her home and rented a big old Coxsackie firehouse that faces the river, with an apartment upstairs and an old-time jail around back (more on that later). There, she opened her funky home goods shop, UnQuiet, with its tongue-in-cheek slogan: “Interiors, Antiques, Insubordination.”

Miller doesn’t take pleasure in owning stuff, she says, but she sure does have fun trolling for it (at estate sales, auctions and online), rehabbing it, injecting it with personality, styling it and generally subverting it, to comely effect. She’ll score a stuffy, ancient settee, for instance, and beautifully recover it with a pattern of…SSRI inhibitors. Elsewhere at UnQuiet: a wacky taxidermy piece Miller christened Squirrel Humping Log With Nut In Mouth and a male mannequin with a giant bulge, a gem she scored solely, she explains, because “it cracks me up.”

I

Given her anti-minimalist, decidedly un-serious, more-is-more aesthetic, UnQuiet is not unlike a giant cabinet of curios, filled with exuberant, stylish pieces, but also Coney Island sideshow banners and Victorian-era pet portraits and frames—“local stuff, ridiculous stuff,” Miller says, including objects stamped with “Rhinebeck,” vintage pennants, species of bugs and skeletons and just about anything else that happens to catch her fancy. In other words, she says, “It’s not a place where you’re likely to find lamp cord scrunchies.” s friends and customers (who frequently become friends) began stopping by, Miller would crack open a bottle of wine on a Friday at closing time. “I’m always ready to throw a party,” she says.

“Growing up, my family was like that.” And word got around. These impromptu evenings have organically grown into standing Saturday night BYOB firehouse soirees where unfussy “crockpot entertaining” is in full force. Miller (or a guest cook) whips up a gumbo and throws rice into the cooker, or presses paninis or serves her classic dish, Frito Pies, which “is basically chili on top of Fritos,” she laughs. “Yanks get really confused.” These weekly shindigs don’t discriminate they draw from all ages (20 to 80) and all walks of life, a slew of fun-loving souls from Coxsackie, Athens and beyond, many of whom escaped Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Seattle and other far-flung US metropolises. “We have the best time,” Miller says. “It’s a real community.”

In fact, the firehouse parties got UnQuiet’s owner thinking: why not open a real bar, fittingly, in the former jail? Together with fourth generation Coxsackian and home builder Mark Deubert, Miller is poised to launch Ravish Liquors, partly for the lark of it and partly because, as she deadpans, “Alcohol is the No.1 retail business that is weather-impervious.” In Ravish Liquors, Miller and Deubert envision a small, cozy, laid-back spot with a speakeasy vibe. Maybe the former magazine editor will be behind the bar mixing martinis or giving patrons a sneak peek of her Coxsackie latest treasure hunt. Or maybe she’ll GREENE just be hanging out with a glass in hand, COUNTY effortless being the life of the party.

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makers

OLD CHATHAM, AT REST When ar chitect and AE Greys on Principal Joseph Kusnick and his wife , interior designer Tracy Br own, SAW KINDERHILL FARM, THEY KNEW THEIR LIVES WOULD NEVER BE THE SA ME . THEY WEREN’T WR ONG.

By Richard Pérez-Feria Photography by Peter Aaron exclusively for The Mountains

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OId Chatham

COLUMBIA COUNTY

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modern history Kinderhill Farm’s home was built pre-Civil War, circa 1850, with the main addition to the farmhouse estimated to have been built in 1890.

Though certainly historic, the four-bedroom home is ready for its contemporary owners, including its use of smart house technology.

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“You can see time

man in full “When I’m here, there’s a real sense of stepping back.”

Kusnick says of his home, Kinderhill Farm.

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s a longtime architect and Founding Principal at New York City residential construction juggernaut AE Greyson, Miami native Joseph Kusnick knows his was around a modern structure. As a designer and builder of some decidedly 21st century projects in Gotham including the Barry residence for Annabelle Selldorf; the Einbender residence at the former Police Building for Charles Gwathmey; a private residence for Richard Meier at The Perry Street Towers among many others, Kusnick’s sprawling Old Chatham residence, Kinderhill Farm, definitely hits in a different way. And it’s breathtaking.

When Kusnick and his wife, the interior designer Tracy Brown, purchased Kinderhill Farm in 2019 after a quarter-century in East Hampton, something just clicked. “Tracy and I wanted a change when the Hamptons became too money oriented, too ‘Wall Street’ for us,” he says. “The Hamptons became a very stressful, 24/7 ‘on’ environment. We left the Hamptons mostly because we wanted to be engaged in community, so we got involved with the Shaker Museum [of Mount Lebanon]. I’m on the board now and we now have a tremendous group of friends that we never experienced in the Hamptons. Kinderhill Farm was the last house Tracy and I T H E M O U N TA I N S looked at and we knew it was the one.” minute The home was built pre-Civil War (circa 1850) with the WHO? Homeowners Joe Kusnick and main addition to the farmhouse estimated to have been built Tracy Brown in 1890. Though certainly historic, the four-bedroom home is WHat? Restored a historic home in ready for its contemporary owners (central air, four fireplaces, Old Chatham to its smart house technology) as well as boasting an inviting, former glory

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elapse on this property as opposed to running with it.”

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sacred acres Kinderhill Farm’s sprawling 36 acres include an inviting, heated pool (and cabana), an impeccably maintained tennis court and just past the relaxing pond, the refurbished barn doubles as an exercise room, craftsman workshop and the de rigueur four-car garage.

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heated gunite pool and an impeccably maintained tennis court. Oh, and just past the pond, the refurbished barn doubles as an exercise room, craftsman workshop and is home to the de rigueur four-car garage. In a word, Kinderhill Farm checks all the boxes. All of them.

“When I’m here, there’s a real sense of stepping back,” Kusnick says. “You can see time elapse on this property as opposed to running with it. Here, I can clear my head, and we just love it.”

Kusnick and Brown divide their time between Kinderhill Farm and their Brooklyn residence so, the question has to be asked: Is Kusnick an Old Chatham local now? “Well, I’d like to be considered a local, but I don’t think I am,” he says, somewhat wistfully. “You know, Richard, there’s an old-time bar-restaurant here called Jackson’s and it’s real local. Let’s just say Tracy and I are very happy there. So, yeah, we’re definitely a long way from the Hamptons.”

In Old Chatham, at Kinderhill Farm, Kusnick is exactly where he’s meant to be. Home.

ONE PERK OF BEiNG THE DAUGHTER OF AN ARTiST:

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makers

THE ROOM WHERE iT HAPPENS Artist Renee Iacone, here in conversation with her daughter, creates abstracts and sculptures in an 18th-century converted barn in her Ghent home.

By Alexis Auleta Photography by Holly Hughes exclusively for The Mountains

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I get to see my mother’s work in progress, long before it’s hung on prestigious gallery walls.

Ever since I can remember, my mom, Renee Iacone, has crafted abstract sculptures and paintings and objects, moving fluidly from canvas to metal and ceramic sculpture, to mixed media and clayfiring. What I most love about her work, some of which graces my own walls and rooms (an even better perk), is that, beyond allowing room and space for multiple interpretations, her pieces have a vividly spiritual quality to them. Growing up, my mom’s life as a maker belonged firmly in the background of my childhood, a din I didn’t pay much attention to. But now, as an adult raising my own daughters, I find myself much more interested in my mom, the artist.

On a recent chilly spring morning, mugs of coffee in hand, my mom and I head to her Columbia County studio, a classic red standalone farmhouse in Ghent, NY that’s been lovingly converted into an artist’s workspace.

The studio sits adjacent to the main residence, a 1750s colonial gem known in these parts as the “Pink House” (it’s spikes likes “I love been the same pale my Spikes series,” says hue for 75 years), Iacone, referring to her set on acres of land favorite collection of ceramic work. with sweeping views. Designed for year-round use, my mom’s studio barn features several large windows and skylights for maximum brightness, and stark white walls and floors to lend a sense of calm. “It’s where I feel safe to be me,” she says. “I’m happiest when it’s a good work day in the studio. I’m so lucky and grateful to have this space.”

My mom tells me about her well-established routine—something I hadn’t known—as she preps for studio time. “I’ve got to have my coffee, my seltzer and my phone—and ambient noise,” she says. “Lately, I’ve been listening to podcasts, usually political stories or true crime. Sometimes I’ll have tennis, football or baseball playing on the TV. Then it’s about having my tools, materials and open projects around me to get the creative process going.”

Oh, and wheels are key. As we walk over to several large tables and rolling easels, she says, “Being able to move my equipment allows for adaptability while I work. It’s key to my process.”

Though my mom’s been focused on ceramics, sculpting and firing large works as of late, she’s beginning to turn, once more, to large mixed media paintings. “Even if I don’t feel inspired, I follow the advice of an artist friend,” she says. “I go to my studio anyway.” And if she still feels “art-blocked,” as she calls it, she steps away from her work for a few days to recalibrate. “It’s kind of like working on a crossword puzzle. When you get stuck, you take a break. And when you return to it, what seemed impossible before becomes obvious.”

When I ask my mom which piece of her diverse body of work she feels most connected to, she considers for a moment before answering: “I love my Spikes series,” she says, referring to a collection of ceramic and print work completed a while back.

“I was inspired by these hand-carved wood Civil War tent spikes I found in a Hudson antique shop.

I transfigured them into clay spikes and their forms totally suggest spirits to me.”

Besides her prolific studio work, my mom’s newest project, a collaboration with fellow artist and former RISDI professor Holly Hughes, is the launch of Hand Shake Press, a print studio the pair designed in an old barn on the Ghent farm which will offer artists from all over the world workshops taught by master printers.

As we make our way back to Ghent the Pink House, I ask my mom, cheekily, which brilliant piece I COLUMBIA can bring home with me today.

COUNTY “Nothing,” she smiles, “…yet.”

studio audience “Even if I don’t feel inspired, I follow the advice of an artist friend: I go to my studio anyway,” Iacone says of her classic red standalone farmhouse converted into her workspace. Her studio sits adjacent to the main residence, a 1750s colonial gem known—for its pale hue—as the “Pink House.” Iacone says having everything in her studio on wheels is critical as well. “Being able to move my equipment allows for adaptability while I work.

It’s key to my process.”

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night

CREEK BAR’S MAGiCAL FOREST estled behind Mountain Dale’s funky eatery High Voltage Kitchen & Bar, the Creek Bar is a magical boho wonderland smack dab in the middle of a forest. “You’re in the woods, you’re in the country, you’re in the mountains,” says Jason Thomson, coowner of both the restaurant and bar. Inspired by the natural beauty of the space, this slice of woodsy paradise was actually a COVID pivot. “My business partner Sonia Jozajtis and I needed to reinvent everything we were doing,” Thomson says. And so, they did. They chopped trees, cleared brush, crafted folksy fences from branches, set up fire pits and cozy seating areas, hung strings of fairy lights from tree to tree and, finally, installed the bar’s focal point: a cool vintage trailer leftover from an erstwhile glamping business.

A New Jersey transplant, Thomson moved here permanently after years of visiting on weekends to unplug and checkout. “I fell completely in love with the area,” he says.“Just being more in nature, more remote, less people, less hectic lives, the mountains, the woods, sitting around a campfire under a beautiful starry sky.”

The Creek Bar draws an eclectic, diverse crowd—locals and lifers as well as Airbnb-ing out-of-towners. Which is to say it’s very Catskills. “You’ve got old school folks sitting next to hipsters from the city,” Thomson says. “Somehow, everybody seems to get along.”

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–Rebecca Hardiman

M O U N T A I N S

P HOTOGRA P H Y B Y G R EG S CI B I O R

SULLIVAN COUNTY Mountain Dale

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creek peak “I fell completely in love with the area,” says Jason Thompson, Creek Bar’s co-owner. “Just being more in nature, more remote, the mountains, the woods.”

Craft distilled in small batches, exceptional attention to flavor...

Available at the Catskill Provisions Tasting Room And your favorite cocktail bar or shop!

Spirits.CatskillProvisions.com • 16 Upper Main St • Callicoon, NY 12723

diary

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FiRE WiTHiN WHY DID I BECOME A BOICEVILLE VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER? THAT ’S A REALLY GOOD QUE STION

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By Martha Frankel

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STEVE HELLER

blown away “On my best night, Fire Chief John Bachor, had me take the hose up a ladder to the roof of the local high school.

Then, he turned it on. I genuinely almost flew off that roof, but I held my ground,” the author says of her favorite experience as a volunteer firefighter in Boiceville.

ometimes when I tell this story I imply that I joined the Olive Fire Department— specifically, Station No.5 in the bucolic hamlet of Boiceville—because I’m an altruist, or because I wanted to help my neighbors or because I believe in service. And while some of those things are true now, I joined for one reason: they told me I couldn’t.

It was 1975. I was a New York City Jew with an obsessive personality who had recently moved up the country and I didn’t want a garden—I wanted a farm. I didn’t want a kitten—I wanted livestock.

So, when I was at the Boiceville Inn one night and some new friends were trying to talk my husband Steve into becoming a volunteer fireman, I jumped right in. “I could be a volunteer,” I told them. “NO! NO! NO!” everyone cried in unison. “That won’t work.” Why not? I countered. “Because the boots will be too big.” OK, so I’ll buy my own. “No, you should join the Ladies Auxiliary.” What do they do? “They go to a fire and comfort the people whose house is burning.”

Absolutely not. I’m not a very comforting figure.

For months I badgered everyone at the bar, and I could see their collective eyes roll as soon as I walked through the door. “There are no women in the fire department!” more than one person scolded.

But there was this one guy, John Bachor, a local’s local, and he just happened to be the chief of Station No.5. He nodded at me one night and a few weeks later Steve and I put in our applications. A month later we stood in the fire house and waited in an anteroom while they voted on us. It was the old school method using white balls and black balls, a sort-of anonymous system for voting. Someone came out to tell Steve he was in. They surrounded him and took him into the big room. I waited. Finally, they came to tell me I was in, too. “But you got two black balls.” I got the message: I hadn’t started, and I was already on probation.

That night we went to the Boiceville Inn to celebrate with our friends. After a few drinks, two guys I really liked told me they had been the black ball culprits because they were afraid that they’d never be able to watch porn at the firehouse again. Points for honesty.

All volunteer firefighters were given a box, the “Plectron,” that’d go off whenever there was a fire in our town. It omits a sound so piercing dogs run from it. At midnight, on my very first day as a firefighter, it went off. Steve and I rushed down to the firehouse, only to find out it was a false alarm. We went back home to sleep. An hour later that sound shattered the quiet night again. This time we went down and were told we should just stay in the firehouse in case the structure fire in the next town got any bigger and they needed us. Steve and I

climbed on top of the fire truck and went to sleep on the hoses. Everyone else was acting as if this activity at 2 a.m. was perfectly normal and the most cheerful time of day.

Over the next six nights we had seven different calls. Not one of them was an actual fire. Car accidents and gas spills, yes; sometimes, we just stayed in the firehouse for hours waiting for an “all clear” signal from another town.

And then…we had our first fire call.

We were taking the day off, sitting around and smoking a joint when the Plectron went off signaling an automobile fire about half a mile from us. We jumped in our car and raced up there. And indeed, there was a car in the woods with a small fire in the back seat, a fire about as big as my hands.

Steve said, “I’ll go get the truck. You stay here and wait for the people!” We were sure there would be other folks, say, real firefighters, who’d come and put this little fire out. The fire was now as big as a bread box.

Steve showed up with the fire truck, but, alas, we had no idea how to get water out of it. We argued a bit about what we should’ve done, and who we could call now. Then, a gas can in the back seat of the car caught fire. Needless to say, the car blew up. Big time.

Weeks later we started taking Firematics classes. I had to learn from scratch, because I didn’t understand how the internal combustion engine worked, and apparently all knowledge seemed to flow from that. I held up the class weekly. They all hated me. Again.

But, a couple of times a month, the fire chief, John Bachor, would take me out in the firetruck. He taught me how to drive it. Sitting next to me he’d say things like, “Let’s say there are a thousand gallons of water in this truck and each gallon weighs more than eight pounds. How much weight is behind you?” 8000 pounds, I answered, so proud of myself. “Good; now, let’s see you try to stop this sucker.”

I was literally standing up on the brakes and no, the truck wasn’t slowing down one bit. Scary.

On my best night, John had me take the hose up a ladder to the roof of the local high school. Then, he turned it on. I genuinely almost flew off that roof, but I held my ground.

A couple of years in, we had a huge fire of our own, when Steve’s woodworking shop burned to the ground. I kept looking around for the people who would comfort us. It turned out our whole town was up to the task, donating time and materials to build the new shop. We made a sign that still hangs in the front of it: THE SHOP THAT FRIENDS BUILT. All of a sudden, I wasn’t an outsider; Boiceville I wasn’t a newcomer; and I wasn’t an ULSTER interloper. I was a local. It’s a badge I’ve COUNTY worn proudly ever since.

THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

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go

THE FALLS iN SUMMER T H E

M O U N T A I N S

Thes e Nev ers ink G or ge hi ke s i n S ulli va n Co un t y al l s hare a co m m o n payo f f: W ho’ s re ady to c ha s e water fa lls?

P hotograp h y by M i c ha el o ’N e a l exclusively for

The Mountains

Mullet Falls One of the most popular hikes in the area, the Red Trail Loop that leads to Mullet Falls is accessible from the main parking area at Katrina Falls Road in Rock Hill. distance 1.6 miles on the loop itself, 2 miles total view A quintessential waterfall, Mullet Falls is very pretty and surprisingly high. “You look up and the falls are coming down from a ridge above you splashing into the brook where you’re standing,” says Nancy Bachana, a guide with the New YorkNew Jersey Trail Conference (nynjtc.org). crowd Especially busy on weekends, this trail draws families, young people and older folks, summertime Hasidim, fisher-people and dog-walkers. special because… Once you reach the falls, there’s huge flat rock area where you can rest and picnic (except in the spring, when the falls are super misty and blowing).

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Rock Hill

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rain on me “You look up and the falls are coming down from a ridge above you splashing into the brook where you’re standing,” says guide Nancy Bachana, of Mullet Falls in Sullivan County.

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Verkeerderkill Falls Situated within Minnewaska State Park Preserve, the Sam’s Point and Verkeerderkill Falls trails are famous, and beloved, in these parts. Park at the Sam’s Point Preserve Nature Center off Sam’s Point Road. distance 8.3-mile loop crowd Hikers of all ages, families, dog-walkers, birders T H E

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ziew “You’re walking along the ridge the whole time,” says Bachana. The views are beautiful, but you also get into woodsy areas and the trail opens up to fantastic, massive falls which begin at eye level. There’s not as much forest growth here, but plenty of low-lying shrubs and blueberries. special because… Kids of all ages love to wander through the dramatic ice caves with their dripping stalactites.

High Falls In the same Neversink River Unique Area, hike another mile-and-ahalf beyond Mullet Falls and you’ll end up at High Falls, a dramatically loud, rushing, double falls. distance 4 miles crowd Similar to that of Mullet Falls, but the trail itself seesaws quite a bit and is steeper in parts, so it’s decidedly tougher for children to navigate. view Amazing vistas. “It’s a beautiful spot along the wide, expansive river, with two falls on either side where the river splits,” says Bachana. special because… Cooler and thickly forested, the trail smells earthen and parts of it are cave-like. “You feel like you’re descending and as you decline, you don’t know when you’ll rise up again,” says Bachana. “Throughout most of the hike, you hear water from Wolf Brook, Mullet Brook or the Neversink River.”

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falls to the wall “It’s a beautiful spot along the wide, expansive river, with two falls on either side where the river splits,” says Bachana of High Falls, a dramatically loud, rushing double falls in the Neversink River Unique Area.

we love

FARM TO FABLED It’s an embarrassme nt of riches when it comes to farm stands and their bount y Avail able to us in this magical corner of the pl anet.

Here are s ome of our favorites that just may be worth that lit tle extr a drive time to find. We Pr omise .

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super markets From Staron Farm’s magical potatoes to Snow Farm’s stunning flowers there’s a lot to love (and plan for) when it comes to quality farm stands in the region. Tomatoes at Saunderskill Farms await as do the peaches at Love Apple Farm.

Who’s hungry?

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POTATOES COLUMBIA

BREADS & BAKED GOODS COLUMBIA

Staron Farm

Hawthorne Valley Farm Store

4 Merwin Road Valatie, NY 12184 518.392.2920 StaronFarm.com Since 1978, owner-operators Stanley and Donna Staron remain the largest spud growers in Columbia County and offer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares, a win-win that benefits both farmers (with funds in advance of the harvest) and consumers (with a steady supply of fresh food).

PEACHES COLUMBIA

Love Apple Farm 1421 NY-9H Ghent, NY 12075 518.828.5048 LoveAppleFarm.com

STRAWBERRIES DUTCHESS

Needing your summer fruit fix?

Pick your own at Love Apple Farm.

McEnroe Organic Farm Market & Eatery

RHUBARB PIE BERKSHIRE

5409 NY-22 Millerton, NY 12546 518.789.4191 McEnroeOrganicFarm.com

119 Park Street North Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.528.1515 TaftFarmsGB.com

Pick your own sweet, juicy strawberries here in season, and check out the café which serves up delicious meals created from its home-grown fruits, veggies and meats.

STRAWBERRIES & TOMATOES ULSTER

Saunderskill Farms (Opposite) COURTESY OF STARON FARM; (Above) COURTESY OF LOVE APPLE FARM

327 County Route 21C Ghent, NY 12075 518.672.4465 HawthorneValley.org

5100 Route 209 Accord, NY 12404 845.626.2676 Saunderskill.com The current stewards of this 12-generation farm, the Schoonmaker family, continue producing its traditionally wide array of super-fresh produce.

Taft Farms

Martha Tawczynski’s been baking her scrumptious pies for more than three decades on this family-owned farm. We especially recommend the rhubarb pie made with strawberries and rhubarb picked fresh from the fields.

LAMB & SHEEPSKINS BERKSHIRE

Mayflower Farm 74 Undermountain Road South Egremont, MA 01258 413.528.4373 MayflowerFarm.net Owners Peter and Ellen Maggio raise Romney sheep to produce Mayflower’s high-quality meats and cozy sheepskins; visits are welcomed by appointment, or goods can be found at the Great Barrington farmer’s market.

MAPLE SYRUP BERKSHIRE

Turner Farms

SAUSAGE COLUMBIA

11 Phillips Road P.O. Box 65 South Egremont, MA 01258 413.528.5710 TurnerFarmsMapleSyrup.com

Pigasso Farms

First opened in 1988, Turner Farms now has 4,300 taps. Sweet.

In addition to pasture-raised pork, beef, chicken and eggs, get your hands on Pigasso’s renowned liverwurst, pork hot dogs and sweet and hot Italian sausages.

480 Farm Road Copake, NY 12516 518.929.3252 PigassoFarms.com

Baguettes, sunflower flax bread, challah, Jewish rye and more are baked daily on-site using all-organic ingredients. For those with a sweet tooth, try the shortbread cookies and croissants.

BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM & FRESH CORN COLUMBIA

Samascott’s Garden Market 65 Chatham Street Kinderhook, NY 12106 518.758.9292 Samascott.com Samascott’s blueberry ice cream, made in-house with home-grown blueberries, is stellar, and its corn—a summer necessity—is equally stellar.

ICE CREAM BERKSHIRE

High Lawn Farm’s Farmstead Creamery Shop 535 Summer Street Lee, MA 01238 413.281.7569 HighLawnFarm.com Bring the kids for farm-to-cone flavors such as Purple Cow and Coconut with Macaroons & Caramel.

CHEESE DUTCHESS

Chaseholm Farm 115 Chase Road Pine Plains, NY 518.339.2071 ChaseholmFarm.com This 100 percent grass-fed, family farm boasts delish cheeses including Moonlight (rich and tart) as well as yogurt, beef, whey-fed pork and raw milk.

MILK & CHEESE LITCHFIELD

Calf & Clover Creamery 332 Kent Road South Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754 410.533.2461 CalfandCloverCreamery.com A small, family-owned, organic farm, Calf & Clover is beloved for its fresh dairy goods, from raw milk to yogurt and ricotta.

EGGS BERKSHIRE

Maiden Flower Farm 304 North Plain Rd. Housatonic, MA 01236 413.274.6628 MaidenFlowerFarm.com In addition to gorgeous cut dahlias and tulips, Maiden Flower Farms offers delicious organically raised eggs, now also carried around the corner at Taft Farms.

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CUT FLOWERS BERKSHIRE

Snow Farm 16 South Beech Plain Road Sandisfield, MA 01255 413-717-0579 Snow-Farm.com Fresh, organic blooms abound here—zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias and dozens more. CSA shares are also available for weekly arrangements of locally grown flowers.

HONEY BERKSHIRE

Moon In The Pond Farm 816 Barnum Street Sheffield, MA 01257 413.229.3092 MoonInThePond.org You’ll likely spot tons of animals on this 150-acre farm—and two hives of honeybees. A heaven for serious honey lovers, Moon In The Pond creates far-out flavors such as dandelion flower, thyme flower and fermented garlic. Wow. Reported by Isabel Hochman

THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

the spot

TOGETHER, ALONE Dr i ve- Ins are back. Finally.

By Richard Pérez-Feria

y first experience with something being très “meta” happened in the summer of 1978 when I wasn’t quite 14 years old yet, as my parents, my three siblings and I sat in my dad’s large, vintage Mercedes with the a/c blasting to avoid the scorching June Miami heat. My parents had decided to take the family to a drive-in movie—a first for us—on the opening night of John Travolta’s latest film, Grease. Fresh off his Academy Award-nominated role in Saturday Night Fever, Travolta fever was everywhere and my sisters (and maybe even my mom) weren’t immune from the actor’s considerable charms. So, a drive-in it was.

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The idea of sitting next to my brother and sisters in the backseat of our car for the better part of two hours seemed, if not unimaginable, then certainly unpleasant.

I was wrong. The movie was a marvel. The screen was enormous. The sound, coming from speakers wedged in the windows of our car, no less, didn’t diminish from the experience at all. I was sold.

In the movie, there’s a famous scene when Danny (Travolta) takes Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) to a drive-in and everything falls apart for the happy couple. As I’m watching the movie in a drive-in while being in a drive-in, the sense of “this is really cool” washed over me. Very meta, indeed.

Of course, soon thereafter, everyone stopped going to drive-ins altogether and it wasn’t until recently—and exacerbated by the global pandemic’s requirement to socially distance from each other—did the drive-in enter my consciousness (and the planet’s) once again. That, and the fact that six years ago I relocated to the Hudson Valley from Manhattan and kept seeing a sprinkling of tempting drive-in options from Hyde Park to the Berkshires.

Enter Four Brothers Drive-In in Amenia.

Wait, amazing pizza and a first-run movie on the same property? Amazing. And for nearly a decade now, the Four Brothers Drive-In have made regulars and visitors believers, too.

ner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s22)

BETHEL WOODS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

hollywood, al fresco Four Brothers Drive-In in Amenia, NY has become a fairly recent new weekend tradition. Even Kevin Costner, on the big screen, would agree.

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JIMMY BUFFETT

with Regina Spektor

& The Coral Reefer Band

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WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY

with Don Felder

BUDDY GUY & KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD

with ZZ Top, Zach Bryan & more!

with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

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SANTANA with Earth, Wind & Fire

BRANDI CARLILE with Yola & Allison Russell

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DUTCHESS COUNTY

THE BEACH BOYS & THE TEMPTATIONS Sixty Years of the Sounds of Summer

Even now, if I squint, I can still see Danny Zuko up on the drive-in screen singing his heart out in a melodic apology to his girl, Sandy.

(I also remember the funny/alarming cartoon commercial in that same scene that showed a hot dog happily jumping inside a dancing bun— mind officially blown).

Social distancing or not, what could possibly be more American—more fun, frankly—than parking your car, eating popcorn with your favorite person next to you and marveling at the stars on the screen and the sky? I mean, c’mon!

Now, that’s entertainment.

DARIUS RUCKER with Jameson Rodgers & Elvie Shane

2022 SEASON PAVILION

For a full line-up visit BethelWoodsCenter.org ®

WIZARDING WORLD and all related trademarks, characters, names, and indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s22) All dates, acts, times, and ticket prices are subject to change at any time without notice.

heroes

DOWN THE STRETCH Ch ath a m ’s Equ ine Advocat e s r es c ues r etir ed racehors es and ot h e r i n - da n ger equines and giv es t hem a for ever ho m e .

By Jennifer Cook

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horse force Equine Advocates, a 140-acre horse sanctuary in Chatham, currently cares for 81 horses, mustangs and donkeys, but specializes in taking care of retired thoroughbreds, including Kachina, one of three wild mustangs currently residing at the charitable ranch.

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ust north of our ’hoods, in Saratoga Springs, where horses regularly sell for more than homes and my hometown, we don’t really like to think about what happens to Thoroughbreds after their racing careers are over. We love to think about the magnificent creatures when they’re two, three and four years old— when a particularly speedy trip around the legendary Saratoga Race Course track could win us big bucks— but once they pass their prime racing age…Poof!

They’re gone from our minds.

But just because we don’t think about it, doesn’t mean that an ugly reality doesn’t exist: Roughly 7,500 American Thoroughbreds are sent to slaughter every year. And that’s just a small fraction of the 30,000 total horses that meet the same gruesome fate.

“Ending horse slaughter was the reason I founded Equine Advocates 26 years ago,” says Susan Wagner, who currently cares for 81 equines at her 140-acre sanctuary in Chatham. One such equine is CJ, a Thoroughbred formerly known as Jay W, who was purchased for $100,000 at the Keeneland Sales as a yearling nearly two decades ago. That’s right—though Thoroughbreds typically only race for a TH E M O UN TAIN S handful of years, they can live to be 25 or minute 30. That $100K didn’t necessarily pay off WHO? Equine Advocates in for the buyer, and Jay W was retired after Chatham, NY an unimpressive 18-race career. It’s unclear WHat? Sanctuary takes in at-risk where he went for the next decade and a horses, including half, but in 2021 Wagner caught wind that he many retired thoroughbreds was in a kill pen. “He presumably went from home to home,” she says. “Horses end up trading hands seven to eight times and then usually end up at auction, which is what happened to him. He was just hours from being shipped to México.”

Wagner and Equine Advocates got to CJ just in time, and the horse has found his forever home in Columbia County; unlike some Thoroughbred aftercare organizations, Equine Advocates doesn’t adopt horses out. And also, unlike other organizations that only take in horses

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horse power Tyler (white horse above) was as a military working horse with the Army Caisson Platoon where he helped lead caskets of fallen US military members to their final resting places at Arlington National Cemetery; Wiatt (bottom right) is a bay shire gelding bred by Amish farmers in Pennsylvania. When he was rescued, he was underweight, anemic, had cataracts and tested positive for worms.

Happily, he made a complete recovery.

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nother Equine Advocates resident is Zack, a 2,000-pound Belgian Draft Horse that was seized by police in a cruelty raid. Because of the neglect he suffered, he developed a serious disease in all four feet called canker, which many veterinarians and farriers can’t treat. Not about to take “no” for an answer, Wagner brought in world-famous equine podiatrist Ric Redden to perform somewhat of a miracle on Zack, who’s been canker-free

for five months. “We consider these horses part of our family,” she says emphatically.

“Once we get them, we do what we need to do in order to keep them well.”

And Equine Advocates isn’t alone in its noble (steed) work. In The Mountains region alone, there’s Old Chatham’s Little Brook Farm, which both cares for horses directly

(top, bottom) JIM CRANER; (center) ELLEN LYNCH

or Thoroughbreds in particular, Equine Advocates takes in all equines—horses, ponies, donkeys and mules—including those that aren’t necessarily headed for slaughter but are being neglected or abused.

“We’ve got a donkey who was locked in a stall for the first nine years of its life,” Wagner says. “We have PMU mares from Canada that were basically treated like drug machines. We have a Thoroughbred named Joey that won more than a quarter of a million dollars and then ended up in the hands of someone who was starving him to death—and I literally mean he was about a week away from dying from starvation.”

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and oversees the care of horses that have been adopted out; Bloomingburg’s Equine Rescue, Inc., which specializes in critical care cases; and Richmond’s Berkshire HorseWorks, which utilizes many rescued horses in its equineassisted therapy programs. “What’s good is we’re all a little bit different,” Wagner says of the other area rescue organizations. “Everybody has their own mission.”

For Equine Advocates, that mission is twofold: providing equines of all types with a forever home, and humane education through school field trips and open houses, which are held one Saturday a month from May through November. “Obviously, with little kids you’re not going to be talking about horse slaughter,” Wagner says. “But I fell in love with horses when I was three years old.

There’s not a lot you really have to do to convince kids that horses are great.”

The same can be said of adults—one day spent watching the Thoroughbreds thunder around Saratoga’s fabled Chatham oval, and I was sold: Horses are COLUMBIA worth saving.

COUNTY At any age.

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brown beauty CJ had to spend a month in a quarantine facility following his rescue from the kill pen to ensure he was disease-free.

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passion

FLY FiSHiNG, BUT MORE Ev e n i mpe rf ect outi n gs a re p e r f ec t a l l the same .

Pictures and Words by Jonathan Mehring

L

ate spring in New York City my friend Ports and I discussed the outdoors and the flow state one enters when fly fishing. Ports is an avid fly fisherman and invited me to come along to photograph him and a couple friends at one of their go-to clandestine spots. So, I did.

The drive to the Catskills took longer than anticipated and it was already getting late. We parked on the side of a gravely road near an undisclosed location rumored to be having a good hatch—when bugs take flight in the morning and the fish come out in abundance.

We hurried through the woods to the river, carefully selected and tied flies, suited up and waded out into the cool mountain river. Bugs were taking flight over the water and fish were snapping and jumping in the eddies. Perfect.

The intoxicating, alltoo-rare smell of nature for us urban dwellers is always the most visceral part of getting out of the city and this certainly was no exception. The breeze was blowing lightly, and it was a beautiful spring day.

I had squeezed into Ports’ old leaky waders and followed the group out into the shallow but rapidly running water. Ports and his friends, Yui and Rob, were casting away in bliss, slowly walking upstream.

I splashed along behind them, photographing to my heart’s content, trying to capture the perfect cast and hoping for a fish to bite. It wasn’t until later that I realized one boot was completely full of water and I couldn’t feel my toes, but in a flow state of my own, I simply didn’t care. Each of us was working towards perfecting our craft without regard for personal comfort. As it should be.

It hadn’t seemed like much time had passed when the sun disappeared behind the trees and dusk began to envelop us. We made our way back to the cars on a darkening riverside path. Only one trout had been caught but still the day felt like a huge success. As any fly fisherman will tell you, it’s not about catching the fish; it’s about catching life.

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great catch “The breeze was blowing lightly, and it was a beautiful spring day” is how Mehring describes his idyllic Catskills fly-fishing outing.

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mode

still hungry

Dining out In The fabulous ‘Un-Hamptons’ Why we’re in no danger of becoming anything like them.

By Hal Rubenstein

t’s become as predictable as swallows returning to Capistrano, or Liam Neeson finding yet another reason to beat up two dozen Middle Eastern males 25 years his junior. Before the start of summer, any number of oh-soknowing urban based publications such as The New York Times, The Financial Times or Business Insider pose the same question with the intensity of Oedipus facing the riddle of the Sphinx: “Is the Hudson Valley and the Berkshires turning into the Hamptons?” In fact, during the pandemic, such speculation was as ubiquitous as Dr. Deborah Birx’s table-for-four sized scarves.

OK, I admit that when we first bought a home in Columbia County 18 years ago, most of our friends asked, “Where are you going? What the hell’s up there?” Back then, evidently, Millbrook was the end of civilization; since once past its exit on the Taconic, we were about the only car on the road. Well, no more. What those annual articles do have right is the increasingly gushing geyser-like appeal of this region, and how homes for sale in Athens, Accord or Austerlitz—when you can find one— remain on the market for about as long as it takes to flip four burgers on the grill.

But only someone who has just sprinted through a three-day tour of duty between Kingston and Queechy Lake would ever ascribe credibility to such a foolish act of

I

comparison geography, and it’s not just because good luck finding the nearest beach or clam shack in the Red Rock. Because while we’re no longer the only car on the Taconic at Exit 89, most homes outside of small-town centers are often separated by acres, not feet. It takes three-quarters of an hour to go a mileand-a-half in the Hamptons because Route 27 is the only option. If it takes equally as long to get to your friend’s home or Lowe’s up here, it’s because everything and/or everyone is about 20 miles away. Nothing is ever round the corner.

But that same lack of proximity is also why there’s no anointed gotta-beseen “scene” in these parts. True, local restaurants and bars are much busier than you might assume (since everyone, everywhere was denied breaking bread with friends for so long), yet dining out generates no equivalent to the quickwe-have-to-plan-a-month-ahead-andshit-do-you-have-the-private-number?

Hamptonian panic suffered trying to nab a table at Tutto Il Giorno, Le Bilbouquet or 75 Main. And when you remove the nerve-wracking jockeying for position that necessitates a quick run into CVS for some Prilosec, what you gain is the opportunity to enjoy both some really swell and often superior food up in these hills, but also the evident charm that’s served along with it.

It’s amazing how much more fun it is to

dine out when you can not only relax your shoulders, but not have to waste energy looking over them.

FEAST & FLORET The prickly but sagacious restaurateur Keith McNally (Odeon, Balthazar, Pastis) claims that your attitude towards an eatery is determined within the three minutes of your arrival, before you’ve ordered either an appetizer or a cocktail. No wonder Feast & Floret has quickly become for so many of us our happy place. As soon as you walk in, a hey-glad-you’re-here vitality breezes through the room that immediately sets you at ease. It’s also a striking contrast to the reclaimed carriage house’s former tenant, Zak Pelaccio’s Fish & Game, which deservedly won a James Beard Award as best restaurant in the Northeast in 2016.

Pelaccio’s room and fare was intense, almost brooding.

While meals were often memorable, the atmosphere insisted you focus more on your dinner plate than your dining partners.

With the subtlest of shifts of decor, lighting, seating, server training and a wise and unexpectedly sharp menu glad award Feast & Floret in edit, Pelaccio’s Hudson brims with former partner a hey-glad-you’reJason Denton, has here vitality. brightened and lightened the mood.

Dining at Feast & Floret is fun, and yet the kitchen—which is run by Denton though he demurs chef status—isn’t fooling around Every restaurant these days that doesn’t have a drive-thru is now farm-to-table, so that isn’t a selling point. But smashing dry rub pork ribs with a crust that crackles and fall off the bone meat sweetened by a walnut-amaro-honey reduction are. It’s the kind of trademark dish you really should share, but you really don’t want to. (The menu changes seasonally, but thankfully ribs seem to be a fixture.) Other dishes THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

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mode| still hungry are precisely composed, but don’t feel fussed over: fennel brightened by a splash of citrus while contrasted with olives; velvety burrata contrasted with a sumptuously smoky sourdough; a tart, invigorating cluster of clams braced by the briny sweetness of guanciale and tomato jam; an excellent pass around flatbread, gently slathered with honey and ricotta; four noteworthy pastas, especially a brighter take on Bolognese and a black squid ink intriguingly inflamed by chili infused pork.

In addition to those super ribs, choose a tender chili-flecked (the kitchen isn’t afraid of the spice rack) octopus on a bed of potatoes and radicchio. The steelhead trout is a house favorite and Denton’s chicken Milanese may be one of the few times I didn’t wish I was eating veal prepared the same way. My two favorite desserts are a budino to make a chocoholic sigh, and olive oil cake framed by clementines (ask for a scoop of gelato).

In case you were wondering about the restaurant’s name, there’s a florist shop in the middle of the dining room. The assortment is lovely, but to be honest, I’ve never bought flowers there, but if I did, I’d be sorely tempted to present the bouquet to Denton, as a thank you. In the last seven months, I’ve eaten at Feast & Floret on my anniversary, my birthday and on Valentine’s Day. But I’d be just as eager to eat there because it’s Thursday.

FEAST & FLORET 13 So. 3rd Street, Hudson 518 822 1500 feastandfloret.com

FRANKIE’S RISTORANTE BAR ITALIANO At Feast & Floret, they offer an appetizer that’s a graceful trio of nearly weightless, pecorino-flecked meatballs.

You ain’t getting those at Frankie’s. But then, no one comes to this legendary spot near Tanglewood to eat light.

Frankie’s is the kind of restaurant that used to make Manhattan’s Little Italy a favorite downtown destination, but now barely exists away from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. This is unapologetic, twofisted Italian American cuisine, where

seeing red is a good thing, and tradition is something to be proud of rather history that needs reinvention.

Truth be told, Frankie’s kitchen is serving up cuisine strikingly similar to the Major Food Group’s brilliantly marketed Carbone, minus the neon sign, at about one-third the tab. (Think I’m exaggerating? Veal parmigiana at Carbone is $89. At Frankie’s, it’s $30). Considering how tough it is to snare a table on Thompson Street, even with the soaring price of gas, it might be cheaper and just as satisfying to shlep up to Lenox, MA. First things first. Frankie’s has a supremely excellent bartender. Julia strikes the perfect tone for her domain: friendly without being in your face, as attuned to the menu as her family history, and damn! does she make a killer Old Fashioned, James Bond worthy martini or any of the house specialty drinks such as the blood orange margarita. In fact, the woman is so congenial, the last time we ate there, we were delighted to sit at her bar.

Proving my point, when Julia says order the fried zucchini, a dish that long ago degenerated at New York’s San Gennaro festival into a pile of pasty, stringy slop, I was stunned to be rewarded with a gloriously tangled cloud of crisp, perfectly salted, gilded green streamers that crackle with each ravenous crunch. The challenge with cooking from a playbook that’s so straightforward is that it leaves no room for error. Carpaccio needs to be expertly shaved, cabochon ruby red, topped by tart fronds arugula and thin layers of just barely bitter parmesan. On a sweet beet and goat cheese salad, the walnuts should be candied, but not Cracker Jack saccharine, and you don’t want orange dressing. You want the bracing acidity of blood oranges.

Artichokes should bear the grill marks of a deep char, the contrast of toasted almonds and the brightness of an acid laced vinaigrette. Frankie’s succeeds on all counts.

The Bolognese featured is grandma’s recipe and good a cook as my grandma

was, she was great at Matzoh balls, not this wonderfully hearty red sauce. Even more than parmigiana, I prefer Frankie’s veal sautéed with the heat of slightly wince-inducing roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts in a white wine sauce where there’s no mistaking the profusion of garlic. I wish Frankie’s didn’t make signature famous lasagna with spinach noodles, since they’ve never been a personal favorite, but the house is firm about no substitutions, believing a menu is a roster what a house does best, not a suggestion of what you might like to assemble via whim. So, I managed to suffer through a branzino grilled exactly as I hoped it would be and a ridiculously generous house seafood Fra diavolo whose sauce I sopped up with half a loaf of bread.

Words of caution, however. When you make a reservation, try to avoid either arriving or leaving around the same time as the start and end of a concert at Tanglewood. Should you make the

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mode| still hungry wrong turn, and it’ll be as if you’re in Pasadena on the morning of the Rose Parade. Luckily, Julia and the rest of the staff know their way around town.

If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask, because unlike the Olive Garden, at Frankie’s, they don’t treat you like family. But they’ll treat you like a welcome guest, whom they want back.

FRANKIE’S RISTORANTE BAR ITALIANO 80 Main Street, Lenox, MA 413. 637 4455 frankiesitaliano.com

THE OLD MILL My first visit to The Old Mill was two weeks after we moved into our first house upstate. Over the past two decades we have probably dined there about 50 times. Having worked in the food industry all my adult life, I’m aware and acknowledge that every restaurant has an off night. The stars don’t align, deliveries don’t arrive, some members of the staff are undergoing breakups, the chef is having a breakdown. I’ve been witness to it. I’ve been part of it. Even Le Bernardin, my favorite restaurant on earth, stumbled once (but only once).

But I have never, ever, had a bad meal at The Old Mill. It may be the most consistent restaurant I’ve ever known.

Maybe their strength stems from the sturdiness of the more than 200-yearold grist mill that it inhabits. Maybe it’s because I think I can count on less than two hands the staff changes in the past decade. Perhaps it’s the personal connection that the staff has with a majority of its clientele, almost all of which are residents of the area, not tourists. Or maybe, they’re just darn good at what they do and restrict themselves to exactly that.

The Old Mill doesn’t tout its menu as farm-to-table (though their food sourcing at the bottom of the menu infers that).

The kitchen staff isn’t foraging in the hills of South Egremont. I’ve never been served a dish with foam, or heard pig cheeks, uni, ostrich or almond milk pudding recited as specials. They don’t entertain guest chefs, Peruvian bistro week or offer seven-course prix fixe with wine pairings. But chef/owner Terry

Moore’s team has nailed down with the confidence and succinctness of the ‘master craftsmen’ on Flea Market Flip the dishes they’re pleased and proud to serve.

Their onion soup is simply perfect. Hot, cheesy, dense and decadent. Steamed mussels are exactly the right size for an appetizer with just enough garlic in their herbed white wine sauce to demand extra bread. Oysters are so fresh. The pâté is just as coarse and the mustard just as spunky you want them to be.

I love calves’ liver. Almost everyone I know hates it. My husband would rather swallow a fork than try a bite. The Old Mill pan sears it briskly with smoked bacon, sweet, caramelized onions and just burned enough fries. The sauce dressing the shrimp and spaghetti can get a little dense, but the shrimp have snap and that counts.

Grilled lamb chops are lean and tender, but the surprising bonus is the yummy, dried foot compote along with some neat pommes Anna. Specials such as the

wonderfully seared duck breast in cherries, cleanly grilled branzino and wonderfully thick veal chops go quickly, so best get there early if you wish to indulge.

Speaking of indulgences, most restaurants have twisted themselves into knots trying to be uber inventive with desserts when the reality is most Americans love cakes, cobblers, sundaes and pies.

The Old Mill is one of the few places where I look forward to dessert. Nothing is deconstructed, except by the sweep of your fork. If anyone reading this is above apple crisp, peach cobbler, chocolate mousse cake, profiteroles, cookies and two thoroughly guilt producing sundaes—one with coffee ice cream topped by Callebaut chocolate sauce, the other made laced with lemon meringue, then knock yourself out as you chase your next Pavlova around the plate.

And if all those delectable sweets aren’t yummy enough, the staff at the Old Mill are effortlessly convivial, like members of the Family Circle you wish you had. The Old Mill

is one of the rare restaurants in our region that doesn’t take reservations (for small parties) where no one seems to mind waiting for a table, just because everyone who works there appears glad you showed up.

The New York Post recently ran a piece about the machinations people are attempting, and the perks and bribes being finagled to secure tables at some of the Hampton’s most coveted outposts. One manager spent the afternoon on a potential patron’s yacht. Another was offered $3000 for a table at the Southampton Social Club.

And a retail big shot just bought himself a table for the season at 75 Main Street. When we left The Old Mill the other night, Ginny Filkins, the manager, said, “It’s always such a treat to see you guys. We look forward to seeing you again. I hope it’s real soon, too.”

And I don’t even own a kayak.

THE OLD MILL 53 Main Street, Egremont, MA 01230 413 528 1421 oldmillberkshires.com

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mode| thirsty culture club “So much of wine culture is rooted in elitism,” says Julia Johnson of Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson.

The Poetry of Wine Lil’ Deb’s Oasis (happily) breaks all the wine list rules. | By Anthony Giglio least it wasn’t always for me when I was ho’s ready for another writing Food & Wine’s annual wine guide, round of my favorite tasting through several thousand bottles never-to-be-seen each year to review 1,700—all of which gameshow, ‘Wine Words required 50-word completely ‘unique’ Free Association’ descriptions. I’d get weekly reports from (or WWFA—#IYKYK)? my editor telling me how many times I Here’s how it works: I’m repeated adjectives such as ‘juicy,’ ‘fruity’ your snarky sommelier host and I give you and ‘tight,’ and I’d have to go back and get five clues, one at a time, to figure out which ever-more creative, such that ‘juicy’ might wine is being cleverly described. If you don’t become ‘shirt-staining,’ ‘fruity’ could evolve guess it, I get to heckle you after each clue into the whole ‘cornucopia’ and ‘tight’ you miss. Ready? You have five seconds…go! might devolve into ‘last-notch-on-the-belt.’

Your first clue: pool hair… Nothing?

Yes, I’m cringing too at that last one.

Your second clue: fancy track… Really?

Your third clue: Jane Lynch…

Oh, come on!

“Writing wine poems is Your fourth clue: Sunday best… empowering, in that it gives a Cut! It! Out! pathway for people to talk about And your final clue is Tide wine from a personal space.”

PODS®… Do you even have a pulse?

The answer, obvi, is Weingut That’s why I was so delighted to read the Matthias Warnung’s ‘Basis’ Grüner Veltliner wine list at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson. That from Niederösterreich, Austria—duh! OK, description of Grüner Veltliner, above, is OK, Jane Lynch and laundry detergent might exactly how it’s written by Julia Johnson, Lil’ seem like over-the-top descriptors, but keep Deb’s general manager. It’s unlike anything reading and I promise it’ll make sense.

I’ve ever seen, and for Johnson that’s Tasting wine is fun; writing descriptions exactly the point. “The way we describe our about it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Or at

HEIDI’S BRIDGE

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wines may be confusing because instead of traditional descriptions we do what we call wine poems,” says Johnson, defining them as free-association riffs. The poems might look nonsensical or just fun, but Johnson points out that they’re directly rooted in the wine and the act of drinking them, just like any sommelier guide is.

“It’s free association, however it’s not totally free in that it’s directly connected to what the wines are and how they express themselves,” Johnson says. The only hard rules are that you can’t write a wine poem alone, you can’t use food words, and you can’t use traditional wine words. In other words, wine poems are a way to break down the traditional barriers of entry for learning about wine. So much of wine culture is rooted in elitism and a learned lexicon that’s intimidating and off putting to most people. Writing wine poems is empowering, in that it gives a pathway for people to talk about wine from a personal space, not a preconceived notion about what it’s supposed to be. It’s been said many times that there are no wrong answers in wine, but it certainly doesn’t always feel that way.” ow Johnson and her team arrive upon these poems is wonderfully democratic. “We all sit down together, the whole staff with family meal, or sometimes at the end of the night with guests, and we drink together and then free associate, thinking of feelings and sensations—but we try not to use traditional words,” she says.

When I asked Lil’ Deb’s chef-owner and creative director Carla Kaya Pérez-Gallardo about Johnson’s unconventional wine list, laughter ensued. “I’ll say that accessibility,

H

WINE list 2.0 Julia Johnson General Manager / Wine Director Lil’ Deb’s Oasis [SPARKLING] LaDona,

Los Pilares, San Diego— Muscat Blanc kneepads, whipcrack, can-can, motor oil, secret tunnel, gusano [WHITE] K Pi Castilla Y León

Daniel Ramos Castilla y León, Spain—Albillo 2020 breakfast in bed, wind turbine, 10-step skin care routine, z train

generosity and inclusion have always been central to the ethos of the restaurant and our style of hospitality.” The restaurant’s ethos is felt so strongly that a book about it debuted earlier this summer, Please Wait To Be Tasted: The Lil’ Deb’s Oasis Cookbook, which Pérez-Gallardo wrote with Hannah Black and Wheeler Brown (Princeton Architectural).

“So much of what we do is rooted in community and it’s so important that all elements of the restaurant reflect that.

We work with local farms, have a range of different kinds of pop ups where we help incubate ideas for all kinds of collaborators, and in the spirit of reciprocity. Sixty-nine cents are added to every menu item sold and donated to a range of different mutual aid programs each month.”

The way it works for Johnson is to figure out what feels new and exciting and through the lens of the menu. “We make tropical comfort food, food that makes you sweat from places that make you sweat, food that’s layered in bold flavors that may seemingly look simple but pack a wild punch. Our wines are meant to dance within that experience and add another layer to be explored.” To that end, Johnson takes lots of risks. “We’ll taste something we’ve never tasted before, put it on the list and then ask our guests to trust us and take us on,” says Johnson.

Johnson describes the whole process as a really grounding experience, to have to step outside of what you think you know and step into how you feel. This reflects her vision of service as rooted in connectivity and the personal. “At the end of the day, we drink what we like and aren’t swayed by popularity, trend or convention.

Seeing is believing, and tasting is truth.”

[WHITE] Fledermaus,

2 Naturkinder, Franken, Germany—Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Sylvaner, 2019 gel pen, palomino, chrysalis, milk bath, tall grass [ROSÉ] Rose d’Eon,

Jean-François DeBourg, Languedoc—Roussillon, France—Gamay 2020 painted desert, Bridgerton, arterial veins, corsage, miss sixty logo [ORANGE] Macerado 69, Viñedos Herrera Alvarado, Marga Marga Valley,

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mode| jane’s lane

Boom...Boom...

Berkshires!

What’s been turning my head lately? I’m so glad you asked.

By Jane Larkworthy

LION IN WAIT Stockbridge’s Red Lion Inn

gussied up its mane for the busy summer season. The venerable Lion’s Den reopened its doors recently, offering speakeasy worthy cocktails and live jazz. If cocktails aren’t your

Uno, Dos, Tacos When Cantina 229 shuttered its doors at the end of last summer, a collective “Say it isn’t so!” could be heard far and wide from its New Marlborough location. A favorite among both gastronomes and parents of young ones, devotees are back to indulge in chefs Ray Stalker’s and Oliver Antune’s unique menu.

Its taco nights have returned as well—twice!

On Mondays and Tuesdays, Justin and Mariah Forstmann drive onto Cantina’s pastoral meadow and take over from their Chingòn Taco Truck. If there was ever a reason to extend your weekend visit, this is it.

Who’s ready For MLo? South Berkshire County has recently experienced a surge in the food scene, and one of the most welcomed is Momma Lo’s. Lo, short

for Loretta (whose last name is McClennon), first set up her barbecue stand in Craryville, but this spring she moved her business to Great Barrington in the location most recently inhabited by Steam Noodle Cafe (which moved to Main Street). Whether you’re a barbecue aficionado or a first-time neophyte, and whether you chose her pulled pork, brisket, ribs, jerk chicken or barbecue chicken, McClennon’s Tennesseeinfused flavoring will make you ask for hints about the recipe. Don’t waste your breath; her sons don’t even know.

Happily Ever After Eight years into waitressing, Avie Maloney decided to become the owner of Once Upon A Table.

She renovated both the interior and the menu of her charming restaurant hidden away in a Stockbridge mews, filling each dish with locally sourced ingredients and turning out plates that are both thoughtful and evolving, thanks to her reliance on those aforementioned local ingredients.

Two of Berkshire County’s top brokers joined forces to make an unparalleled team to better serve their clients.

Brockman.

The Berkshires’ Leading Real Estate Team

Jared Kelly jared@brockmanrealestate.com

Chapin Fish chapin@brockmanrealestate.com

448 Main Road, Monterey, MA at Monterey General | 413.528.4859 | brockmanrealestate.com

RED LION INN

thing but finding that perfect gardener’s apron or the perfect flower arrangement is, head past the Inn’s Main Dining Room and into Township Four’s newest location.

*Battery Included It’s just like riding a bike…

(e-bike) GAZELLE

knead to know Travis Breacher’s Creature Bread wows; (opposite) Stockbridge’s Red Lion Inn sexiness.

Bread Cred When Travis Brecher started selling his amazing Creature Bread sourdough loaves in 2019, we became fans.

What began at a tented fold-out table at the New Marlborough farmer’s market has expanded into a local empire. Using organic flour, Brecher and team (his parents) do all the mixing and kneading upwards of 150 loaves with their hands. Time it right and you just might land a loaf that’s still warm.

E-bikes are like kombucha, or cornhole. Preconceived notions might make it tempting to form—and even voice—opinions, but it’s usually best to hold off judgements until you’ve tried them. When I first heard about e-bikes, I thought, “I’m not a grandma yet! [Well, actually, now I am] Noooo, thank you!” The notion of acquiescing to assisted pedals felt as distant to me as acquiescing to assisted living. What a dolt I was. b-spoke E-bikes are basically a type of bicycle. Hop on, Hop on the start pedaling and it’ll get you places. What’s cool e-bike trend. about an e-bike is that it’ll get you places faster than a standard bike. There’s also that minor rush that courses through your body when you increase its power levels, and where’s the downside of an organic high?

After years of passing judgement, my husband and I decided to test drive some e-bikes and became, in a word, addicted. We own two knock-abouts (he rides a Specialized Turbo Como, mine’s the Gazelle Ultimate C8 HMB), but since we also enjoy road biking, my mother’s (fine…grandmother’s) day gift last year was Specialized’s e-bike version of the road bike, the Turbo Creo. I won’t go so far as to say the Creo has saved our marriage but having a battery on my bike cut the number of temper tantrums down to zero whenever we find ourselves at the base of a challenging hill. Let’s do this: level three!

So, sure, you can be the toughie and scoff at battery assisted bicycles. But I still work up a sweat on my e-bike and my legs are wobbly when I hop off. That ride is a little more fun, and a little faster. One more reason helmets should be mandatory. Not that I’m judging (but I am).

–JANE LARKWORTHY

We’re Growing!

Come check out our expanding Great Barrington location for MORE local produce, MORE delicious meals, MORE imported treats, and MORE of everything you love about Guido’s.

Shop our locally owned Family of Businesses:

BELLA FLORA, THE CHEF’S SHOP, & MAZZEO’S MEAT & SEAFOOD Photo by Abby Fenton

LOCATED ALONG RTE 7 PITTSFIELD & GREAT BARRINGTON, MA

mode| big idea 1. Direct-to-Consumer. Focusing on one primary crop can be limiting since you might have to sell the item wholesale, and those prices can change drastically.

If you specialize, instead, on a few choice crops, you can mitigate early losses. When you sell direct-to-consumer, you’re better able to gauge what your customer wants.

T H E

M O U N T A I N S

2. Know The Land. Farmer Dan learned this valuable lesson from his parents. If you plant a crop that isn’t suitable for your particular soil and climate, “then you’re starting out with one foot in the grave.” Growing certain crops on a hillside or on rocky terrain or planting too close to a river with the wrong pH level translates to time, effort and money spent on a venture that’s doomed from the jump.

3. Learn From Others. You’re not

So, Do You really Want to Buy a Farm?

Great Barrington’s Farmer Dan bought his six decades ago. you can, too. ’ve known Dan Tawczynski—Farmer Dan as he’s universally known around here—for years, ever since I spent summers volunteering at the animal rescue shelter attached to his farm. Farmer Dan, longtime and proud owner of Taft Farms in Great Barrington, has been cultivating land one way or another since he was a kid. Back in 1961, he and his brother, Stanley, who has since passed, purchased 85 acres to start the farm; these days, with his son Paul at the helm, it’s still a family business, spanning nearly 200 acres.

Not surprisingly, more than six decades of working the soul to soil “You have to give back to the soil,” soil, Farmer Dan has seen his share of ups and downs. Owning says Great Barrington’s and managing a farm might be rewarding, but it’s not always “Farmer Dan” Tawczynski. easy. As he puts it, smiling, “99 percent of running a farm is

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management and 1 percent of it is romanticism.”

Situated along the banks of the Housatonic River with the rolling Berkshire Hills as its backdrop, Taft Farms is best toured from the owner’s trusty pickup. As we drive through the property, Farmer Dan proudly points out expansive fields of rye and asparagus (he also has pumpkins, gourds, squash, sweet corn, heirloom and other tomatoes, kale and more). He recalls a simpler time when potatoes were stored in basements and owners of nearby, modest farms kept a handful of cows and chickens to help get through the winter. “It was just an expected way of life,” he says wistfully. “You fished, you hunted, you picked wild blueberries, you baked pies, you canned, you froze—whatever it took to make it through. I remember when we grew our own grain and had it ground into flour and baked bread with it.”

Since those early days, Farmer Dan and his family have weathered it all—from droughts to floods, from fires to pandemics. To those enchanted with the idea of owning a farm, he says, it all boils down, in some ways, to one word: work. “The only way to find out what farming takes is to get into it, do it and learn from the hard part,” he says.

–Isabel Hochman Photography by Matthew Sussman exclusively for The Mountains

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alone in your journey, he says, and fellow toilers of the land can give you a much greater perspective and open more doors to others who can help.

4. Seek Financial Help. “Anyone who wants to get into farming shouldn’t lose sight of the most obvious resource available: land-grant universities,” says Farmer Dan. “These were established with agriculture in mind. A number of government organizations also provide funding—it could be grants, but usually it’s low interest loans.”

5. Soil Care. For any farmer, it’s incredibly valuable to understand what your land needs. Keeping the soil vital ensures that your produce will be naturally healthier and more insect-resistant. “Every couple of years, we take things out of production and build the soil, increasing the organic matter, and it makes all the difference,” he says. “Yes, I can buy fertilizer, but it’s not the same. You just don’t get the same quality.” Once the soil recovers, you can grow a new crop on the restored acres. “It’s not just a matter of taking; you have to give back.”

With a slow-build chuckle, Farmer Dan says, “Maybe it’s the romantic in me talking, but I’m hoping I’ll be leaving the land in better shape than when I found it.

I think that’s everybody’s responsibility.”

Farmer Dan’s right. As he usually is.

HELPING YOU GET OUTSIDE SINCE 1974!

hundred bucks

How To Spend $100: Agway

rentals | sales | service bikes | kayaks | travel clothing footwear | sportswear | camping

Your must-own survivor kit awaits.

By Robyn Perry Coe s everyone knows upstate, Agway, the locally-owned stores carrying pet, home, garden and farm supplies, is an indispensable go-to destination for all area denizens. Ag = agriculture, and if you’ve got questions, they’ve got answers.

Let’s get you started with the eight things to fill your mountain life tool kit for $100.

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No.1: WINDSHIELD ICE SCRAPER Yes, you’ll only need this nine months a year, but do keep it near the door because you can’t go anywhere without it. $5.

No.2: LOCK DE-ICER Leave this in your junk drawer, where you can find it. Sure, it’s a sometimes thing, but it beats pouring a kettle of boiling water over your car doors in order to go to Agway to buy lock De-icer. $9.

No.3: BANDANA Trust me, keep one on you. It’s a potholder, instant handle, emergency diaper, jar opener, bat net, windshield defogger and, of course, handkerchief. Blue or red. $2.

No.4: GLOVES I mean work gloves. Go with quality here if you’re just learning to use a band saw or tree loppers. The thick leather ones can be worn over merino liners and might even have a nose wipe for when you’re hanging festive lights too close to the holidays. $39.

No.5: SAFETY GOGGLES Yes, you need them. Get the anti-fog ones with the adjustable strap—those’ll stay on when you’re falling off the roof. Just do it. $16.

No.6: FLASHLIGHT How about the one that converts into a little lantern? You can thank me when the power goes out. $19.

No.7: LIGHT BULBS + BATTERIES + MATCHES It’s a matter of when, not if, you’re snowed in. $9.

No.8: KILN-DRIED EMERGENCY FIREWOOD You can also make pancakes in the fireplace. How country is that? Yum. $11.

So, that’s exactly $100.

Oh, but you’ll also need chicken feed, cedar shavings, calcium, watering cans, heat lamps, a movable coop, hawk fencing, a dog, dog food. How do you think Agway gets you back for your next $100 shopping trip?

Don’t get me started on Tractor Supply.

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mode| mountain view

Confessions Of An ‘Ungardener’ In defense of trees, the work is daunting.

Pictures and Words by Dee Salomon

ere’s a question: If one gardens, is one, by default, a gardener?

I’ve had the privilege of working with landscape architects and garden designers inventing surroundings that encourage nature to create a planned paradise. And the work

H dirt

The Gardener IS Moisturized Matthew Malin, half of beauty empire MALIN+GOETZ, gets his hands dirty talkin’ gardening and the ambitious plans for his and Andrew Goetz’ new Chatham property.

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to keep the borders, the beds, the pergola and allées alive and performing their intended aesthetic duty is largely mine. I plant, fertilize, prune, water and tend. Yet I have never called myself a gardener as my passion lies in the woodland that extends beyond the garden beds.

The sexy smell of the earth, the impossible beauty of ferns uncoiling and spring ephemerals emerging under a canopy of trees. For woodland lovers like me, it’s hard not to notice that here in the Northeast we’re often not able to even enter a woodland due to its occupation by a handful of invasive shrubs: Barberry, bittersweet, multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle, burning bush and buckthorn are the main culprits, creating a dense and often spiked barrier to entry. Then another handful of weeds that inhibit the understory from growing, plants such as garlic mustard, which is allelopathic— meaning it emits a chemical that repels other plants from growing nearby.

The proliferation of these plants has devastated our woodland. Bittersweet chokes trees to death. Barberry changes the chemistry of the soil from its neutral to acidic pH to an alkalinity that trees cannot bear. Barberry also has become the shelter of choice for mice, which are the No.1 proliferators of ticks that carry Lyme disease, as its spiky thorns protect them from predators.

In areas where I’ve removed this noxious shrub—originally imported from Russia in 1875 and increasingly popular in the 1920s as a garden ornamental—my effort is timestamped by the height of the trees which have grown from seed

Matthew Malin and his life and business partner Andrew Goetz, founders of apothecary-inspired brand MALIN+GOETZ, recently sold their house in Hudson and purchased a stunning historic Greek Revival home and dairy farm in Chatham, which they’re busily renovating. A passionate gardener, Malin’s skincare, fragrance and candle products are largely derived from natural ingredients and medicinal properties that originate in gardens. And he’s got big plans for his.

–Isabel Hochman

drought-tolerant, right for your soil and the sun. Don’t buy something exotic and don’t be overly ambitious! At our new property, we’re planting drought-tolerant perennials around the house that we don’t plan to manage in any way shape or form! There’ll also be a 7,000 square-foot vegetable garden. All our berries, fruit trees, vegetables, our cutting garden— it’ll all be in one, fenced-in space.

That way, we can manage and take care of it and make sure it’s irrigated properly.

What advice would you give to friends looking to start a garden?

First, minimize the amount of work and labor that’s involved.

I’d choose native plants that are

What are some of the easiest plants to maintain in our region?

Any dry garden plants, such as nepeta and lavender, as they’re hardy and not difficult here. I’ve become a real specialist in thyme.

I think I might propagate thyme here and potentially even look to sell it. I know the kind of soil it prefers, where it likes to live and the fact that it’s really dense cuts down on the weeding. Also, thyme’s beautiful; it smells great when you walk on it, and you can eat from it.

Everything about it amazes me!

How do you come up with a winning garden design?

When planning it out, we think about how it’ll be appropriate for our lives and lifestyle. Start around the house, because that’s what you’ll look at every day and what you’ll be able to take care of first. Then you make your way out from there, depending on how much time, money and energy you have for it.

We’ve been lucky to work with a

that was already in the earth. They’ve The work is daunting; I’ll spare you the reclaimed their territory; the trees are details—there are identification apps to all about the same height. Since I began help spot invasives and plenty of online eradicating invasive species, less than a resources for step-by-step instructions decade ago, more than 40 native species on their eradication. But here is the trick: have appeared, some in only one location Once people begin to get a foothold in and others in large swaths. This happens the woods, there’s a high propensity to spontaneously because, of course, nature want to do more. The woodland begins abhors a vacuum. The seeds are there, underground, waiting for conditions into which it can safely “I’m a knight errant, cutting grow. And they grow on their own my way through thorny vines into an unplanned paradise.

When it comes to the woods, you (multiflora rose and barberry) can call me an ungardener. Where to release a tree of its shackles gardening is essentially planting and (bittersweet) and let it grow tending to those plants, my work free of constraints. Yes, I’m a ungardening consists of getting rid of plants that aren’t native to romantic, I suppose.” this area of the Northeast. I create negative space. I flatter myself the Rachel Whiteread of the forest when I need to communicate with you; there’s a sense to cheer myself up in a sophisticated way. Or, of gratitude. As we learn more about more playfully, I’m a knight errant, cutting how trees communicate with each other my way through thorny vines (multiflora through underground networks of fungus rose and barberry) to release a tree of its we can at least consider the possibility that shackles (bittersweet) and let it grow free of nature, in both its majesty and intricacy, is constraints. Yes, I’m a romantic, I suppose. encouraging us to care for it.

While my work is to create negative Yes, it may sound like magical thinking. space in the woods, the goal is always to But the woods are indeed filled with magic. encourage native trees, flowers and shrubs What better way to spend your weekend to grow freely where there once was an than by creating the conditions for nature’s invasive plant (or several). magic to materialize?

MALIN + GOETZ

landscape architect, Jamie Purinton, who’s based in Ancram, both in Hudson and now here in Chatham.

How has your garden inspired your beauty products?

So many things have come from the garden. Our whole brand is based on these tried, true and trusted natural ingredients you’d have found in apothecaries hundreds of years ago that came from gardens and from propagating these kinds of medicinal plants.

A couple of years ago, we launched a fragrance called Stem.

The idea behind it was that if you spend a day out in the garden, everyone focuses on the blooms or the fruit that’s coming off a plant.

Our candle called Tomato, which we’ve just reissued because it’s been

so successful, was based on how we’re such avid tomato growers. We can buy a bazillion different kinds of tomatoes here in Columbia County, but there’s nothing like picking your own and having tomato salad every day for the month of August.

Our newest fragrance, Strawberry, was also inspired by one of the most difficult fruits that we’ve had to grow here, and one thing we probably will not replicate on this property just because it’s so much trouble with the birds, squirrels and mice. When you grow your own strawberries—and pick them—nothing tastes better.

good thyme “Thyme’s beautiful.

Everything about it amazes me,” says Malin (left), with partner, Andrew Goetz at home in Chatham.

mode| do this hen I think of bears, the images that immediately leap to mind are of the chubby, cuddly variety.

You know, like Winnie the Pooh. Or all those cute social media videos, such as ex-Real Housewives Of New York City Dorinda Medley’s recent cam footage of a massive bear poking around Blue Stone Manor, her Berkshires estate, which prompted fellow Housewife Lisa Rinna to comment “Oh, so cool!”

Not so cool are the scary bear stories, of course. Luckily, the closest bear meeting I’ve ever had was when a stuffed ten-foot grizzly decorated the living room of a VRBO summer cabin rental. Even taxidermied, it was a somewhat terrifying sight.

But for many Berkshires residents, bear sightings are a part of life whether you’re a camper, hunter, hiker or just sitting around at home. So, what to do to keep your house from being a magnet for a

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Oy, Bears!

There may not be any lions and tigers, but bears abound in the Berkshires.

By Mitch Rustad Art by Daliah Friedland not-so-welcome furry friend? “Our advice is for people to survey their environment and move anything that can be perceived as food,” says New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation big game biologist Jeremy Hurst. “Generally, that comes in the form of birdseed and garbage. What we consider to be food isn’t necessarily what bears consider food.

They’re going to find that smelly, stinky garbage full of baby diapers and food scraps and consider it yummy.” In other words, clean up your space and ditch the birdfeeders. “We recommend removing them on April 1 and not putting them back up until December,” he says.

But even if you’ve done your due diligence, you might still unluckily stumble upon a bear anyway.

According to the National Park Service, there are a few very important but simple steps to keep safe in the rare instance of a close encounter with a bear. No.1: Don’t run! Like dogs, bears are fast and will chase fleeing animals and humans. If the bear is stationary and calm, move away slowly and slide sideways so you never break eye contact. If the bear follows you, stand your ground and talk to it in a low, calm tone— odds are very good the animal will lose interest and move on.

Or you can always call Dorinda.

Growing Together When Jed and Nathan wanted to grow their business, they needed a bank willing to be part of the grand design. Together, we worked out the financing – delivering the perfect arrangement of service and knowledge.

If you have a new business idea you’d like to cultivate, contact us to set up an appointment. We’ll bring the flowers.

Jed Thompson and Nathan Hanford, Township Four

The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank + Township Four

For help growing your financial future, contact us today at 413-447-7304.

Pittsfield • Dalton • Gt. Barrington pittsfieldcoop.com

townshipfour.com

Member FDIC & DIF

Equal Housing Lender

’ve only been in one car accident in my life—and not even with another car.

One night, on a road trip through Yellowstone, I hit a deer. Happily, I wasn’t driving fast, the impact was minimal and everyone, including the deer, walked away unscathed. Phew.

I’ve had far safer, even pleasant encounters with these hoofed beauties, too. They’ve wandered past me on summer evenings on Fire Island in search of snacks and they were common everywhere in Northern Minnesota, where I grew up.

For better or worse, white-tailed deer, the most numerous and widespread large mammal in the Catskills, are a fact of life here, and the human/deer relationship can be, well, complicated. “People around here love and hate deer,” says Ryan Trapani, Director of Forest Services, Catskill Forest Association, based in Arkville, NY. Gorgeous and agile as they may be, deer can inflict plenty of damage on forests,

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Oh, Deer!

Yes, they’re cute, but the havoc deer can wreak is nothing to fawn over.

By Mitch Rustad Art by Daliah Friedland plants, other wildlife, motorists and yes, our backyards. “Deer are the chief consumer of vegetation in the woods,” Trapani says.

“They dictate what grows five feet down, which then affects all the wildlife that depend upon plants that grow five feet down.” Not only does this reduce forest regeneration over time, but it also results in what Trapani calls a deer “browsing issue,”

especially a problem for homeowners near forested areas. Yards mimic an opening in the woods that deer tend to wander into because they often prefer the grub on offer there to what’s in the woods.

“Deer are still my favorite animal, but they’re also hungry and tend to eat everything in sight,” Trapani says, including clover, young grass and buds off a variety of trees found in many backyards. Co-existing will continue to be a way of life for Catskills home dwellers, but if you’re looking to be proactive, there’s one ready solution: “Fencing is the best way to save your fruit trees, legacy trees and your yards in general,” Trapani says. And if fencing’s not an option, he suggests opting for the type of plants deer won’t eat. According to the New York Botanical Garden, deer despise pot marigolds, hardy geraniums, lavender, sage, peony, forsythia, common lilac and others.

Time to put Bambi on a diet.

Your Dreams Start Here Enjoy the luxury of a good night’s sleep.

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mode

the expert

Tag, You’re It! Hunting for random bargains is F-U-N, people. | By Terry Rosen ome people brake for animals.

I brake for tag sales, yard sales, garage sales. I mean, seriously.

Having been on both the buy and sell sides, here are a few tips on tag-saling. And as your endorphins kick in, do reflect on the tenets of the great Marie Kondo (Google it, if you must).

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#1 Mid-week, check out the local Craigslist, YardSales.net and, in the Berkshires, The Shoppers Guide, my personal bible for tags.

Organize your hunt based on the listing dates, towns, times and rain dates. Read carefully as some tags advertise a week in advance, so get your dates correct. I tend to map out tags in contiguous towns and then plan a route. Especially now since gas prices are so high, you’ll want to be efficient.

#2 In the age of Venmo, tag sales up here are still cash-based, so find an ATM and stock up on bills—the smaller the better, as you’ll be helping the sellers out by having change.

#3 BYOP! Bring your own packing materials—Ikea bags (de rigueur), newspaper, bubble wrap and boxes. These will come in handy if you buy ceramics and other fragile items. Again, this will make it easier and safer to transport your haul, and also ensure that you’ll have the materials on hand—the sellers may be running low.

#4 Yes, sellers are negotiable—so ask if they can do better, but don’t make them ridiculous offers. For the best prices, shop at the end of the day.

#5 Pre-scouting and ETSP—extra tag sale perception. Some sales aren’t for you. Do you need auto equipment? Hummel? Back issues of Real Simple? Mr. Coffee machines?

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Call 845.482.1022 or visit kenozahall.com to book your stay!

#6 Enjoy the hunt. Some of the best items I found at tag sales were plants—iris, hostas and other perennials.

mountaineer

For Ukraine, Sweetly Kingston Candy Bar’s Diane Reeder sells popular Vegan donuts to support refugees. | By Rebecca Hardiman because they couldn’t ack in March, when longtime even grab their things.

Kingston resident and culinary It’s always the people with chef Diane Reeder first saw images kids or the elderly, and who’s of the unprovoked war Ukraine helping them?” was enduring, she Well, Diane Reeder for one. was, like so many others Long inspired by Chef around the world, deeply José Andrés and his World troubled. “I was thinking about Central Kitchen, which brings a family leaving their home immediate food relief to and having to live in a subway victims of war and natural underground and never disasters across the globe, knowing where or even if eder e R Reeder got on the horn to her they’re gonna be able to return e n Dia fellow Culinary Institute of home,” says Reeder, owner of America graduates to brainstorm. Soon Kingston Candy Bar on Wall Street. “Their enough, she came up with a sweet concept: only other option is to flee. Then they’re decorating her donuts with Ukraine’s showing up in a new place with nothing

(Reeder) JOHN FISCHER

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signature flag colors with proceeds sent to the World Central Kitchen or her Airbnb host partner, customers’ choice.

“We heard about people in Ukraine booking Airbnb rooms and I thought that was a really cool idea,” she says. “Our wholesale price for a dozen donuts covers the cost of an Airbnb in Poland where it’s cheaper. I was able to find the perfect host, a single woman with a spare bedroom and a pullout sofa. She takes in refugees and doesn’t charge them, and the money we raise helps meet their basic daily needs— food, shampoo, soap, all those things.”

Reeder worries that as the war continues, otherwise good people will be less attuned to supporting its victims.

“When something is big, like the splash of the moment, it’s very popular and then it can kind of die down,” she says.

*GREAT BARRINGTON, MA*

Looking for something just a little more special?

Check out our temperature-controlled wine room stocked with some of the greatest wines from around the world!

The Best Selection, Prices & Service In Berkshire County

mode| high life M O U N T A I N S

The Great Barrington Cannabis Race IS ON Just how did the Berkshires become MECCA FOR East Coast dispensaries?

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Triangle) has become to flower what Champagne is to sparkling wine, and for similar reasons: the weather is right for it. Emerald Triangle growers enjoy a Mediterranean microclimate that only two percent of the Earth is blessed with—fertile terrain, dry summers and wet but temperate winters. There, plants can grow into veritable “weed trees,” up to 15 feet in height.

But in the Berkshires, most of the grows are indoors. “Indoor grows are very controlled environments,” says Jesse Tolz, marketing director for The Pass, a few minutes south of Great Barrington. The Pass is one of few vertically integrated cannabis companies in Massachusetts

new york’s finest “My hope is that we open up more stores in New York,” says Charlotte Hanna, owner of Rebelle dispensary located in Great Barrington.

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o, why the Berkshires and cannabis?

Situated but a short-day trip away from New York and Connecticut, the Berkshires are of course a perfect weekenders’ destination to experience legalized cannabis. “A lot of people love the fact that you’re driving past cornfields, past forests, past streams and then you come upon our dispensary,” says Tolz.

The Empire State recently legalized adult use cannabis, and it’ll still take time before that market is buzzing. Many Berkshires dispensaries are planning to get their foot in the New York market, too, though without federal legalization, they’ll have to establish an entirely separate operation in the state; none of the Massachusetts farms can currently legally sell their crop in New York.

But Charlotte Hanna, owner of Community Growth Partners, the parent company of the gorgeously curated Rebelle dispensary, says she hopes to have a leg up once a new store is established. “My hope is that we open up more stores in New York, and that when weekenders make their way up to the Berkshires, it’d only be natural for them to go to their destination of choice that they know from home.”

A common thread among these spaces is something you don’t see everywhere: luxury cannabis. Take Farnsworth Fine Cannabis, a space designed by famed London architect Simon Aldridge, where you can buy everything from $2 rolling papers to $2,000 diamond-encrusted necklaces. “I think we attract the designcentric New Yorker,” CEO and Founder Alexander Farnsworth says. But the gold Cartier lighters and the sparkly high-end products are really all means toward a greater luxury: a space where cannabis is accessible, de-stigmatized and celebrated.

Rebelle owner Hanna says she and her staff try everything they sell to make sure it’s up to their standards. “So much about picking which strain of flower you want is about looking at it and smelling it,” she says.

S

By Sarah Carpenter hen Theory Wellness opened up shop in Great Barrington in 2019, it became the first recreational (adult-use) cannabis dispensary in Berkshire County.

Unlike most businesses that opened a year before the pandemic began, they posted enviable revenue numbers from the start. Since then, the cannabis market in this area has exploded, and a town that’s home to less than 6,000 people is earning millions in tax revenue from the boom.

Most people would agree Great Barrington, MA, doesn’t have the climate for growing cannabis. Its winters challenge the hardiest of plants with a wicked freeze-thaw cycle and an average low of 15 degrees. Yet, the Berkshires have become the East Coast cannabis hub—weed central.

On the West Coast, Humboldt County, CA (part of what’s known as the Emerald

to have a mix of indoor, outdoor and greenhouse flower grown on site—they call it “farm-to-label” cannabis. At The Pass, they can test their cultivars in different grow environments to see which strains thrive where, but most state cultivators don’t have that luxury.

(above) THE PASS; (left & opposite) REBELLE

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“You can smell flower that hasn’t properly been flushed of nutrients—it smells like chemicals. We try to teach people what quality flower should smell like.” That’s why they put the flower on the shelves, instead of hidden behind the counter.

The location may be perfect for weekenders, but the magic of some of these boutique cannabis retailers is in their love for the community. “We live and work here in the Berkshires,” says Farnsworth. “We’re not some, like, ominous owners that just kind of popped into town. We’re integrated into the fabric of the community.”

Rebelle’s retail design incorporates local makers, including Berkshire Products’ sign and the custom terrazzo countertops by Marvel Designs in Chatham, NY, who matched colors from the wallpaper Hanna had made in LA. The Pass offers a guide to the best things to do and see in the area, and Farnsworth Fine Cannabis is following suit with their own Berkshires guide.

The secret sauce in businesses such as these, for whom the booming cannabis hub isn’t just a cash grab site, is that it’s home. For East Coast cannabis, too.

(y

Be a Rock Star!

just a tip

Buzz Worthy This hostess gift is lit.

“When it comes to choosing a hostess gift, I love to think outside the box,” says luxury cannabis dispensary nna Rebelle’s owner, tte Ha Charlo Charlotte Hanna.

“Our new THC microdose breath spray, HALØ, makes for an ideal gift, whether your hosts are experienced users, occasional dabblers or totally new to the cannabis game.”

Hanna recommends starting with one spray “to enhance your mood, then you can continue on until you find your personal sweet spot; the fast-acting formula makes it super easy to control your own experience.”

–REBECCA HARDIMAN

LENNOX JEWELERS D i a m o n d s SELECTION

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mode| drive

All The (Road) Rage Electric pick-ups are (almost) here and Chevy’s new Silverado EV makes its presence known. | By Simon Murray

ack in early 2020, before the sky fell, my then girlfriend (now fiancée) and I were bound for a rental shaded by palm trees—until a series of furloughs upended our plan. Unbeknownst to us, COVID-19’s fallout had placed us on an immutable track that looped back, with sickening velocity, to my mom’s house in the Berkshires. The ingredients for disaster were quickly stacking up.

For starters, Tatiana had never lived outside of Florida. And before we met, I’d been bouncing around the country, never staying in a new place for more than a couple of years, give or take. How would this Cuban, spunky, city-loving woman take to the rural life, let alone communal living with her future sister- and mother-in-law?

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Su mme r 2022

Somehow, everything Now, we talk earnestly electric dream Chevy’s worked out. That’s a about what kind of a pickelectric 2024 Silverado EV testament to my fiancée’s up to buy.

Did we ever. will be available Fall 2023. resilience and my mom, In 2022, no sincere carwho’s an accommodating go-getter of the buying conversation can afford to disavow highest order. But there’s something about the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. Or put the Berkshires—and its residents—that it this way: do so at your own financial peril. hooks its claws into you in the best way.

The question is: When should you buy into Our newest dream is to own a farm. It this exponentially growing phenomenon? feels weird even committing that to paper, Because unlike a transient fad, EVs are but it’s true. I’d always lived too fast to want here to stay. For. Sure. to put down roots; settling down felt as But in what capacity? When deciding if unbecoming as a weed-choked yard. Of now’s the right time, a serious EV-buyer must course, a career of testing sports cars and balance a golden ratio represented by the yachts, most recently for the leading boating sluggish introduction of charging stations magazine in the country, was conducive to and the bone-chilling price of gasoline. that feeling. Can you blame me? I’ve never According to the US Department of Energy, heard of someone enjoying that wind-in-thein early 2022, the US had a little more than hair feeling from a tractor. At least not yet.

128,000 charging outlets—both public

A fully electric vehicle does away with the transmission, engine, tailpipe and thousands of moving parts that can break at a moment’s notice.

It’s just a better way to go.

Hummer, because nothing screams “IDK, maybe we should go electric?” like a design that infamously got a whopping eight miles per gallon. I mean, seriously?

If you haven’t had the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of an electric-powered vehicle, you’re missing out. They’re good for speed demons like myself, but also the environment, thanks to an instantaneous supply of current being fed by the batteries to the motor—unlike the far more inefficient process of burning gas. A fully electric vehicle does away with the transmission, engine, tailpipe and thousands of moving parts that can break at a moment’s notice.

It’s just a better way to go.

and private—for plug-in electric vehicles. Almost one third of these are, predictably, in California.

Of course, the comparison isn’t entirely 1:1, since EVs make up less than one percent of cars on the road. But range anxiety will make an early adopter rethink a lengthy road trip down I-87. Trust.

Nevertheless, there’s a veritable arms race to create a viable electric pick-up— traditionally a gargantuan gasguzzler—which might account for why Tesla’s comically hideous, seemingly RoboCop inspired Cybertruck snatched a ton of headlines and then—poof!— disappeared. The light duty pick-up is now rumored to have more than 1.25 million pre-orders (citing a fan-sourced reservation tracker) with a loose release date set for 2023. Key word: viable.

For more than four decades(!), Ford’s F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the US; it stands to reason that the original creator of this skeleton key will open innumerable doors to profit and success. Chevy’s Silverado EV is one such contender. With a more conventional look than the Cybertruck, and with a firmer launch date of Fall 2023, General Motors is jockeying with Detroit’s Big Three and EV startups Rivian and Lordstown to be the first to strike out into this uncharted territory…again, after a failed first foray as early as 1996. More recently, GM has also set about reviving an EV version of the

s for what such an architecture means for the 2024 Silverado EV— well, actually, an impressive amount.

The new Chevy will offer up 400 miles of range, 660 horsepower and up to 10,000 pounds’ worth of tow rating. Its electrical architecture is capable of charging at 800 volts and 350 kW, or 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes. It’s also a veritable power bank, with 10 sockets, including a 240-volt outlet in the bed, that can provide 10.2 kW for anything from camping equipment to your home to another electric vehicle, provided you have the right cable.

At launch, the Silverado EV will be available in two configurations—a fully loaded Rally Sport Truck and a fleetoriented Work Truck model, at more than $100,000 and $40,000, respectively—plus a full line-up to fill in the range after the initial production.

Will my fiancée and I be following suit?

It’s hard to say how far away we’re from our larger dream: a therapeutic place for kids with autism to work among farm animals. I’ll also need to look this particular gift horse in the mouth, but I’m confident getting behind the wheel of a necessary-this-century-forall-the-right-reasons electric truck will prove revelatory in the best way.

Can you get as far as easily as you would in, say, a gas-powered pick-up? Not yet. But such a thought doesn’t send me running for the hills anymore. Our future electric pick-up will have a range of 400 miles, more than enough for a guy who’s happy to put down roots in an area that gives you every reason to stay.

CLADDING

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n Mentio o f ra this ad t! discoun

DECKING

In Stock Now Dresser-Hull Lumber & Building Supply Company 60 Railroad Street Lee, MA 01238 Tel: (413) 243-1400

Su mme r 2022

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Luke Combs, Times Union Center, Albany The country music superstar entertains the masses.

MvpArena.com/events

A guaranteed night of laughs when this in-your-face comedian steps to the mic.

TheEgg.org/events

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ptembe

A blissful summer evening of classical music at a gorgeous mountaintop venue.

MusicMountain.org/shows

Nikki Glaser, The Egg, Albany

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Not to be missed, the Irish legend croons the night away.

BSO.org/tanglewood

Van Morrison, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

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Part of a new family friendly cover band concert series at Ski Butternut.

SkiButternut.com/calendar

Jupiter String Quartet Music Mountain, Falls Village, CT

Tony Award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical inspired by an Ingmar Bergman film.

BarringtonStageCo.org

The Lowell-based dance troupe demonstrates the art that inspired watercolors by artist August Rodin.

ClarkArt.edu/events

The Machine: Dark Side of the Moon and Greatest Hits, Ski Butternut, Great Barrington

A Little Night Music, Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA

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Hundreds of makers sell their funky wares—plus lots of food, drink & live music.

FieldandSupply.com

Field + Supply Fall MRKT Fair, Hutton Brickyards, Kingston

Part of a new family friendly cover band concert series at Ski Butternut.

SkiButternut.com/calendar

Community-organized, family-friendly fun with top-of-the-line country music, barrel racing, bull riding and more.

HudsonValleyRodeo.com

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The Breakers: A Tribute to Tom Petty, Ski Butternut, Great Barrington

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Hudson Valley Rodeo & Chris Janson Concert, Keane Stud, Amenia, NY

Pop-punk meets eclectic rock with confessional lyrics and adrenalinefilled sound.

MvpArena.com/events

The alternative folk rockers dip into multiple genres.

BSO.org/tanglewood

My Chemical Romance Times Union Center, Albany

The Los Angeles-based indie folk darlings take this epic outdoor stage.

Ommegang.com/events

Watch a cool lineup of curated short films from your car at the legendary Warwick Drive-in.

HudsonValleyFilmFest.com

Brandi Carlile with Special Guest Indigo Girls Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

Lord Huron, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY

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Hudson Valley Film Fest The Warwick Drive-In Theater Warwick, NY

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The iconic rock band performs two nights for their legendary following.

BethelWoodsCenter.org/events

The Charleston-based ’90s rock band stops by with cool melodies and feelgood beats.

TheEgremontBarn.com/events

Angkor Dance Troupe, The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA

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PHISH, Bethel Woods Center, Bethel, NY

22 & 23

EASY HONEY, The Egremont Barn, Egremont, MA

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Gabrielle Grosbety

Reported by

SAVE THE DATE CULTURE VULTURES

On the docket: intricate, mellow tunes for a chill night out.

TheEgg.org/events

Colbie Caillat, The Egg, Albany

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SEPTEMBER 3 DARIUS RUCKER (Jameson Rodgers & Elvie Shane)

AUGUST 31 GAVIN DEGRAW

AUGUST 25 BEACH BOYS (The Temptations)

AUGUST 23 SANTANA (Earth, Wind & Fire)

AUGUST 19 BRANDI CARLILE

AUGUST 13 OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL (Featuring Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Zach Bryan)

AUGUST 7 FOREIGNER (Don Felder)

JULY 30 NORAH JONES (Regina Spektor)

Into the Bethel Woods

Culturally rich representations of dance styles from across the US and Africa.

JacobsPillow.org/events

Les Ballet Afrik Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA

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For more go to themountainsmedia.com

CALENDAR

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THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

! GARRISON

Here, in a performance tent tucked alongside a golf clubhouse, you can alternate between an “age-blind” rendition of Romeo And Juliet (July 7-September 18) and Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play (July 8-September 17), Anne Washburn’s edgy/funny depiction of a community of grid-less survivors trying to resurrect their cultural

Something of a trade secret, the venerable (and beautiful) Vassar campus is where New York’s avant-garde theater elite go to workshop fledgling shows, in the form of “readings weekends” and very brief

New York Stage And Film Festival

hvshakespeare.org

heritage by recalling episodes from The Simpsons.

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

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ven the most avid of rusticators may occasionally experience a twinge of culture-craving. Fortunately, there’s a star-lit trail of theatrical hotspots tucked away right here in the mountains, and as a dedicated maven, I easily mapped out a high-drama road trip: Just follow me to the river, then into the woods… Who’s coming with me?

Broadway’s very best right next door. |

Williamstown is the Mt. Olympus of summer theater venues. Among this season’s draws: Most Happy In Concert,

Williamstown Theatre Festival

newyorkstageandfilm. org/summer

POUGHKEEPSIE

! VASSAR COLLEGE,

runs (July 9-August 7).

Time it right and you might catch first-glimpse boasting rights for both Sweet Chariot, an “Afrofuturistic” fantasy by Eric Lockley (July 22-24) or The Return Of Young Boy, a new musical by KeenanScott II, whose Thoughts Of A Colored Man wowed audiences on Broadway last season (July 23-24).

By Sandy MacDonald

All The World’s a Stage

drama

teapot home Last season’s vibrant staging of The Tempest at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.

barringtonstageco.org

! PITTSFIELD

What could be more summerappropriate than Stephen Sondheim’s seductive tribute to Ingmar Bergman’s filmic depiction of a Swedish marital roundelay? A Little Night Music (August 6-22).

Barrington Stage Company

mahaiwe.org

! GREAT BARRINGTON

This spiffily reno’d 1904 vaudeville palace hosts cultural events year-round.

Highlights this summer include Parsons Dance (July 16-17) and Michael Feinstein’s celebration of Judy Garland’s Centennial (August 5).

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

wtfestival.org

! WILLIAMSTOWN

Daniel Fish’s adaptation of The Most Happy Fella, with a female-identifying and nonbinary cast (July 13-31) and a post-off-Broadway reprise of Just For Us, Alex Edelman’s alternately hilarious and sobering solo saga about his experience infiltrating a very low-level white power cabal in the Bronx (August 3-6).

shakespeare.org

! LENOX

This bucolic complex will hue to its mission, honoring the bard with Much Ado About Nothing (through August 14) and Measure For Measure (August 30-September 18). Sandwiched in between: Lee Blessing’s coldwar two-hander A Walk In The Woods (July 15-September 4).

Shakespeare & Company

berkshiretheatre group.org

! STOCKBRIDGE & PITTSFIELD

This venerable company inhabits a handful of venues, ranging from a sweet retro playhouse in picturesque Stockbridge to the grand 1903 Colonial Theatre in gritty Pittsfield. The latter will host acclaimed playwright David Auburn’s take on Dracula (August 11-27), The Unicorn, an atmospheric barn theater in Stockbridge will present Edward Albee’s fantastical Seascape (September 29-October 23), in which a staid middle-aged human couple embarks on an unsettling dialogue with a couple of earth-curious lizards.

Berkshire Theatre Group

THE PLACE TO EXPRESS YOUR MOST RAW & AUTHENTIC SELF

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FULL SERVICE SALON & SPA MICHELESSALON.COM

Tennis, Everyone The Catskills’ Total Tennis delivers exactly what you want.

By Rebecca Hardiman y husband and I are total tennis freaks, so it’s not surprising that we found ourselves, one pre-pandemic weekend, at a place aptly named Total Tennis in Saugerties, NY. A super-chill tennis hotspot, Total Tennis has been a fixture in the Catskills for more than a quarter-century and caters to all levels (even my embarrassingly low one). For two blissful days, my hubby and I spent many hours on the court—both in group clinics and individual lessons, and one evening during a fun, casual round robin.

Longtime director Edward Fondiller sums up the magic of the place: “It’s a very relaxed, rural setting where you can play a lot of tennis,” he says. “We have 20 outdoor courts—11 red clay, two synthetic clay and seven Plexipave (the same type found at the US Open)—and five indoor Plexipave courts.”

Back when it first opened in a different location in 1978, tennis was the main event, but the retreat has expanded with the times. Platform (paddle) tennis is now very popular

Cannabis and CBD 71 Main Street South Egremont 413-429-4400 Devineberkshires.com Hello@devineberkshires.com Summer Hours: 8am-8pm with possible seasonal changes to the hours of operation

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tennis 360 “It’s a very relaxed, rural setting where you can play a lot of tennis,” says Fondiller, of Catskills Total Tennis in Saugerties.

here, too, particularly among league teams gearing up for their competitive seasons and all lovers of the traditionally wintry outdoor recreation.

Another newbie to the roster is pickleball, the fastest growing racquet sport in the country. Couples, teams and especially older adults (pickleball being gentler on the body) descend from all over the northeast and beyond to get their pickle on. “People who come here love the natural endorphins of being out on the courts exercising for seven or eight hours over a couple of days,” says Fondiller. “It’s relaxed and everything’s easy. It’s like summer camp for adults.”

On our stay, my instructor, a very patient tennis pro from Pennsylvania, improved my forehand (poor followthrough) and helped revamp my wonky serve, but what I most loved, beside hitting balls, was the resort’s nofrills, laid-back vibe off the court. The lodge and guest rooms have recently undergone a major renovation—a new pool as well as a patio and outdoor bar were also installed—but Total Tennis still retains its cheerful, nofuss, good-value feel.

Plus, the food is dreamy. Chef Eric Mann, formerly of The Bear Café in Bearsville, NY, serves his healthy homecooked meals, unpretentiously, cafeteria-style (all veggies are locally sourced, and the eggs are collected daily from a farm five miles down the road). After dinner, we grabbed drinks in the bar and chatted with a few other couples we’d been rallying with all day.

Guess what we talked about?

mode| move

This Is How We Roll We found the magic on wheels hiding in plain sight in Hyde Park.

Pictures and Words by Marco Medrano ersonally, I’ve always had a passion for roller skating. My uncle, a former roller derby skater for the famed San Francisco Bay Area Bombers, was a huge inspiration to me as a child. This was the golden era of roller derby when the sport was more professional and less akin to the scripted WWE-like charade it currently inhabits.

For many, the nostalgia of roller skating is powerful, and their interest has never dimmed. While we’ve seen the fad come and go over time, the thrill for rolling on a set of wheels remains at an all-time high.

P roll model Hyde Park Roller Magic has been a go-to destination for roller-skating aficionados.

Hyde Park Roller Magic has been a consistent (nostalgic?) destination for all rollerskating aficionados by offering what they call “Throwback Adult SK8 Night” every Wednesday from 7:30-10pm. So, whether you’re an inline or quad skater, you’ll be among friends who share the joy of a live DJ spinning your favorite booty-shaking hits of yesteryear, with a legit roller disco vibe and spinning lights to match. It’s as close to a high school time machine I can think of. They even provide skate lessons and a store if you decide to customize a set of skates and wheels.

If you decide to make it a more regular thing, I’d consider getting your own set of skates. It’s totally worth the $150 or so, as good equipment allows you to roll longer, faster and more effortlessly. Pro Tip: Pay attention to wheel selection (indoor or outdoor) and the (contained) bearing cartridges that slip into the wheels. I was able to use the “gummy” outdoor wheels inside the roller rink without any slowdown.

While I’m a bit older these days— who isn’t?—the freedom of zooming around on quad skates is an escape that provides a thrilling alternative to my adult exercise routine. If you’re taking it slow, you can also tag along and play arcade games to the beat. Or you could just drag out that Grease meets Roller Boogie outfit hiding in your closet.

Look, Hyde Park Roller Magic is just good, clean fun. And if your fun bunch group finds themselves asking “what should we do tonight?” you now know what to say. Roll on, friends!

aka* pit stop

moon Swoon You may really want to consider making your way to Kingston. Trust.

Pictures and Words by Alan Katz If you haven’t had a Moonburger, you must.

Not because the burgers are all plant-based.

And not because you can make your entire meal vegan. Just because it’s awesome!

The burgers are packed—no, bursting— with flavor. The locally-owned, classic drivethru burger stop makes all its offerings into in and out Kingston’s jaunty a smash burger, so the edges are crispy. The burger joint is a smashing success. lettuce, tomato, onion and special sauce are What are you waiting for? just that—special. Fresh. Juicy. The bun is soft but holds it all together and adds even more flavor. And the “meat” is perfect.

Textured, juicy, delicious. The french fries, while not exactly fresh cut—my personal favorite—are indeed hot, crispy and, yes, flavorful.

So, pull over. Grab a bag. Down it and keep driving. You won’t have that full feeling.

Just perfectly satisfied. I’m telling you friends, Moonburger is a hit. *ALAN KATZ APPROVED

mode| perfect

The BEST Dinner Party Woodstock Way Hotel’s Mary Giuliani lists the top ingredients to throw an unforgettable fête. | By Mia Cárdenas arty lover and hospitality rock star Mary Giuliani began her eponymous catering business in 2005 in New York City and owns, along with her husband, Ryan (and another couple), the glorious Woodstock Way Hotel.

For those not in the know, the chic, rustic hideaway is tucked behind the Tannery Brook Waterfall and the sound of water permeates every corner of the property.

So, we wondered what were Giuliani’s rules for a buzzing dinner party? Break the rules. Inspired by the natural beauty of Woodstock, she’s plonked dining tables in the middle of creeks and gathered guests beneath trees for epic feasts. Whether your canvas is the great outdoors or a standard dining room, Giuliani offers five tips to get the party started.

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very mary Inspired by the beauty of Woodstock, Mary Giuliani has plonked dining tables in the middle of creeks and gathered guests beneath trees.

Make sure the food is fun, approachable and inclusive—but also exclusive. The meal should tell a personal story about why the particular type of cuisine is being served.

1

Always mix up your table with a diverse group of guests who wouldn’t normally be eating dinner together. “Like the street vendor from [New York City’s] 33rd Street who I invited to one of my dinner parties.”

2

Include fun surprises. “My grandmother would put gag gifts under the table.

When things got quiet, she’d tell everyone to look under their seats.”

3

Strike an interesting balance between high bar and low bar—maybe serving hot dogs on fine china.

4

Don’t make overcomplicated drinks. Give your guests a few choice cocktails and wine, or, for ease of clean-up, opt for an all-can bar.

MARY GIULIANI

5

just a tip

Beyond the grill outdoor kitchens: Do this first.

By Gabrielle Grosbety uring the pandemic, as we were all forced into hermetic, insular lifestyles, I craved a connection to the outdoors—and to others—as never before. This led directly to fantasies of building an outdoor kitchen: a cozy, communal entertainment space with a deluxe grill, built-in-seating, a wet bar (maybe even a pizza oven). For those

D

green

Woodstock, Of Course Buy Soap. Save The planet.

I mean, what could sound more like “Woodstock” than a sustainable store called Woodstock Bring Your Own? I know, right? This adorbs shop is one of a growing number of retailers jumping on this important—and planet saving—trend while serving up reusable products including ecofriendly produce bags, bulk soaps, shampoos and more. Bring your own containers and refill as needed.

Woodstock to the rescue, again.

similarly inspired, outdoor kitchen guru Peter Dooney of Greenwich, CT-based Dooney Construction, shares his insider pro tips before breaking ground.

CONSULT WITH EXPERTS When it comes to your project’s budget, layout and design, work smarter, not harder. Kitchen planners and builders know all the details.

CHECK EXISTING LINES Consider your utility, water and gas lines as well as your drainage system since these will directly impact the types of appliances you can install. Wherever possible, connect to existing lines—it’s cheaper and easier.

HIRE PROS If you do install new lines, Dooney says, “You need to contact professionals who are specialized and well-trained in their field to help—a plumber to do the gas, a water electrician for the electric and a stone mason for fabricating all the stonework.”

ZONING PERMISSIONS Since these vary, make sure you’re up to date on your area’s requirements. Before construction begins, you’ll need to show your plot plan to the zoning department.

D. JACK SOLOMON FURTHER NOTICE

JULY 2 - 31 2022

THE MEANING OF MEMORY JOHN RICHARD HERSEY JOHN HERSEY JR. & CANNON HERSEY

AUG 6-SEPT 25 2022

FIRE HAZARDS Consult with your builder on all potential combustibility issues and keep minimum clearances in mind.

TOUGH MATERIALS Given our region’s wintry climates and freeze-thaw cycles, outdoor kitchen materials must be durable and able to withstand the elements. The framing should be concrete block since it’s long-lasting and noncombustible. Dooney also recommends using slate, brick and stone, given their longevity and non-flammability.

16 Railroad Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 413-645-3006 info@carriechengallery.com CARRIECHENGALLERY.COM

mode| heaven royal decree Canyon Ranch’s motto should be borrowed from Burger King: Have it your way.

ON CHURCH STREET IN GREAT BARRINGTON, MA Saturdays 9am - 1pm

Ranch Hands et’s start here: I couldn’t recommend this wellness resort and retreat enough. Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA is where artisanal, medicinal spirituality meets modern wellness.

It’s a state-of-the-art sanctuary, an allinclusive destination that lets you float away in a sea of corporal betterment and wish fulfillment. In a word, it’s heaven.

Here, in this celestial emporium of I-can’t-believe-I’m-here-all-week indulgence, is the precise place to reevaluate your dharma (life’s purpose), reenergize your body, retool your thought process, regain strength after any and

L A n Artist-R un Ret ai l Sh op

25 Railroad St. Great Barrington, MA www.railroadstcollective.com railroadstcollective

all emotional setbacks and heal from injury or pain. Canyon Ranch’s Berkshires location is more than ready to take all that on and so much more. This heavenly spa’s remarkable approach to healing, be it spiritual or physical, is all that’s required for your mind/body therapeutic restoration to commence.

As a longtime spa, wellness, beauty and grooming editor and writer, I’m more than a bit jaded about global luxury spa resorts’ breathless claims of so-called excellence. In fact, I initially envisioned my trip to this outpost of Canyon Ranch as surely comprising of a series of guru-led

we have questions

Thread Lightly Great Barrington’s Abby Pendergist, owner of @rosepetalvintage A second-hand online shop, gives us the skinny on bargain hunting.

By Isabel Hochman What are the biggest mistakes people make when vintage shopping?

Reading the old size tag! Number sizing has changed a lot over the last couple of decades.

Something that might be labeled size ten in the

1950s could actually be closer to a modern-day size two. Knowing your measurements guarantees you a good fit every time.

It’s extremely easy to learn to measure yourself— there are tons of videos and tips online.

How should you navigate vintage shops for deals?

Every store is different but taking the time to search the racks piece by piece is the best way to find great deals. It’s really important to be patient and thorough because there are often sneaky and incredible pieces that lots of people typically overlook.

What makes vintage better than brand new?

Vintage pieces aren’t like today’s fast fashion with fabric that isn’t built to last

CANYON RANCH

After so many spas and so many treatments, Canyon Ranch’s Berkshires outpost gets everything right. | By Marco Medrano

workouts and opulent, ageless, low-impact facial dermabrasions. Yes, plural. Well, to my sweet surprise, the itinerary that welcomed me revealed the exact opposite.

After perusing the online service menu and week’s posted schedule of balanced workouts, alternative group exercises and metaphysical offerings, my beautification took a back seat to what progressively felt more like an unexpected strengthening, luxurious boot camp with a mystical, ethereal slant.

I also had it in my mind that one full day with a few requisite spa services thrown in would suffice. I was wrong. There’s a reason why Canyon Ranch advisers recommend at least a threenight stay. My two-night stay was really a four-day excursion when you include the encouraged use of the property (pools, gym/steam/sauna). I needed more.

So, what did I want to happen at CR? To detoxify and cleanse, drink tons of water, become super oxygenated with multiple breathing therapies, lessen my achy joints and get seriously limber. My surprise?

Canyon Ranch nailed it on all fronts.

Chinese herbal consult with acupuncture, an inflammation-free cooking class, Ashiatsu barefoot massage to enhance structural change on my chronically tight

legs and calves, a Stroops bungee workout (very cool) and restorative aerial yoga and sound healing clinic (an absolute must).

While trending “medspa” services, alternative healing procedures and sports performance excursions have reasonable fees, each day’s peppered with interesting workouts, new-age exercises, lifestyle presentations, cooking classes that reflect realistic wellness goals and more—all included.

You could also do your own workouts in the genuinely memorable gym and roll right into the steam, sauna and separate eucalyptus steam that doesn’t let us down, even a little. Next up? Relax by the estatesized pool area. While the cuisine at Canyon Ranch is not abundant (portion control is a real phenomenon, people!), the superbly crafted meals are delicious. Oddly, this gym/pool/meal routine reminded me of Downton Abbey’s dining room, but this time, the cast would be assembled in chic tracksuit getups.

Canyon Ranch’s motto should be borrowed from, yeah, Burger King: Have it your way. Indeed. This majestic corner of the Berkshires, not far from where we all call home, is the perfect spot to hit reset on your body, mind and soul. You need this.

And they got you.

second hand pose “Taking the time to search the racks piece by piece is the best way to find great deals,” says Abby Pendergist, owner of @rosepetalvintage, a vintage retailer.

very long. When it comes to vintage clothing, quality has always been a big factor. Most older pieces are made from fabrics that can literally be worn for decades. I’m so happy I can continue to pass them on to even more people who’ll appreciate them.

/lCAINTILE ;) GDDDS

&

GIF'TS

Two locations in downtown

Great Barrington or shop with us online at onemercantile.com

mode| then. now. next

The Goss The people, places and things to consider right now.

By Abbe Aronson

o, in the manner of all things “yesterday, today, and tomorrow”— hence the name of this column— I’m delighted to present a smattering of what’s hot and happening here in the mountains. I say “yesterday” with a bit of wink…Vintage? Retro?

Or just a beloved part of the scenery? I’ll strive to keep you transfixed at every turn. Here are a few of my favorite things to fill your belly, spruce up your abode, keep you fresh faced and turn heads. Are you ready?

S

SOLDIER OF LOVE New York City designer Megan Guip, beloved for her floral headdresses and millinery prowess, now has turned her focus to military endeavors, with Soldier

Of Love, her line of reimagined camouflage jackets and accessories, overdyed and upcycled. The collection is available throughout the late summer and fall seasons at Woodstock’s Three Turtle Doves on Tinker Street. Personally, I could live in pink embroidered camo.

BRIDGE HOUSE VINTAGE Owner and vintage guru Judy Fertel, a well-kept secret source for all things mid-century glorious—lighting is her particular superpower—has finally opened a brickand-mortar shop in East Chatham, stocked to the rafters with the sort of finds that most dealers keep for themselves covering everything from furnishings to tchotchkes.

You won’t leave empty-handed.

QUÉ LO QUE Even though the ink on the menu is barely dry, Chef Sam Fernández and the team behind Woodstock Shindig are poised to launch a first-ever Dominican restaurant in the

RODIN IN THE UNITED STATES: CONFRONTING THE MODERN TTHROUGH SEPTEMBER 18 WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS CLARKART.EDU This exhibition is made possible by Denise Littlefield Sobel and Diane and Andreas Halvorsen.

Auguste Rodin, Fallen Caryatid, original model 1882. Marble, probably carved by Bozzoni, 1882–83. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Gift of the Estate of Samuel Isham through Julia Isham (Mrs. Henry Osborn Taylor), 17.3134

what’s up in woodstock Qué Lo Que’s Dominican deliciousness; (opposite) Soldier of Love’s Classic Camo. Cool.

epicenter of this infamous arts colony, featuring homestyle fare and batched cocktails. If the crowds at the pre-opening pop ups are any indication, Qué Lo Que is already a home run. Insider Tip: The name is Dominican slang for “what’s up?”

ROBIN THE HAMMER With his third record of “real old timey blues,” Robin the Hammer joins the ranks of legendary artists such as Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Mississippi John Hurt and Blind

Willie McTell. Also known as “Goldsmith to the Gods”—Robin created all of Billy Idol’s unforgettable jewelry throughout the rocker’s career, as well as the coveted High Times Cannabis Cup awards for the OG Amsterdam festival—the Hammer has club dates lined up throughout the area for the summer and beyond. I never miss a gig and I suggest you follow him for shows and more. I’m totally spellbound.

HUDSON VALLEY SELTZER Made with locally grown fruit and aromatics and debuting with three flavor profiles—tart cherry lemongrass, blueberry apple ginger and peach grape mint—the soon-to-bereleased soft drink bubblers will be available online as well as through the Chatham Berry Farm store, the site of where the operation’s giant tanks are stored, and the mad scientist-like mixology takes place.

BOICE BROS. DAIRY With its retail hub known as The Milk House, Boice Bros. is a

classic, in every way, as well as the Empire State’s oldest family-run dairy.

The shop has a near constant line for its soft serve and those in the know say its ice cream cakes are the stuff of legend.

Go ahead, pretend you’re buying it for the kids and take home some of the chocolate milk; I won’t tell.

RURAL MODERNIST If I told you that Jason O’Malley, a.k.a. Rural Modernist, has created custom wallpaper for one of the most iconic addresses in pop culture history, you wouldn’t even bat an eye.

The illustrator/graphic designer-turned home goods genius has been making bespoke modern ceramics, pillows, art and more in his Kingston studio and recently added wallpaper to the mix, including custom designs and ready-to-buy options such as his memorable “Neo Victorian Nu Wave” pattern featuring portraits of music icons Debbie Harry, Annie Lennox, Morrissey and Siouxie Sioux.

PUNCH T H E

M O U N T A I N S

must-have survival guide

auto Mechanics

compost

Auto Tech Solutions

Adams Transfer Station

2096 NY-203 Chatham, NY 12037 518.392.2500

300 East Road Adams, MA 01220 413.743.8208

Autobahn Service

Town.Adams.ma.us/transferstationrecycling-center

1851 North Main Street Sheffield, MA 01257 413.528.2227

Saturday 8 a.m. - 3 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Thursday 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.

AutobahnTechnic.com

Berkshire County Auto Repair 16 Grunow Place Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.242.8403

Beacon Farmers Market 223 Main Street Beacon, NY 12508 845.231.4424 BeaconFarmersMarket.org

BerkshireCountyAutoSales.com

Sunday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Fredericks Performance

Community Compost Company

1593 Church Street Ghent, NY 12075 518.392.9265

5941 US-209 Kerhonkson, NY 12446 845.787.DIRT

FredericksPerformance.com

CommunityCompostCo.com

Family-owned and operated, Frederick’s been in Ghent for more than 25 years.

Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

This Hudson Valley, womanowned business collects compost for its members. Choose weekly or bi-weekly pickup.

Hudson Automotive Repair & Service/Captain Vantastic 56 Main Street New Paltz, NY 12561 845.670.3544

Greene County Catskill Transfer Station

North East Ford

183 NY-385 Catskill, NY 12414 518.943.0341

182 Route 44 East Millerton, NY 12546 518.789.4477

GreeneGovernment.com/greenegovernment/waste-transferstations/help-greene-grow-green

NorthEastFordMillerton.com

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Saturday 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Known for their pick-up and delivery service of any brand vehicle. It’s terrific.

Route 102 Auto Sales & Service 30 Run Way Lee, MA 01238 413.243.2929

691 Stockbridge Road Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.298.4040 StockbridgeMotorcar.net

Su mme r 2022

446 Fairview Avenue, Suite 100 Hudson, NY 12534 518.267.3272 AspenDental.com

Berkshire Dental Arts 435 South Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.442.7213 BerkshireDentalArts.com

Dental Arts of The Hudson Valley 305 Titusville Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 845.471.4115

Roeliff Jansen Park

166 Old Route 22 Hillsdale, NY 12529 518.325.5073 Farmhouse Stream Trail, one of four trails here, is a short, easy walk along a stream that water-loving dogs can splash around in.

Housatonic Flats 439 Stockbridge Road Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.499.0596 On the banks of the Housatonic River, keep your eyes peeled for all sort of wildlife—birds, fish, otter, beaver and deer.

DentalArtsHV.com

Kingston Point Dog Park

Dr. Joseph Diacovo, DMD, MAGD

41 Delaware Avenue Kingston, NY 12401 845.331.1682

54 Fair Street Kingston, NY 12401 845.338.4240 DrDiacovo.com

A lifelong resident of Kingston, Dr. Diacovo’s been in private practice since ’84.

Hudson Valley Endodontics 31 Quarry Street Kingston, NY 12401 845.331.1640 HveRootCanal.com

Park For Paws 499 Main Street Catskill, NY 12414 518.821.6712 This park next to the Catskill Creek is not a fenced-in dog park, but it is the only park in Catskill proper that allows dogs.

Monument Mountain 546 Stockbridge Road Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.298.3239

Litchfield Dental Associates 63 West Street Litchfield, CT 06759 860.567.9488

Salisbury Community Dog Park

County Courthouse Parking Lot 285 Wall Street Kingston, NY 12401

StevenSiderisDDS.com

Smiles of the Hudson Valley

Beacon Dog Park

KingstonFarmersMarket.org

11 Market Street, Suite 208 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 845.454.3310

195 Robert Cahill Drive Beacon, NY 12508 845.445.7595

Saturday 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Town of Saugerties Transfer Station

SmilesHV.com

1765 Route 212 Saugerties, NY 12477 845.679.0514

Yarmosky Pediatric Dentistry

TownSaugerties.digitaltowpath. org:10234/content/Offices/View/14

Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Open to non-residents with a composting permit.

Aspen Dental Associates of Hudson Valley

Dog Parks & Walks

107 Long Pond Road Lakeville, CT 06039 860.672.5388

Kingston Farmers Market

Route102AutoSales.com

Stockbridge Motorcar Company, Inc.

Dentists

French Park Dog Park 100 Maple Avenue #2 Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.528.4490 YarmoskyPediatricDentistry.com

Dr. Yarmosky’s practice has a second location in Pittsfield.

171 Baldwin Hill Road North Egremont, MA 01230 413.538.0182

H LIST handy people

horse stables

Berkshire Home Pros, Inc.

Bellwether Stables

1023 South Street Dalton, MA 01226 413.822.2131

136 Old Richmond Road Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.717.2433

BerkshireHomePros.com

landscapers & Lawn Services

Solar Panels

Bannen Landscaping & Maintenance

Berkshire Photovoltaic Services

BellwetherStable.com

39 Mary Ann Avenue Saugerties, NY 12477 845.246.8623

60 Roberts Drive, Suite109 North Adams, MA 01247 413.664.0152

Bridle Hill Farm, LLC

Facebook.com/Bannen LandscapingandMaintenance

BPVS.com

Berkshire HomeWatch 69 Church Street, Suite 1 Lenox, MA 01240 917.532.4283

190 Hemmer Road Jeffersonville, NY 12748 845.482.3993

Michael A. Bianco Landscaping Inc.

BerkshireHomeWatch.com

BridleHillFarm.com

C&S Wood Design

Calypso Farm

59 Division Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.591.9889

25 Seelbach Lane Staatsburg, NY 12580 914.474.2514

CSWoodDesign.com

CalypsoFarm.com

Callander’s Nursery & Landscaping, Inc.

Empire Stables of Putnam Valley

2308 NY-203 Valatie, NY 12184 518.392.4540

G’s Handyman Service, LLC 75 East Market Street Rhinebeck, NY 12572 845.516.4560 GsHandymanService.com

61 Bryant Pond Road Putnam Valley, NY 10579 917.494.4566 EmpireStablesofPutnamValley.com

Ghent Handyman Services 1359 Church Street Ghent, NY 12075 518.392.2115

JP Carpentry and Handyman Services

A luxury facility with 20 oversized stalls.

Friendship Equestrian Center 91 Courts Lane Hudson, NY 12534 518.859.6423 FECdressage.com

HandyManNeededNearMe.com

138A Seekonk Cross Road Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.528.4034

Harmony Hill Farm

276 Spillway Road West Hurley, NY 12491 845.444.1938

HarmonyHill-Farm.com

JoyousHomeHandyman.com

48 Panorama Drive Tivoli, NY 12583 845.588.0718

David Messer Home Improvement & Handyman Services 31 Whittier Avenue Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.841.7410 David-Messer-HomeImprovement-Handyman-Services.

Mailchimpsites.com

1120 Churchill Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.442.8501 MichaelABiancoLandscapingInc.com

CallandersNursery.com

For garden novices, Callander’s offers landscape, design and construction departments to help you develop your property.

HD Reynolds

299 Station Road Hurley, NY 12443 845.616.0952

Joyous Home Handyman

Berkshire Solar Sense

37 Nobodys Road Cheshire, MA 01225 413.743.9512

Currently serves Dutchess, Ulster, Columbia, Greene and Orange counties 845.687.9528

Catskill-Solar.com

Kasselman Solar 3 Neptune Road, A25 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 845.681.4088 KasselmanSolar.com

Lighthouse Solar 4 Cherry Hill Road New Paltz, NY 12561 845.251.2012 LighthouseSolarNY.com

Locally owned & operated!

1155 Flatbush Road Kingston, NY 12401 866.452.7652 SunCommon.com

In the Hudson Valley for nearly two decades, SunCommon’s dedicated to fighting the climate crisis through community organizing and activism.

Jacobini Lawn & Snow Service

PanoramaFarmStables.com

276 Fosler Road Highland NY 12528 845.883.8476

Undermountain Farm

Jacobini-Lawn-Snow-Service.

Business.Site

Undermountain offers therapeutic equine-assisted programs to children and adults with disabilities.

51⁄2 Main Street, #1 Delhi, NY 13753 607.746.7041

SunCommon Hudson Valley Native Landscaping

HudsonValleyNative.com

UndermountainFarm.com

Catskill Solar

ReynoldsLawnmower.com

Panorama Farm

400 Under Mountain Road Lenox, MA 01240 413.637.3365

70 Highland Avenue Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.443.3270

SunPower by New York State Solar Farm 1938 Route 44 55 Modena, NY 12548 845.255.0610 NYSSF.com

Roots Shoots and Blooms, LLC 100 Pine Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.528.8161

SunWize Power & Ba ery, LLC

Andrew Zema’s Landscaping, Inc.

SunWize.com

1 Tomsons Road Saugerties, NY 12477 866.827.6527

543 NY-43 Stephentown, NY 12169 413.329.5207 AndrewZema.com

THEMOUNTAINSMEDIA COM

way there H a lf T H E

The Finer Diner Ankram’s West Taghkanic Diner is worth being late for. Trust.

By Richard Pérez-Feria

one bite fits all “From the daytripper to an intimate date night, everyone’s always welcome,” says co-owner Alyssa Burns.

Su mme r 2022

confession before we proceed: I’m kinda-sorta a self-proclaimed diner expert, maybe not quite up there with that guy named Guy (Fieri), but between my near constant travel within these United States over several decades in places as culinarily diverse as Boston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas and all over the Empire State (Manhattan, East Hampton, Saratoga Springs) and my love of all things diner-y and coffeshop-y, I know my way around a patty melt after midnight, know what I mean?

So, on my twice monthly drives from Poughkeepsie to Albany on the Taconic, the West Taghkanic Diner in Ankram is almost impossible to miss, yet somehow, I just never stopped. Until I did.

The legend that is WTD, as the hot spot smartly refers to itself, is justified. Built in 1953 as one of four Taghkanic diners built to serve Taconic Parkway drivers from all directions, this diner featured an unmissable neon sign and throwback exterior. A few months ago, the WTD was purchased by Wally Farms, a nearby farm and forest in Hillsdale. Needless to say, the latest owners have made a commitment to elevate the menu on this side of the Taconic with their farm-fueled fare.

“We’re trying to provide space for everybody,” WTD’s co-owner Alyssa Burns says. “From the day tripper to an intimate date night, everyone’s always welcome.” The Australian native emphasizes that what separates this diner from just about any other one is their dedication to “feed everyone in our community.” Crediting La Mirada restaurant in the South Bronx leading by example regarding its own philanthropic efforts, Burns says the diner’s Mutual Aid Kitchen utilizes their large facility and source fresh, local produce and get help from skilled chefs to help feed so many people in need in the community.

When asked what two delicacies she’s particularly proud of on the menu Burns doesn’t hesitate. “Well, of course everything’s great, but the vegetarian Reuben is amazing in that it isn’t fancy, it’s greasy, comfort food, using locally sourced vegetables in a sustainable way. It’s delicious.” Next up? Burns says the vegetarian burger isn’t to be missed, either.

“This burger has incredible texture and flavor and it’s another great creation from our pastry chef, Julia.”

Open Monday to Thursday from 10am to 4pm and Mondays for dinner from 6 to 8:30pm, the menu, as you heard, is clearly mouth-watering. So, what are my favorites? Bread Pudding French Toast. Smoked Half-Chicken. 100% Grass-Fed Pastrami Reuben. WTD Smoked Hash. Chocolate Chip Cardamom Milkshake. You see what I mean? Oh, and don’t leave without trying the Smoked Chicken Salad Sandwich. Wow. I know so many of you have also driven right by the West Taghkanic Diner and wondered, “Should I’ve stopped for a bite?”

Now you know the answer: Um, yeah.

A

(table) LAWRENCE BRAUN; (sandwich) RAFAEL FLAKSBERG

M O U N T A I N S

sullivancatskills

This. Place. Is. Legendary. I spent childhood summers in the Šv ѴѴb -m1-|vhbѴѴv v bllbm]ķ u-[bm]ķ 1-lrbm]ķ Cv_bm] =-lbѴ -m7 =ub;m7v Ѵo ; b| mo ķ |ooĴ -bm| 7o m|o mvĻ 1om1;u|v -| ;|_;Ѵ )oo7v _;u; |_; )oo7v|o1h =;vঞ -Ѵ -vĻ |_; o ; $u-bѴĻ =o m7 ļ;l -ѴѴĴ +Ľv Ѵ-u];v| bm7oou -|;ur-uh -m7 omѴ 1Ѵ-vvŊƒ u;vou| 1-vbmoĻ |_; - -u7Ŋ bmmbm] oo7 $-v|; ; ;u-]; $u-bѴ ); vѴ;r| bm - om;v|o]- -]omĻ |ooh - o]- 1Ѵ-vv bm - C;Ѵ7 b|_ -Ѵr-1-vĻ -m7 -|; 0-u0;1 ; o ;uѴoohbm] |_; l-f;vঞ1 ;Ѵ- -u; !b ;u )_-|Ľv mo| |o Ѵo ;ĵ "o m; r;1|;7Ĵ #sullivancatskills #adventure #sullivancatskillsdovetrail #goodtastebeveragetrail

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