Five Upstate New York Restaurants Worth the Trip

Food and art coalesce at this one-of-a-kind former diner in Hudson, open since 2015. The space, filled with art, light, color, and music, exudes playfulness, as does the vibrant food with Latin American and South Asian origins. Chef-owner Carla Kaya Perez-Gallardo describes the menu and the hospitality at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis as “tropical comfort food.”

The art influence here comes directly from Perez-Gallardo, a three-time James Beard Award nominee, who arrived at cooking by way of making art. Her first cookbook, “Please Wait To Be Tasted,” written together with Lil Deb’s Oasis co-founder Hannah Black, was released this month.

Flavors full of color are central, and the team here isn’t afraid to push boundaries. Cornish hen and locally foraged mushrooms are paired with koji-fermented coconut labneh and a heady sesame salsa macha. Crispy potatoes come decorated with lime pickle aioli, fried curry leaf, and chiles. Diners are encouraged to eat the signature fried whole fish, which might be porgy or black sea bass, with their fingers. Perez-Gallardo pairs sweet plantains with cilantro yogurt and her empanadas, inspired by a coastal Ecuadorian recipe, are stuffed with scallions and jalapeño.

Wine tasting notes are, in fact, poems created by the team, who free associate them after trying the wines. There’s also an extensive selection of meads, amaro, and empirical spirits. This is a restaurant that also gives back: 69 cents from every dish sold are donated to Mutual Aid, and the restaurant hosts Queer Night performances on a monthly basis.

Next year, this iconic restaurant marks 50 years since it brought vegetarian dining to the forefront, helping change how Americans eat and think about food. Founded by a collective whose tenets support sustainable farm-to-table cuisine, it’s now owned by Danica Wilcox, the daughter of one of collective’s initial owners, who is committed to seeing Moosewood’s legacy continue to flourish. The restaurant was named one of “America’s Classics” by the James Beard Foundation in 2000.

The new seasonal menu has a nod to old favorites. Award-winning Finger Lakes Gold Reserve, a hard goat cheese from Lively Run Dairy, leads the top-shelf New York State cheese plate, organic Farmer Ground polenta is paired with a romesco sauce, spicy coconut curry is full of sweet potatoes, and warm Earl Grey sauce tops the popular vegan chocolate cake.

There’s more to cuisine in Buffalo than those justifiably famous wings. Case in point: The Dapper Goose.

Opened in 2016 by husband-and-wife team Keith Raimondi and Peggy Wong, this new American bistro features an imaginative menu that changes weekly. Menu mainstays, however, include the ricotta toast with seasonal toppings like golden beets, orange miso, sesame, and mint; Korean fried chicken with kimchi fried rice; cauliflower with green goddess dressing; and, a burger topped with fromage fort. Pastas are made in house, and the olive oil cake is a must.

Raimondi made a name for himself in the cocktail world in Philadelphia before returning to his home area so naturally, cocktails take center stage here. They too change frequently, but you’ll always find the memorable Broken Garden Tools, made with gin, celery, lemon, parsley syrup, a house made Moroccan tincture, salt, and pepper. Raimondi makes all the bitters, juices, and syrups in house.

A second-floor dining space will open sometime this summer, but there’s no better seat than one in the oasis of their outdoor patio when the weather is nice.

For more than 30 years this beloved roadside Catskills classic has served traditional diner and comfort food with a twist, all sourced locally and seasonally. Be sure to ask owner Mike Cioffi to tell the story of the Airstream trailer arriving at its present location on a flatbed trailer, a tale he loves to share with patrons.

Choose a booth indoors or place your order outside (dogs welcome!) at the Airstream and sit at a well-spaced picnic table to tuck into a filling breakfast burrito, a sturdy grits and greens skillet, fluffy pancakes (a vegan option is also available), or their glorious onion rings. Smoked trout from nearby Esopus Creek, is featured in a number of dishes, including the Arnold Bennett egg skillet and the Catskills po’ boy. The bourbon milkshakes are a must for adults.

Walk-ins only.

For part-time Hudson Valley resident and chef Clare De Boer, life upstate revolves around the outdoors and cooking on a fire. In that spirit, she’s serving what she calls “luxuriously simple tavern food,” locally sourced and cooked over a wood-fired oven or hearth at the newly revived Stissing House, a landmark former inn built in 1782. It’s the 2018 James Beard Award nominee’s first solo venture outside of King, the popular West Village restaurant she runs with Annie Shi and Jess Shadbolt.

The food matches De Boer’s desire for diners to feel as if they’ve come to her home. Simply listed snacks to start, like ham or Jake’s Gouda — one of her all-time favorite cheeses — are anything but; that ham, smoked in house, comes with a seasonal mostarda, most recently rhubarb. Try roast chicken with garlic and rosemary potatoes or the seasonal big green salad, perhaps with flashy trout from her garden. Dishes for two, like rib eye or strawberry shortcake, feel fun and celebratory.

Local beers and local whiskies lead the beverages; for groups, a contemporary take on a historic punch is served tableside from an antique punch bowl. Honoring Stissing House’s history, framed pages from old reservation books line the walls.