• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

The Village Tea Room   (Photo: Courtesy of Village Tea Room)

The Harvest Café Restaurant & Wine Bar is located on the top floor of the Water Street Market, an old lumberyard converted into an upscale shopping village. The chef-owner is a Culinary Institute of America graduate who pairs salmon with chorizo and duck breast with strawberry-pear compote. Dine on the deck for awesome views of the Shawangunk Ridge.

Named after the ship that brought the Huguenots to New Paltz in 1677, the Gilded Otter at the end of Main Street serves handcrafted beers made on-site. Sit on the outside patio and sip a light Rail Trail Pale Ale, or order the $7.50 sampler to taste the eight different brews on tap that day.

Fuel up at the Main Street Bistro at the center of town, where locals and visiting climbers chow down on the reasonably priced nomad frittatas, scrambled eggs with avocado, bacon, tomato, and Swiss. Brisk service will get you out the door and on your way to the crags.

The cozy Village Tea Room sits in a barn-red two-story house off Plattekill Avenue and draws a more genteel crowd. Pop in for an explosive cream puff, slathered with chocolate and stuffed with vanilla-bean custard (they’re fresh out of the oven by noon). For lunch, try the ultrarich turkey potpie.

Published on April 25, 2007 as a web exclusive.