From the chrome-edged bar stools to the slide-in booths, Phoenicia Diner is your perfect, all-American roadside restaurant. Everything about it feels cinematic. You want to sit there all day, drinking bottomless cups of coffee – or, when the time comes, a speciality thick-shake with a dash of local bourbon.
The town of Phoenicia is in the tree-covered Catskill mountains of upstate New York, a two-hour drive from New York City and 13 miles west of Woodstock. Recently, the area – Phoenicia in particular – has become the getaway of choice for the hippest New Yorkers, which has led to restaurants and hotels upping their game. But for travellers who just want to add a relaxing side-trip to a Big Apple break, it’s cheaper than the Hamptons, and those who don’t want to hire a car can get there by bus.
The diner has been on quite some journey itself. Built in 1962, the box-like structure was picked up in its entirety and moved to its current spot, by the side of Route 28, in the early 80s. It was a family business for 30 years, and almost bit the dust in 2011, but was saved by Mike Cioffi, a former film-set builder and resident of – where else? – Brooklyn.
Cioffi gave it a full makeover. In came a few hipster touches (eggs served in mini frying pans, menus with design-studio typography). But he didn’t inflate the prices ($9 for a stack of silver-dollar pancakes that will fill you up until late afternoon) or skimp on quality. A range of local suppliers smoke the trout, bottle the maple syrup and farm the free-range chickens. Even the bloody marys are made with local tomato juice and locally distilled vodka.
Don’t leave Phoenicia without trying the French toast. And look out for its sister restaurant, opening on the edge of Woodstock in spring 2017.
• 5681 Route 28, Phoenicia, NY, +1 845 688 9957, phoeniciadiner.com
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