Because it first opened in 2005, within the constructing throughout Route 213 from the Egg’s Nest that almost all just lately housed the Kitchenette, the Excessive Falls Café has developed a loyal following. Even when the bar and eatery relocated to a much less seen web site on the Stone Dock Golf Course, the shopper base moved with it. For greater than a decade now, followers have been heading down frivolously traveled Berme Highway to get pleasure from reliably nice meals, an off-the-cuff, pleasant vibe and stay bands at the very least twice per week.
Following the transfer to the golf course in 2012, “It took us a few years to rise up and working,” relates Buffy Gribbon, co-owner of the Café along with her husband Brian, a Culinary Institute of America alumnus who presides over the kitchen. “Doing stay music was a giant assist. We additionally used to do outside occasions: an annual pig roast, the Fourth of July…” In style open mic nights and month-to-month trivia nights had been revived. Phrase-of-mouth was robust as soon as the place reopened, and shortly enterprise was again on top of things.
So it continued for almost a decade. However then Covid got here alongside, and the homeowners of the golf course determined it was time to retire and promote the constructing. The Gribbons wanted to filter by the tip of 2022 and discover a new place to land – what Brian calls “the final cease.” This time they might be homeowners, not tenants. In Buffy’s phrases, “We actually needed to have our personal place, and we actually needed to be in Marbletown.”
Coincidentally, the homeowners of the Marbletown Inn on Route 209 had additionally been nudged by the Covid enterprise hiatus into retirement. Earlier than buying the Stone Dock Golf Course in 2005, Pat and Ivan Terwilliger had lengthy operated a restaurant referred to as Ivan’s within the constructing that may later grow to be the Fording Place Inn, Willow Creek and at last the Marbletown Inn. The proprietor of Willow Creek was a good friend of the Gribbons, rented an condominium from them and even organized their month-to-month blues night time. Phrase travels quick in hospitality enterprise circles, and it appeared as if the Gribbons had been fated to grow to be the following homeowners of the Marbletown Inn. “It’s sort of full circle,” Buffy observes. “We took it and ran with it, and now we’re again right here.”
So, followers and associates who felt bereft when the Excessive Falls Café closed down in December can now have a good time, as a result of it’s open as soon as once more – beneath the identical title, besides that now it’s now not situated throughout the Excessive Falls hamlet. The brand new web site lies north of Stone Ridge and south of Hurley, close to the intersection of Hainer Highway and North Marbletown Highway. Longtime patrons might want to modify, however those that had been already coming from Kingston and the Catskills can have much less far to journey, and the 209 location has the benefit of a lot larger visibility.
It wanted renovation and redesign, nevertheless. “This place was a dancehall within the Thirties. It was owned by the Kowal household,” says Buffy, declaring historic images mounted on the partitions. Within the intervening years, inside partitions had been put in to interrupt up the area into smaller rooms, however they turned out to not be loadbearing, so the Gribbons took them out: “We needed an open idea.” An antiquated propane heating system and related ductwork had been ripped out as nicely, changed by fashionable, energy-efficient HVAC mini-splits. A part of what was once the Terwilligers’ upstairs condominium is now an extra eating room a number of steps up. A former workplace was become a second restroom, and a former closet-sized restroom is now a closet.
The ambiance of the brand new dwelling stays the identical because the previous Excessive Falls Café, because the Gribbons “introduced every part with us: the cubicles, the barstools, the farm tables, the decorations,” says Buffy. “I’m very nostalgic.” As earlier than, there are partitions embellished with classic vinyl album covers and photograph collages depicting common patrons having enjoyable. “The scariest half about shifting was we had been afraid about our capacity to maintain our buyer base,” she provides.
The principle eating room accommodates a stunning new three-sided bar, constructed of domestically sourced cherrywood and seating 18. 4 of the ten faucets rotate via a choice of native microbrews, and one provides native cider. On the wall behind the bar is a brand-new neon signal reminding all that this new area is certainly nonetheless the Excessive Falls Café. There’s a stage within the rear for the stay leisure – barely half a step up from the ground, for an intimate listening environment. A small rear exit has been expanded with a sliding double glass door, opening onto a rickety deck that the Gribbons plan to rebuild for future outside eating.
Initially a fuel station, the kitchen area wanted a brand new flooring put in and an intensive scrubbing. Nevertheless, a few of its fixtures – a pizza oven, a convection oven, a giant walk-in cooler – are literally increasing the probabilities of what Brian and his crew can whip up. Pizza is a brand new addition to the otherwise-unchanged menu. Outdated favorites embrace legendary build-your-own-burgers, hen wings and linguini with clams. On Sundays solely, “Breakfast is a large draw,” Buffy says, that includes eight totally different variations on eggs Benedict. “Now we have the perfect hollandaise sauce on the planet.” Actually, all of the sauces are housemade in Brian’s “scratch kitchen,” together with all of the salad dressings, soups, chili and corned beef hash. Components are sourced as domestically as doable, and there are many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices.
As earlier than, Tuesday on the Excessive Falls Café is Burgers and Beer Evening, Wednesday Wings Evening and Friday Pasta Evening. The primary and third Thursday of the month are Acoustic Evening, with Open Mic Evening on the second Thursday and Trivia Evening on the fourth Thursday. There’s stay music in numerous types on Saturday evenings, with some acquainted names developing within the subsequent month: Large Joe Fitz, Hudson Crossing, Dylan Doyle, the Trapps. “Dylan Doyle began taking part in right here when he was 15 years previous,” notes Buffy. Actually, your entire Rondout Valley music scene has traditionally handled the Café as a hub, with well-known native performers stepping in to prepare blues, jazz, people and bluegrass programming. By all indications, the colourful nightlife scene is poised to proceed unabated within the new location.
The Excessive Falls Café, now to be discovered at 2842 Route 209, is closed on Mondays and serves lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday via Saturday; the bar stays open later. On Sundays, breakfast is served from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., lunch till 3:30, and the bar stays open till 7. One of the best place to seek out out about every day specials, musical choices and different occasions is at fb.com/highfallscafe1. You may as well name (845) 687-2699 or go to highfallscafe.com.
