Beyond New York City’s surplus of dining options, splattered like glitter through the grid-marked streets, stretch quieter roads that wind towards places less traveled. Miles apart amidst the tumbling hillscapes, one may find, if they’re lucky, an exquisite place to eat.
I myself grew up on a dirt road an hour from Manhattan, in a setting my West Coast relatives wouldn’t believe was actually New Jersey. In early adulthood, I fled to Los Angeles, Milan and London before returning to the Garden State in 2013—and relished that some of the industry’s most prestigious culinary talents have, too, made their way back to more pastoral pastures after tenures at prestigious restaurants and culinary publications. Over the last five years, I have witnessed veterans from Chez Panisse, Per Se, the Ritz-Carlton and Saveur settle down in small-town kitchens just an hour beyond the boroughs—and it is absolutely worth the reverse commute.
While heavy-hitters from renowned hospitality ventures are enough of an excuse to ditch the reservation queue in Manhattan for a day, there are plenty of untapped treasures throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York State, from bed-and-breakfasts to unique supper series. Many of these lesser-known spots with comforting ambiances and quality bites make it well worth a 40 to 90 minute drive from the hustle and bustle of busy city life. And, due to their bucolic settings, farm-to-fork becomes far easier and more accessible. In fact, one may find themselves having breakfast on Broadway, plucking strawberries from sun-ripened soil in the middle of nowhere at lunch and eating hand-harvested beet risotto in a renovated stable by dusk.
Culinary Escapes From NYC You Won’t Want to Miss
Finnbar
7 Bridge Street, Frenchtown, NJ
About 1 hour 20 minutes from Manhattan
This riverside gem in a circa 1838 inn is a down-to-earth tour de force from chef and co-owner Cal Peternell. After 22 years as head chef at Alice Waters’ Bay Area icon, Chez Panisse, the best-selling cookbook author returned to his New Jersey roots to helm a more low-key venture with Jill Kearney, founder of Finnbar and its neighboring art community ArtYard. Relying almost entirely on his relationship with nearby farms and purveyors, Peternell rewrites Finnbar’s Italian-Mediterranean menu each night.
“Changing the menu is a muscle memory from Chez Panisse. That’s exactly what I would do—write a new menu every day. It’s a certain number of appetizers, first courses, second courses and desserts,” Peternell told Observer. “I love to do puzzles; it’s a little bit like putting a puzzle together.”
Dishes feature deeply seasonal ingredients, such as lion’s mane from Noble Mushrooms, organic watercress and mache from a co-op in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, blue cheese from Birch Run and radicchio from Roots to River, also have the opportunity to be patrons of the arts. Throughout its various dining rooms and bar, Finnbar displays a rotating curation of works from Route Studio 29, co-founded and directed by Kathleen Henderson, Peternell’s wife. All art is for sale, and 70 percent of the restaurant’s proceeds go to supporting the non-profit art studio for individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities.
Finnbar.
Finnbar.
Dog & Deer Tavern at The Stockton Inn
1 South Main Street, Stockton, NJ 08559
About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Manhattan
Whether antiquing at the plethora of local shops and flea markets in the neighboring town of Lambertville, New Jersey, biking on the river-facing towpath 300 feet away or booking a room upstairs, this 314-year-old tavern is the perfect place to end a day. Once an institution for artists and socialites like F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Algonquin Round Table and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, the space was completely renovated in 2024 with the help of managing director Anthony Rudolf, a James Beard Award-winner from Per Se and Jean-Georges. With two distinct restaurant concepts under one roof, an outdoor bar and lounge, sprawling patio and luxury boutique lodging, the inn once again beckons New Yorkers and locals to imbibe inventive cocktails and fine fare on its timeless grounds.
Executive chef Bob Truitt, a James Beard semifinalist, formerly with the Altamarea Group in New York, Stephen Starr in Philadelphia and Ferran Adria in Spain, runs both restaurants, the tavern and the even more refined coastal Italian spot, Finch (the two spaces are separated by a checkin area and both well worth the day or weekend away). At Dog & Deer, he delivers elevated twists on pub classics, such as mussels with beurre blanc, kale caesar with crispy fried capers and a wagyu-blend burger with Cooper sharp American and house-made sesame brioche.
The Dog and Deer Tavern.
Armando Rafael
Northridge
6 Woolverton Road, Stockton, NJ 08559
About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Manhattan
Set within husband-and-wife team Mary and Mario Passalacqua’s cozy bed and breakfast, the Woolverton Inn, Northridge is a special place for kind-hearted service and polished home cooking. The two-story, renovated 18th-century barn has natural wood beams throughout its cathedral ceilings. The facade is primarily stone and glass, so diners can take in the views of the fields and gardens surrounding the space from either indoor or outdoor seating, along with the on-property sheep who frolic about.
Aside from Sunday Suppers, when St. Louis-born chef Lance Knowling serves melt-off-the-bone ribs and juicy chicken, battered and fried to perfection, the dinner-only menu is prix-fixe, served Wednesday through Saturday, at a refreshing price point of $55 for two courses or $70 for three. Knowling follows a seasonal format, with early spring bringing dishes like branzino with spring onion soubise, leek and carrot julienne and crisp potatoes, Cornish hen with wild mushroom jus and cavatelli with tender short rib, roasted carrots, peas and chive ricotta. For dessert, try the lemon-thyme panna cotta with pistachio praline. Northridge is BYOB with no corkage fee, so guests are encouraged to bring their wine of choice.
Northridge.
Northridge.
Canal House Station
2 Bridge Street, Milford, NJ 08848
About 1 hour and 20 minutes from Manhattan
Canal Street Station is only open one to three nights a week, but that hasn’t stopped it from receiving culinary acclaim. The restaurant is a collaboration between Saveur’s co-founding food editor Christopher Hirsheimer and former test kitchen director Melissa Hamilton, who also ran a publishing house and culinary, photography and design studio called Canal House for nearly two decades. Opened in 2020, Canal House is the first brick-and-mortar venue where Hamilton and Hirsheimer create, cook and serve their own food—not solely testing and styling it for the likes of Alice Waters, Julia Child or Jacques Pépin.
The building, once an old train station, pulses with soul (and that’s before you taste the “big fat asparagus” with foaming lemon butter, the gougères or whichever other harvest-informed dish lands on the menu that night). The format for which Canal House operates is steady yet ever-changing. It is open for Sunday supper from noon to 7 p.m., with the addition of Friday and Saturday evenings starting in May. Hamilton and Hirsheimer write a different menu for each night, and post them online within a week to a month in advance. Each dinner is a three-course prix-fixe with an entrée option at $95 per person and a BYOB policy that further conveys the sentiment you’re simply showing up at a friend’s for dinner.
Canal House Station.
Courtesy Canal House Station
Zoubi
5-7 Mechanic Street, New Hope, PA
About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Manhattan
Zoubi sits on a side street in a Revolutionary War-era town famed for its art scene, food, vintage shops, touristy bars and annual Pride parade. It’s a fun spot to indulge the senses for a day or weekend away. Enter the restaurant through a sliver of doorway between historic row houses and walk into a magical garden setting, lit only by candles, string lights and chandeliers. The al fresco bar, lived-in wooden tables and tapestries of flowers give way to an intimate one-room restaurant, where each seat feels tucked away amid flowing curtains and private booths. The menu is creative and upscale American fusion and has an extensive list of European wines organized by region on map.
Patrons cannot go wrong with Zoubi’s jumbo lump crab cake, which offers an abundance of buttery meat lightly seared and accompanied by crawfish, grilled corn and chowder, the Chilean sea bass with brown butter mustard vinaigrette, Madeira, clove and hazelnut cream, or the herbaceous duet of lamb.
Zoubi.
Courtesy of Zoubi.
Stella
50 South Main Street, New Hope, PA 18938
About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Manhattan
Should you stay in New Hope for more than one meal, Stella combines well-articulated, new American fare with gorgeous views of the Delaware River for weekend brunch and dinner. In a large, barn-like space beside The Bucks County Playhouse, the second-story, 120-seat dining room is anchored by a large fireplace and beautiful river views. One of the best places to sit is a year-round outdoor terrace, screened in to protect from wind and mosquitos, with a stone fireplace. Here, individuals can relax over the rushing current and blooming treeline in the distance.
The menu sources from nearby purveyors and farms with an eclectic mix of Mediterranean, Moroccan, Asian and American. White miso and chili crisp deepen the roasted local chicken with some umami flavor, while the ras el hanout spiced duck breast is balanced by warm, fruit-forward ingredients like apricot and wild cherry. Sitting outside or at the bar, guests can also enjoy a less fussy pub menu, for when the mood strikes to just sip a Stella spritz (lemongrass-infused vodka with oolong chai tea, lemon and sparkling wine) on the water.
Stella.
MICHAEL PERSICO
Ninety Acres
200 Natirar Drive, Peapack, NJ 07977
About 1 hour from Manhattan
Depending on the month, Ninety Acres entwines the humility of nature with the amenities of the hotel in which it resides: Pendry Natirar, one of 2024’s most noteworthy openings in the country. Set on a hilltop over 90 acres of preserved New Jersey land, the restaurant by the same name was once the former stable for a Moroccan king’s estate.
Executive chef Peter Rudolph, who spent years with Ritz-Carlton hotels, California’s Michelin-starred Madera and Maine’s Ocean Restaurant at the Cape Arundel Inn, works closely with the restaurant’s farm manager, Melinda Hopkins, to curate seasonal menus. The 12-acre working farm grows everything from herbs to fresh produce, along with bees for honey, chickens for eggs and more. For the grilled octopus, for example, Rudolph pulls black garlic, celery root and squash with a pepita gremolata; and for halibut, cauliflower purée, potato fondant, endive and kumquats.
Ninety Acres.
Ninety Acres.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
630 Bedford Rd, Tarrytown, NY 10591
About 40 minutes from Manhattan
This lavish restaurant on a majestic, four-season working farm upstate has already earned quite a name for itself. Its meticulous $398 to $448 tastings have garnered Blue Hill at Stone Barns two Michelin stars, making the 30-mile drive from Manhattan seem less daunting, especially for a special occasion. Located within the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Blue Hill at Stone Barns does not provide menus, but provides a sensorial experience in balance with the surrounding landscape. Many ingredients come from the grounds, and are supplemented with other local farms around the Hudson Valley as needed.
To feast on Blue Hill’s bounty in a more child-friendly, casual concept, try the cafeteria, which is more of a country-chic dining room set amidst surrounding flower beds. Breakfast is an à la carte selection of baked goods highlighting the grains grown on-site, while lunch trays, $48 each, reflect the collaboration between the farm and kitchen. For dinner, a $125 per person, three-course prix-fixe is served family-style with matched beverages and an option for BYOB with a $35 corkage fee per bottle.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
Elena Wolfe Photography.
Cedar Lakes Estate
Port Jervis, New York
About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Manhattan
When it comes to getting out of city life for the evening, ticketed dinners can be a fun way to visit a countryside escape without booking an entire lengthy getaway. In an immersive dining experience called Supper Series, Cedar Lakes Estates is broadening its offerings as a winter hotel and summer destination for weddings and corporate retreats. Even if you don’t feel like traveling upstate for a week-long adventure, you can now pop by for a memorable meal.
Hosted on select Sundays beginning May 11 through December 14, each dinner menu is curated with heirloom vegetables from the estate’s garden and locally sourced ingredients from nearby farms. Guests can arrive as early as 3 p.m. to enjoy the estate’s grounds and grab a cocktail, followed by a two-to-three-hour dinner beginning at 7 p.m. Dine al fresco in the property’s pavilion, surrounded completely by nature in a wooded setting that makes each ticketed supper truly feel like dining on an estate with a private chef.
Cedar Lakes Estate.
Ira Lippke Studios.
