Oh shit, did I just drop 5 Forks on my 1st review of 2016? Yes, I did. Maybe I'm feeling generous and wanted to start the year off on a good note, but the food at The Heron was truly outstanding and coupled with the fact that it's so freakin adorable and in the Catskills made it even more appealing.
The Catskills/Hudson Valley area has definitely been getting tons and tons of buzz as being the new hot spot to get away for the weekend and I can see why. It's still got this small town feel against a beautiful backdrop of the Delaware River and it's got tons of charming character that you just don't get in the city. Each town has it's own Main Street and it's exactly what you would picture Main Street USA as.
We stopped by this place on the way back home from the city and the street screams artisanal hipster cuteness. And you know what? I ate it all up. There are definitely still towns that have a very townie vibe, but the feeling here is that the locals have woken up to the flood of city folks flocking here and they have opened a bunch of cute and trendy shops, restaurants and cafes. Walking into The Heron wasn't really that different from walking into a place in Brooklyn - in fact the crowd looked like it was entirely made up of people who came up from the city for the weekend. The decor is farm-to-table chic complete with mason jars and distressed wood. The menu is also what you would expect of a local sustainable restaurant with a Southern slant. Even though the 5 of us had been consuming obscene amounts of food the past few days, we had no issue ordering half the menu at this place. We started with the deviled eggs ($8) and the Southern style pimento cheese ($10). I was incredibly torn between brunch and lunch but ended up going with the classic rueben ($14) because apparently corned beef is a big thing in the Catskills and I hadn't had any yet. But I couldn't resist the nod to breakfast, so I also got a side of jalapeño cheddar grits ($5). Aarti and Nat both got the breakfast burrito ($12) which the waitress said there is a "church" dedicated to this dish. Will got the crispy eggs on the jalapeno cheddar grits ($12) and Kinney got the baked salmon with sirracha since he wanted to try something that he couldn't get in the city. Nat, Kinney and Will all also wanted to each get a side of corned beef hash ($5) which seemed really aggressive, so when we asked the waitress how big the portions were, she made a tiny circle with her hands and said we should definitely get 3 - total mistake! They were like the size of 3 giant circles made with your hand.
The deviled eggs came out as 3 halves, so we cut them in half but I honestly would have shoved every single one of them in my mouth if I was left alone with them. They were amazing. The yolks were perfect with the right amount of creaminess and they were mixed with goat cheese which made it even creamier and luscious. Next the pimento cheese came out, in a mason jar of course, and it was also perfection. The right amount of heat, cheese, mayo and garlic and spread over toast it was simply a fantastic combination on the tongue. Such an excellent way to start the meal. I should also mention at this point that Will got a homemade biscuit with honey butter to nibble on - jesus christ, that honey butter is like crack cocaine. Sweet, creamy and buttery. We had to have the waitress take it away because we would have eaten the entire pat of it.
On to the main dishes. The rueben was a classic: rye bread piled high with corned beef served with swiss, sauerkraut, and homemade Russian dressing. I don't have corned beef very often but this made me really miss it. Incredible sandwich - moist corned beef and the right amount of everything else. I totally want to eat corned beef all the time now. However, I could only finish half of it because of all the other food I had eaten over the weekend. The jalapeño grits were super super cheesy, creamy and VERY spicy - if you don't like heat, don't order this because it will kick you in the mouth. I didn't have room to try any of the other dishes but Nat and Aarti said that the breakfast burrito was amazing. Pillow-ly soft eggs that tasted like it had a lot of sour cream mixed in it. If there had to be one disappointment of the meal, it would probably be Kinney's salmon sandwich - he said it was good but tasted like a salmon wrap (which is basically what it was).
Overall, it was exciting to start off 2016 with such a wonderful experience. At one point, it was snowing outside and it was just so picture perfect with the light snow, holiday lights and small town decor. It might have been my joyful holiday spirit or that I haven't given out a 5 fork review in awhile, but the food here was truly excellent. The service was friendly (a bit too friendly by telling us we needed 3 sides of hash) and everyone just seemed happy and calm. It's a really nice change of pace from the city. And even better is that all of this food was only $32/pp. WTF?!?! This meal would have easily cost twice as much in the city. It's totally worth the 2 1/2 hour trek to do a bit of sight seeing and incredible food. Total bill: $38/pp with tax, tip and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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