There’s no cell service in Bovina, a small town in Upstate New York’s Delaware County. The area, tucked behind the Catskill Mountains, is a postcard picture of rolling hills, cows, and the occasional self-serve farmstand—an idyllic, bucolic scene as far as the eye can see.
“Bovina still only has something like 600 people,” Elizabeth Stark of Bovina Farm Fermentory says. “When we serve fresh homemade butter and other dairy products, we always tell diners that there are actually more cows than people here!”
Bovina Farm Fermentory looks like it’s been around since the town’s 1820s establishment, but actually, it was built in 2020. Stark and her husband, Jacob Sackett, are the owners, but they wear many hats, including chef, server, gardener, sheepherder, brewer, and builder. The two built the house themselves with the help of some family and the guidance of local barn builders. The result is a thoughtfully weathered structure that fits into the scene seamlessly.
“We filled it with a bunch of antiques,” Stark says. “Hopefully not too many antiques, but just enough to make it seem like it could actually be a historic structure. We were really inspired by old taverns.” Bovina Farm Fermentory functions much like said taverns; the kind that Stark and Sackett encountered in the Czech countryside while studying abroad together in college. They host a weekly dinner-party style restaurant on Saturdays, serving large cast-iron pots filled with local, seasonal dishes (cooked by Sackett), accompanied by handwritten menus, and beer that is brewed on-site. In a town with more bovines than humans, they’ve found a way to foster community and engagement around the table. “Every Saturday, we see human faces and have a little party…” Stark says, “It feels kind of genius.”
This summer, they’re introducing accommodations above the restaurant. The rooms are simple, with Shaker-inspired furniture and hand-printed and stamped wall detailing. The addition felt natural. “A big percentage of people book a dinner and they ask if we have recommendations of places to stay,” Stark says, “To say, ‘you can stay here,’ it s like a full package deal. It felt like the missing piece for the last four years.” There are two rooms above the restaurant, one with a kitchen, as well as a freestanding cottage down the hill for those seeking a little more solitude.
Yet Bovina Farm Fermentory is one of a number of hospitality experiences that have put Bovina and neighboring Delaware County towns on the map—especially for those looking for an alternative to city life and weekend visitors motivated by culinary experiences and restaurants.
Alexis deBoschnek, a cookbook author and recipe developer based in Delhi, New York, remembers when this wasn’t the case. “When I say there were no restaurants here when I was growing up, there were no restaurants, like there was nothing happening, which is, you know, one of the many reasons why I wanted to leave.”
Before Covid, deBoschnek lived in NYC and then LA, and when she would come back to visit her family, she slowly saw things changing—younger people walking in town, new shops opening, and restaurants putting down roots. “There was definitely more of an eye on food, in a very small way, but it was happening,” deBoschnek remembers. She came back in 2020 to shoot her first cookbook, planning to stay for just a few months. She never left, finding inspiration being so close to the ingredients she cooks with. “It’s more remote [than the Hudson Valley], it’s harder to get to. It’s more special because of that, you know—it’s more untouched, rural.”
This remote quality also means it’s been, historically, more affordable. This allows creatives and chefs to more easily set up shop. That’s one of the reasons chef and cookbook author Alison Roman found herself in the area. In 2016, she remembers, “I wanted to shoot my [first] cookbook in a house, and I couldn’t afford a house anywhere else.” She rented a home in Bovina and soon met Sohail and Sara Zandi, the owners of Brushland Eating House (the only other restaurant in Bovina). She fell in love with the area and ended up writing her next cookbooks in the apartment above their restaurant. In 2023, Roman had the opportunity to buy a beloved restaurant in the area, and she jumped at the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream of opening a grocery store. “It kind of felt like the perfect opportunity. Everything just fell into place, which was really special,” Roman says. First Bloom Corner Store now sits on an easy-to-miss corner in South Kortright. Roman describes it as a gathering spot for the community, with coffee, groceries, and other goods.
Many describe this feeling of just “stumbling” upon the area and “making it work.” Sohail and Sara Zandi were working in New York City restaurants and came looking for a change of pace. They found themselves falling quickly for the area. “If you drive around here on a magical day, everything can be beautiful, and everything can make it seem like all your dreams are within reach,” Zandi notes.
The couple, who many consider the region s early adapters, opened Brushland Eating House in an old tavern space on Bovina’s main drag in 2014. While the specifics of the menus have evolved over the years, the concept has remained largely the same: seasonal, local ingredients prepared thoughtfully and served in a cozy dining room, where the tables are close enough to chat with those next to you. They host frequent “Persian Feasts” inspired by Zandi’s heritage and his mother’s cooking. On these evenings, the energy is boisterous and the diners are particularly chatty.
In addition to the restaurant, they have two apartments just above guests can rent. “It’s nice to have people here on the compound,” Zandi says. “It’s just a more intimate experience.” The setup, now being emulated by places like Bovina Farm and Fermentory, reflects old-style homey European restaurants, many of which would have lodging above for guests.
Michael Solyn, the chef and owner at Solinsky’s Meats in Stamford, was also inspired by Europe—specifically his time spent working in Italy, where he observed the positive effects of agriturismo (or agritourism). When Solyn moved up from New York City in 2010, he thought he would adopt a similar model, engaging visitors with the process and land as part of the travel experience. At Solinsky’s Meat, he works closely with farmers in the area to produce high-quality, sourced charcuteries and meats, which visitors and chefs hail as not only the best in the area but the best they’ve ever tasted. His enthusiasm for the product and the locavore nature allows this agritourism ethos to shine through.
“It’s kind of that old school European vibe: This is what we love, and we want to share it,” Solin says, comparing to visiting a farm in Northern France, where you’d try a stinky local cheese you can only source from that region. “People are more willing to try things when seeing it as an ‘exotic’ experience,” he continues. Solin has even observed this at his shop: Visitors are more likely to taste an unusual cut of meat or purchase a product they wouldn’t otherwise get in the city. “I think people are feeling a little more adventurous, and they’re willing to kind of come out of their comfort zone, to kind of be explorers and find something amazing. You’re willing to open yourself up more. I think that certainly turns on the diners up here as a destination.”
The opportunity to discover something new—or to taste something unusual—is a major appeal for both chefs and visitors to the area. For that reason, new shops are continuing to pop up as visitors flock to the area. “Bounty begets bounty thing,” Maggie McDowell of Magpies on Pink Street says. McDowell, who also came up by way of the Zandis, plans to open her own pie shop this summer in the nearby town of Delancey, as well as offer cooking classes.
For chefs, the appeal of living close to their ingredients is undeniable, but there’s also a different attitude towards service that doesn’t exist when cheffing in a city. “The restaurant is very much tied to our reputation as people who live here. We have to see our customers at the grocery store all the time, right?” Zandi remarks. “There is a responsibility to do right by people.”
The result: Restaurants often feel more like an invitation to a perfectly executed dinner party than a commercial exchange. “We’re all quite interdependent up here. Your customer is your friend,” McDowell adds. The fact that you can spend the night above many of the area’s dining rooms only reinforces that sentiment.
The impact of small-town life—of living near the farmers who produce your food, keeping dining rooms small like a home rather than a restaurant—is something purveyors are protective of. “Right now, it’s at that really sweet spot. I think we in the community feel like this is perfect.” Stark says. “People have found out about it enough that they’re coming, but it still feels like a hidden gem.”