NEW YEARS EVE

We opted out of a party in NYC and decided to do dinner at Cucina. It proved to be a good decision. Snow on the ground. Full moon. A prefix menu. We ended up sitting next to a hilarious couple from Kingston. He's a hair dresser. She's an actress. We mostly talked about food, how modern Chef Gianni Scappin's preparations are and all the other fabulous places we've eaten. To over simplify, tonight we had Pizza, Squid, Lamb, Short Ribs, Chocolate Cake, Ice Cream, Panacotta and Biscotti. It was perfection and I'm stuffed.

CUCINA

Cucina is the chicest restaurant in Woodstock and the Catskills at large. They serve a contemporary Italian menu based on seasonal and local ingredients. I had the Crispy Squid with a Creamy Citrus Sauce. I love Calamari and theirs is perfection... light, crisp and tender. My entree was the Rigatoni with Peas, Sausage, a bit of Cream, Red Pepper Flakes and Parmesan. I don't like wet, soupy food. This dish was not... the sauce wrapped itself around the al dente Noodles. I ate them one at a time. Cucina is owned by Lois Freedman. She's also the general manager for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurants in NYC including the Mercer Kitchen. Her staff at Cucina is amazing... cute, friendly and on top of everything. I will come here as often as possible.

MARIA'S BAZAAR

Maria's Bazaar is my favorite delicatessen in the Catskills. This place is tucked behind street front shops uncrowded by tourists. Everything on the menus is truly homemade and changes from day to day. Twice I've had a Pastrami on Rye with Mustard and Pickles. The backed goods are amazing and I love that they're displayed in piles out in the open. The first time I came they had a Poppy Seed Danish. It's the best pastry I've ever had.