Back to the Future in the Catskills

For the first five years of my life, my family and I would travel to Kutsher’s Country Club in the Catskills for Thanksgiving. While I was very young at the time, I still have great memories of ice skating, swimming, dancing, and just being with my parents, siblings, and grandparents in this wonderful fairyland of a place. The grandeur of a big hotel, with every amenity possible, was incredibly stimulating for my little 5-year-old self.

Maybe those memories resonate because of other memories. Throughout my childhood visits to my grandparents’ apartment in Brooklyn, I’d see photos of my mom and uncle as kids at the bungalow colonies in South Fallsburg, New York. As a teenager, I’d always grab the viewer keychains labeled Kutsher’s, Grossinger’s, and the Concord out of my grandmother’s drawer, reminiscing with her about our own visits, as we stared at the teeny tiny photos of our family enjoying our multigenerational vacations. We’d chat about which hotels still remained, and which had closed down. Our last visit to the Catskills was to the Concord Resort Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, New York, in 1996 for a Jewish family ski weekend. Just a couple years later, the Concord closed.

By the time I was a young adult, the Catskills were a thing of the past for me. Instead, in my 20s, I’d frequent Fire Island, Montauk, and the Hamptons; weekends were more about visiting beaches with friends out on Long Island than bonding with my family in extinct Catskills hotels. But inside, I still longed for those times—and places—that brought us all together. In fact, I’d often reminisce with a friend from college who’s the great-grandson of Jennie Grossinger, the late hostess of the now-shuttered Grossinger’s Catskills Resort Hotel. He’d often tell me that his dream was to one day revitalize the Catskills.

As the years went on, I grew up and settled down—and my husband and I started looking for weekend houses in the Hudson Valley. We found a cozy home not quite in the Catskills, but close enough to feel the remnants of it. While my family and I adore our relaxing weekends upstate, however, we never quite found that communal aspect we craved, and couldn’t find our Jewish life up there. Last summer, I reported on the revitalization of the Borscht Belt, and all of the Jewish culture that comes along with it; that has continued in 2024, with last month’s Borscht Belt Festival, new exhibits at The Borscht Belt Museum, and historical markers in Bethel and Woodridge, N.Y. Still, while I appreciate these events and exhibits, they made me even more nostalgic for the sense of community I had as a child. I didn’t only want to look back and reminisce about what once was; I wanted to create my own family’s version of Jewish community near our upstate home—today.

Then, earlier this summer, I saw Scribner’s Catskill Lodge in Hunter, New York, post about a Jewish Catskills Weekend. I’d met Marc Chodock, the owner of Scribner’s—a boutique hotel with a restaurant, pool, and nightly s’mores, at the foot of Hunter Mountain—over 10 years ago. Scribner’s was once a drive-through motor lodge that Chodock and his design team revamped. I’ve even stayed at the renovated hotel during a quick winter getaway with my husband shortly after it opened. The great room was filled with families playing board games, skiers enjoying a post-ski hot chocolate, and people like us, just looking to take a break outside of the city.

When I saw that Chodock was organizing a weekend to come together and celebrate being Jewish at his gorgeous hotel during a hot summer weekend, I knew I had to go. Was this the kind of Jewish communal experience I’d been longing for since spending more time upstate? This weekend, the location, and the scheduled events felt much more accessible to me, and might be what I was craving communally for so long.

I arrived on July 19 at Scribner’s and checked right into my room, where I was greeted with an itinerary for the weekend, a copy of The Jewish Holiday Table, and with a s’mores kit. The itinerary introduced all of the events of the weekend: Shabbat dinner hosted by Reunion, Shabbat lunch hosted by the Jewish Food Society, and a Shabbat evening barbecue hosted by Dacha 46 the next day. While I was tempted to sit by the indoor fireplace in the hotel’s great room, I knew I had to get to work chatting with Chodock and the visiting chefs, learning more about the idea behind the event, and what they had planned.

“I put together this weekend so that we could all enjoy being Jewish, and enjoy our heritage,” said Chodock. “Here’s a couple of days to just have fun and enjoy who we are.” Chodock had been thinking of putting together something like this for years, but knew it would take a ton of planning and lead time. Fearing he’d never find the “right” time, he decided to just pull the trigger this past spring and plan the Jewish weekend for a weekend in July. “When I started talking to partners and friends about the idea, the consensus was that we all needed this right now. We all need something to enjoy.”

Chodock knew his culinary partners for the weekend, or was introduced to them at events, and felt inspired by them and their work in the Jewish culinary space. “I really want to highlight these culinary partners, and praise them,” he said. He noted that many businesses that wear their Jewish identity on their sleeves have had to endure some hardships this past year, and he wanted to show the world that they were all in this together. “And,” he added, “I wanted to introduce them, and their delicious food to our guests and community up here.”

The weekend’s events, which were planned fairly quickly, drew a mix of those already planning to stay at Scribner’s who decided to join in, those who booked weekend stays specifically for the Jewish events, and some local neighbors who popped in for the special meals.

While there has been an explosion of Jewish events around the country over the last 10 months, this specific weekend event proved to me that sometimes, place matters. Part of the reason I jumped at the idea of a Jewish weekend away in the Catskills was because of the rich Jewish history the area holds. Even though the old resorts are no longer around, the Jewish spirit definitely is. On my drive up, I stopped to explore the Tannersville Antique & Artisan Center, where I stumbled on a vintage Hakuli menorah that reminded me so much of the menorah in my grandparents’ apartment that I had to bring it home.

“What I love so much about where Scribner’s is located is that people can come here to get away from everything else and really escape,” said Chodock. “I hope people really enjoy the habitat up here, soak it all in, and just feel like they can be themselves.”

Before heading off to officially welcome his guests, Chodock introduced me to the owners of Dacha 46, an Eastern European queer Jewish culinary experience. They’ve known Chodock for a while, and even did a pop-up at Fellow Mountain Cafe, a casual eatery he owns in town.

While Jessica and Trina Quinn—spouses and co-owners of Dacha 46—don’t have personal connections to the Catskills, they were thrilled to be able to take part in the weekend event. “Over the last 10 months, we’ve really tapped into our own Jewish traditions, recipes, and community a lot more than we ever have before,” said Jessica. “When we were invited to take part in an entire weekend dedicated to the celebration, and pride and joy around Jewish culture and religion and the cuisine that comes with it, of course we said yes.”

We talked a lot about how their business, and mindsets, have evolved over the last 10 months since Oct. 7. The ups and downs have resulted in some lost friendships in their culinary community, but have also brought about some beautiful, unexpected things. Trina, who wasn’t born Jewish, has been so inspired by Jessica’s Jewish religion and culture that she’s since decided to officially convert to Judaism. They were both extremely excited to be around like-minded people during the weekend. “I think this is about community that all of us are in desperate need of,” said Trina. “For all of us to get together and have so many people so excited to come out and participate speaks volumes to what people’s mentality is these days.”

The Quinns were also very excited to be in such great company with other food proprietors such as Reunion and Jewish Food Society, showcasing the diversity of Jewish food.

“We’re all so different. It’s exciting to all show diverse facets of Jewish culture, cuisine, and identity, yet still have one thing in common: Jewish food and community,” said Jessica.

Next, I caught up with Inna Mashiach, owner of Reunion, a restaurant focusing on Israeli cuisine located in Brooklyn. Having hosted my husband’s 40th birthday at her event space, I was very familiar with her, and her food. Mashiach has known she wanted to be a chef since she was a child, and was always determined to open a restaurant with her husband, Eldad. She’s one of the best hostesses I’ve ever met, and her take on Middle Eastern reminds me of being back in Tel Aviv having brunch with friends on a Friday afternoon. So, how did an Israeli chef end up at a Jewish weekend in the Catskills? “We’ve known Marc for years as a customer, and then we started coming to Scribner’s as a family,” said Mashiach. “It’s become our happy place.”

Mashiach was excited to merge her culinary career with one of her favorite weekend escapes, especially now. “With everything that’s been going on this last year, I see that people just want to come together,” she said. “Being together and eating together just makes us feel a little bit better about everything.”

After being very down about the current events in Israel, and here in New York, Mashiach was very excited to bring her vibe, and food, up to the Catskills for a new audience. “That’s what I do—I host, and feed people, that’s my job. I want to bring people together, feed them, and make them happy,” she said. “That’s my mission: to make them feel full, and happy, and proud to be Jewish, even for just a few hours.”

After my conversation with Mashiach, I quickly ran back to my room to shower and change for Shabbat dinner. I entered the dining room at Fellow Mountain Cafe, and immediately felt at home, even so far away, and not knowing many people. It felt like my upstate life and my craving for Jewish community had finally found a way to merge. We ate hummus, labneh, and kebabs—all foods I grew up eating—surrounded by the Catskill mountains, far away from our daily lives in cities. We met multigenerational families looking to spend the weekend together, and with others, craving Jewish community. We met people who escaped the city full time, to make the Catskills their new home, excited to welcome us to “the new Borscht Belt,” as they called it.

The next morning, after a yoga class looking out onto Hunter Mountain, I had coffee with Amanda Dell from the Jewish Food Society, just before they prepared to host Shabbat lunch that day. As Dell and her team recently launched their cookbook The Jewish Holiday Table, they were excited to collaborate with Scribner’s culinary team to recreate some of the diverse dishes from their book like juniper gravlax, zucchini pashtida, and spiced apricot cake.

“I think it’s so appealing to have a weekend like this where Jews, no matter how they observe, or who they are, or where they live, can find a way to fit in and be part of such a welcoming environment,” said Dell. “And I hope that through our food, we can show different family culinary traditions from around the world.”

It was Dell who encouraged me to join the yoga class that morning, because for some reason I missed it on the itinerary at first. So it’s not a surprise that part of our conversation focused on the opportunity we all had to be removed from our everyday life, and immerse ourselves in Jewish food, rest, and connection. “I hope guests can truly rest and take a break from all of the distressing news that surrounds us,” she said. “And I hope people find community and stay in touch … I know I will.”

I left Scribner’s that morning and drove home to our house, about an hour south. My belly was full, and my heart was fulfilled. And for the first time in a while, I felt like my memories of my vacations with family, and Jewish community, in the Catskills might no longer just be memories. While new hotels, restaurants, and homes are going up in the area every week, this felt different. This weekend, I met so many other families looking to connect and create community upstate. We were all looking to really be together, not just escape the realities back home. This is a place I could see coming with my husband and two young children for more Jewish weekends in the Catskills that Chodock wants to plan in the future.

This weekend definitely reminded me of the Catskills I grew up visiting, but even better. Chodock, his team, and his partners in the weekend made me feel nostalgic for my childhood up in the Borscht Belt, but not in a kitschy way. Maybe it’s the beautiful design and backdrop of the hotel, maybe it’s the timing coming off of one of the most challenging years as Jews, and maybe it’s the eagerness of the partners and hosts to bring people together and inspire us to feel joy again. I am thankful for my Jewish weekend at Scribner’s, and am excited about what’s to come.