This no-signage bistro has made a pandemic pivot to “pod dining,” which is basically booking the whole restaurant for, say, a 30th birthday party or a family reunion. But there have also been incredible one-off feasts, including an epic Nowruz spread from chef Sohail Zandi that batted 1,000 (and mostly home runs at that).

This spot would stand out even if it weren’t one of just two stores in tiny Bovina. The banh mi sandwiches and bacon-egg-and-cheese biscuits are as strong as its coffee. An array of egg sandwiches are crowd pleasers, but even its simple PBJ delivers.

This scenester project is from New York gallerist Gavin Brown and influential Argentine-born Thai artist Rikrit Tiravanija, whose installations often include shared meals. The pair, who have weekend homes in the area, bought a derelict car dealership and turned it into a space for art and food, with a gimmicky draw of free curry. The multi-course meals are absurdly cheap: Thai salad with grapefruit, vegetable green curry, a sausage & potato turnover, Thai tacos three ways (chicken, fish, and pork) and buñuelos all for $25, or a salad, deep-fried Brussels sprouts, vegetable green curry, mac ‘no’ cheese, a country-fried steak with mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake with berry compote all for $20. The catch: it’s only open during the summer.

For fans of Kenoza Hall and the DeBruce who may want something more mellow, try the Junction, where chef Evan Chesney is an alum of both hotspots. It’s run by Aaron Blakely and Misty Hackworth, a husband-and-wife team (she’s a veteran of Brooklyn Brewery and he’s from Employees Only). Cocktails like Walking On Sunshine (vodka, Aperol, grapefruit and lime) pair surprisingly well with smoked trout and fried Saltines. Or a grain bowl containing everything from beets to dried cherries.

The restaurant is part of a renovated 1880s hotel, also called The DeBruce, that is among the last of the grand hotels of the Catskills’ glory days. Dishes like its Peconic escargot with potato risotto and a three-year aged Comté stand out on a menu that also includes venison tartare, celery root with ramps and elderberry capers, and trout in a beurre cancalaise with trout roe. Breakfast highlights include a lamb belly and chanterelle congee, soft-scrambled eggs with uni and whipped cream, and a rhubarb galette.

True story: A chef quit Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Jojo to run his own restaurant out of a rural gas station. It creates an almost comical clash to see pre-made coq au vin on shelves next to discount Bud Light, but chef Jaime Stankevicius’s eggplant parm, shepherds’ pie, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and try-it-to-believe-it jars of vodka sauce speak for themselves.

It doesn’t get more transplant than this: an entire Manhattan diner — briefly famous for being the “bizarro” diner in Seinfeld — got picked up and carried over to Liberty, a proper town among hamlets. So many New Yorkers already know the expansive menu, and familiarity goes a long way toward a great friends-with-Benedicts brunch.

This roadside brewery bills itself as “comfort food for uncomfortable times,” with deals like a Monday night special of $22 for two pints of beer and one of three burgers: their classic Oscar (bacon cheeseburger), a “Wellington” cooked inside puff pastry, or “Flying” option with shredded Buffalo chicken on top. Many of those pints are dessert beers, including a Belgian tripel with orange blossom honey notes or an Imperial milk stout with heavy notes of chocolate and raspberry.

While ostensibly this is a charcuterie shop run by husband-and-wife team Eleanor Friedman and Gianpiero Pepe, it feels a lot more like hanging out in their kitchen at home before a dinner party. Customers won’tleave without having tried plenty of samples from the gregarious Pepe, a native of Lioni, in Italy’s Avellino province

This hotel and restaurant works the special occasion vibes with an extensive raw bar and caviar service. Although the vibe is Big Date Night, its menu is perfect for sharing among a group, including tournedos rossini with foie gras and sauce financier or duck à l’orange with salsify puree and sauce bigarade, which is made from bitter oranges. Groups also make it so much easier to have all three desserts: chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, and the crêpe soufflé.

The former fire station (hence the name) is now a restaurant that cheekily divides its menu into two main sections: $6 and Not $6. The $6 options include a s’mores with chocolate graham crackers or a gooey mac and cheese (there’s a $10 mortadella “hot dog mac” option, too). The pricier items include a $16 roasted cheese plate and a $24 shrimp and pineapple dish. Its substantial cocktail program includes the Tip-A-Canoe (vodka, cinnamon, grapefruit, lemon) and the Ornery Old Fashioned (bourbon, bitters, oleo saccharum, sfumato). For homesick city dwellers, there are $3 egg creams.

What is it with Catskills pizzerias and their incredible salads? Here, at a chillax-y location overlooking the Delaware River, it’s the Thai salad with crispy pork. The pies themselves are both exciting and familiar, the way audiences gravitate to nascent Hollywood A-listers: pepperoni and olives, bacon cheeseburger, or chorizo and egg.