In a verdant corner of Upstate New York’s rolling Catskill Mountains, not far from the seasonal ski slopes of Hunter Mountain, a new 16-room boutique hotel—and fine-dining destination—quietly opened its doors last week. The Henson is an exercise in comfortable, elegant design, with its sky-lit living room, meditative library, and honor bar. Outside, a roof deck provides mountain vistas while a sprawling garden, complete with a fire pit, bridges the region’s natural splendors with the inn’s charm. But the equal star of the show? The cozy fine dining restaurant Matilda, from acclaimed chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske Valtierra.
From 2015 until 2021, the 159-year-old structure that now houses The Henson was a brewpub and lodge named Hammo’s. (Guests who lingered at Hammo’s bar too long would sometimes crash in the rooms above for $50 a night.) Ely and Danielle Franko, co-owners of The Henson with Stone and von Hauske Valtierra, stayed at Hammo’s while renovating the last of their three highly sought-after regional rentals, known as the Hunter Houses. At that time, the couple—who had once been regulars at Stone and von Hauske Valtierra’s lauded Lower East Side restaurants, Contra and Wildair—didn’t know it would be their next project.
“The facade was painted three different shades of blue, and there were dog decals everywhere,” Danielle remembers of her first visit to Hammo’s. Empowered by their expanding DIY skills and the warm reception their upstate homes received, the Frankos began to seek out a larger project in the region—and eventually decided to join forces with Stone and von Hauske Valtierra. “We looked for two years and put offers on a bunch of properties,” Ely says. “As we were looking, we got reconnected with the chefs. They were looking to do something upstate, like a wine bar. Our idea snowballed from there.”
All four partners acquired the downtrodden building in December 2021, and then the Frankos moved in—meaning that they developed the floor plans and decor according to their experiences of staying in every room in the building over 10 months. “You wake up and you see how light comes in,” Ely says. “You know where the sun streams into the restaurant and what’s illuminated. You let your understanding of a space evolve if you keep your eyes open.”
They stripped walls and tore off the roof. They removed the carpeting and vinyl flooring. Danielle lime washed, painted, stained, and tiled. Ely sourced artwork and furniture, including contemporary pieces from partners like Anthropologie and classic items sourced from vintage stores like Alan Eckstein’s The Somerset House and StandOut Spaces in Queens. As a result, The Henson’s aesthetic is born from items both elevated and sentimental. In the living room, the Frankos hung portraits that were on the walls of Ely’s grandmother’s home in Turkey for 50 years. An Adrian Pearsall platform sofa feels perfectly at home beside a 19th-century provincial oak Petrin chest table, while one 19th-century country French farmhouse table rests in dialogue with Fredrik Sieck for Fritz Hansen dining chairs.
“We asked ourselves, ‘How can we reflect the Catskills without creating a false fairyland of what the Catskills are?’” Ely says. “Our design is from the nuance of organic material, with wood tones and natural textures, and even the way we wove in plants.”
In addition to doing woodwork themselves, the couple tapped several artisans to collaborate on the project. Custom stools were made to match the unique height of the original bar (two inches higher than normal), which the partners kept intact. All of the banquettes were done by a local craftsperson. Perhaps the greatest overhaul, however, took place in the kitchen—a process that was closely monitored by Stone and von Hauske Valtierra.
And while Matilda was in development, the four partners collaborated on two other venues in the hamlet of Hensonville, mere steps from The Henson itself. Day June Lunchonette, which opened in the summer of 2023, serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch; beside it, the general store Paracasa opened the year before, selling everything from an award-winning cinnamon roll to a mix of luxury and staple provisions. “Day June and Paracasa were not planned,” Stone tells Vogue. “Only The Henson was planned. The other two were the result of the vision and ambition of Ely and Danielle. They see the potential in this area more than anyone else. They live it.”
Over the past few years, Hensonville has become a place where the chefs can explore their creativity outside of the intense pressures of the New York City culinary establishment. “In a lot of ways, it’s less draining,” von Hauske Valtierra says. “There is less stress over trying to become something. It’s almost easier to be creative.” Both chefs have spent time working at restaurants out of New York—von Hauske Valtierra at Noma in Copenhagen and Fäviken in Sweden; Stone at Le Châteaubriand and Rino in Paris—but this was their first opportunity to develop a concept outside of the city.
When mapping out Matilda, Ely told the chefs not to hold back. “‘Do whatever you would do at Contra or Wildair,’ he told us. ‘You can do that here because that’s what’s missing in the area.’ Talking to a lot of locals, they agree,” Stone says. Their opening weekend menu ranged from rich dauphine potatoes to wood-grilled oysters prepared with bone marrow and pumpkin seed oil, as well as green asparagus with Japanese knotweed and Moses Sleeper. Tete de cochon made an unexpected appearance in a lentil dish, while the crescent duck incorporated hibiscus, red shiso, beet, and foie gras. “We try to come up with things that make sense for where we are in every sense,” Stone says. “We also wanted to see how far we can take it.”
Sustainability is a key component, as is making use of their own garden and foraging locally. “It’s driven by what we can get,” Stone continues. “Things are on the menu not because they’re adventurous but because they’re what’s available. Some things feel like they’re being adventurous—but they have a place.” Dessert, too, does not fail to impress. “We wanted to revisit Contra but with the influence of the Catskills,” von Hauske Valtierra says. “We had this mandarin and popcorn dessert at Contra forever, and it was one of our most popular, but we tried it here and it didn’t feel right. We’ve tried pairing potatoes and fruit before, so we tried it again here with a roasted potato mousse with olive oil jam and strawberry granita. There’s nothing more grounded than potatoes—it might feel a bit out there, but it’s true to this region.”
All of these gourmet flourishes gourmet expression is coupled with a dynamic wine list and an innovative cocktail program developed with drinks legend Dave Arnold, who actually introduced Stone and von Hauske Valtierra years ago; Arnold is also working with them on the opening of Bar Contra, which will take the place of their former restaurant. “A lot of people might have expected us to come upstate and overplay things, maybe try to redo a tasting menu,” von Hauske Valtierra says. “When Contra closed, we realized that’s not who we were anymore. We want to make a space where you can come up every couple of weekends and the menu is different each time. We’re also trying to fit into the community: we want people to have dinner and stay with us one night, and then maybe try another restaurant on the second night. There’s a lot that the area has to offer.”
Matilda will surely act as a beacon for foodies from the city, but von Hauske Valtierra’s sentiment about the entire region will continue to draw a broader crowd. It’s what brought the Frankos north in the first place, after all. “Everyone yearns for nature,” Ely says. “When you come to the Catskills, you see the stars in the sky. You recognize that this is where you’re supposed to be, even if you’ve never been here before.” From the roof deck of The Henson on a warm spring evening, it’s easy to see what he means.
