Matilda might be the perfect restaurant. Everything about it: the ambience, the furniture, the branding, the food, the wine list, the dessert, the merch, chef’s kiss — no notes. Even the golden hour light that shines through the patio window overlooking the garden — magical. Then we add to the lore. Matilda is, technically, a hotel restaurant. Which usually is a slight negative for a restaurant, but in this case just makes it even better because you don’t ever have to leave. The Henson is a perfect little boutique hotel that has breathed new life into a beautifully renovated 19th century boarding house. And all of this is exists within the tiny hamlet of Hensonville in the Catskills. As you turn into the residential neighborhood, you lose cell service but feel transported into a world where connectivity doesn’t matter. A perfect escape from “reality” is probably what lures many people here anyways.

Matilda is a destination restaurant. Destination as in it requires a long drive from most places to get here. But also destination as a kind of place worth planning a trip around. Helmed by chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske Valtierra, from the celebrated city establishments of Contra and Wildair, Matilda captures the best of Hudson Valley bounty (most of the ingredients are locally grown and raised) while also some of the finesse of the NYC culinary scene. The food is anchored in simple farm ingredients, but reimagined inventively with some global perspective. A meal here feels comforting and refined, making you relish the beauty in the little things, sitting in a beautiful mid century modern cabin chic dining room, getting that first spoonful of a seasonal ice cream sundae and remembering that this is the whole point.