- 800 County Rd 23B, Leeds, NY 12451
When considering Hudson Valley gems, one must also remember the roadside motels and time-tested campgrounds that provide visitors a place to rest during days of hiking the surrounding splendor. Casa Susanna, a 2024 and 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist, showcases exceptional dining in a good old-fashioned campsite. Located in Camptown, formerly Carl’s Rip Van Winkle Motor Lodge, Casa Susanna is a culinary tour de force from chef Efrén Hernández that transports diners back in time, as if they were stopping in for an overnight amongst the natural world. The road-facing restaurant and bar is housed in the 90-year-old original building—L-shaped with log walls, low ceilings and camper-like windows that look out onto the 22-acre site dotted with renovated slate, red and yellow cabins. In the warmer season, diners can enjoy the kitschy architecture and landscape in a small outdoor area and enjoy fresh-grown ingredients from Camptown’s on-property gardens.
The menu comprises Hernández’s family recipes, and each dish is layered with the taste and texture of multigenerational cooking, seasoning and sauces. The masa tortillas, imported from Jalisco, Mexico, and made in-house all day on a volcanic stone press, are worth the trip from New York City—or from anywhere, really, besides Mexico or maybe southern California.
You can’t go wrong with anything at brunch, including the breakfast tacos, but the chilaquiles con cochinita and smoked queso fresco enmoladas are not to be missed (the peanut-chipotle mole in the chilaquiles warranted a side order of just the sauce and tortillas), in addition to the morning-friendly Cel-Raicilla, a celery margarita served in a pirate glass. The dinner menu is hyper-focused with the chef’s take on regional Jalisco specialties, such as blood sausage tamal, scallop in fennel aguachile with citrus and serrano, wood fire roasted beef tongue with sunchoke and coffee jus and chintextle cured mackerel with pickled kohlrabi and smoked scallop sauce. Casa Susanna masters the intersection of authentic Mexican cooking with the lovable, kitsch aesthetic of the Hudson Valley region in New York State.
