When Harris Mayer talks about opening Cornerstone in Pawling, he doesn’t frame it as a retreat from New York City so much as a realignment. After years cooking and operating restaurants in Manhattan—most notably Creamline, the casual burger and sandwich shop in Chelsea Market—Mayer and his wife moved to the Hudson Valley five years ago. The shift brought him closer to the farms he had long relied on professionally, but also to a slower, more rooted way of living.
“In the city, you go to the greenmarket and all this incredible produce flows from the farm into the restaurant,” Mayer says. “Now the restaurant is right amongst all the farms. It’s kind of poetic.”
Cornerstone, which opened in late 2025 in a newly constructed building near the Dutcher Golf Course, is the result of that convergence. The restaurant occupies a ground-up space developed by the Tomasetti family, longtime local builders whose own roots trace back to Abruzzo, Italy. After spending nearly four years bringing the project to completion, the family realized they needed experienced restaurant operators to bring the space to life. Through a mutual connection, they were introduced to Mayer.
Not an Italian Restaurant
The partnership came together over the course of nine months of cooking, tasting, and conversation. “They were very clear that they didn’t want an Italian restaurant,” Mayer says. “But they did want a restaurant that told their family’s story.” The result is a menu Mayer describes as modern American with Italian influence—pizza and handmade pasta sit comfortably alongside burgers, seafood, and straightforward vegetable sides.
The dining room seats roughly 100 guests, with additional bar seating and plans for a 15-seat patio in warmer months. The atmosphere walks a deliberate line between neighborhood restaurant and fine-casual destination. On a given night, tables might include construction workers grabbing pizza and beers, local families out for dinner, and weekenders driving up from the city after spotting a mention in The New York Times.
“We want to be a place where you can spend a little or spend a lot,” Mayer says. “That’s really important to us.”
Black Dirt Homage
The menu reflects that flexibility. Snacks and starters include fried rice balls made with carnaroli risotto and pecorino ($10); deviled eggs topped with Calabrian chili crisp ($9); and arrosticini—grilled lamb skewers, an Abruzzese staple—served with salsa verde ($12). One of the restaurant’s most distinctive appetizers is the Black Dirt onion rings ($12), made with onions sourced from Pine Island and paired with a charred leek ranch whose ash-gray hue nods to the region’s famously fertile soil.
“We wanted a signature onion dish,” Mayer says. “The black dirt region is internationally recognized for onion growing. This is our way of paying homage.”
Salads range from a classic Caesar ($13) to a wedge with local blue cheese and bacon ($15), alongside simpler plates of arugula or mixed greens. A burrata appetizer ($14) features fresh cheese made daily by Vinny’s Deli, a Pawling institution; Mayer notes that the burrata often arrives still warm. “There’s not much work for us to do there,” he says. “We just get out of the way and let it shine.”
Pizza Central
Pizza is central to Cornerstone’s identity, anchored by a wood-fired oven that was already in place when Mayer joined the project. The Margherita ($19), White pie with ricotta and fried rosemary ($18), and The Local ($18), made with Vinny’s mozzarella and Calabrian chili oil, are permanent fixtures. Dough is made with 100 percent New York–grown and –milled flour from Wild Hive Community Grains, and mozzarella is sourced not from Italy but from Luzzi Cheese in nearby Connecticut. “Flour isn’t just some plain white starch,” Mayer says. “You have to think of it like produce.”
Pastas are made in-house and include baked fresh pasta with tomato, ricotta, mozzarella, and pork “burnt ends” ($20); cavatelli with sweet Italian sausage and broccoli rabe ($22); and a shrimp spaghetti with white wine, lemon, and breadcrumbs ($25). Larger plates move comfortably between land and sea: Faroe Island salmon with lemon-herb yogurt ($30), swordfish oreganata with brothy white beans ($28), a boneless half chicken piccata ($26), and an 8-ounce prime filet mignon with olive-oil mashed potatoes ($42). A double-cut sirloin for two is offered at market price.
“Make Someone’s Day”
Desserts skew classic and unfussy: a Ronnybrook Farm Dairy brown butter chocolate chip cookie ($5); tiramisu cheesecake ($14); warm chocolate cake made with Fruition chocolate ($13); and a seasonal fruit crostata ($14).
The beverage program, overseen by service managers Vito Romano and Joe Moir, mirrors the food’s regional emphasis. Mayer asked that roughly 60 percent of the list spotlight New York producers, with the remainder offering broader international context. The wine list includes Finger Lakes rieslings, Hudson Valley rosés, Italian Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, and Champagne for those who want it. Bottle prices range from $42 to $400 with many for under $70. Cocktails ($14-$16) lean heavily on local spirits, including Black Dirt rye from Warwick and Hudson Valley–distilled vodka and gin, while still accommodating classic requests.
Hospitality, Mayer is quick to note, is where the restaurant ultimately lives or dies. “Food is maybe a third of the equation,” he says. “How you make people feel—that’s the bigger goal.”
That philosophy is embedded in Cornerstone’s daily operations, from printing menus each day to allow for seasonal flexibility, to a point-of-sale button labeled simply: Make someone’s day. Servers are encouraged to act as guides rather than order-takers, responding to cues at the table—whether that means sending out an extra vegetable dish or helping guests linger over dessert and coffee.
Looking ahead, Mayer envisions Cornerstone as exactly what its name suggests: a long-term fixture. The Tomasettis have land nearby and plans to expand into greenhouse growing, and the restaurant already uses a hydroponic tower to grow basil year-round.
“We want to be here for decades,” Mayer says. “To be a place where people come to get a real taste of what the Hudson Valley has to offer.”
For now, Cornerstone is still settling in—learning its rhythms, building relationships, and finding its footing one service at a time. But even in its early days, the restaurant feels less like a debut and more like an arrival.
