In the past decade, the Sullivan County hamlet of Livingston Manor has gotten a hip makeover, with an infusion of new residents and businesses. But the village’s slogan, “Small Town, Big Backyard,” remains unchanged, emphasizing the outdoors-oriented quality of life here, shaped largely by the confluence of three waterways, which give Livingston Manor its identity as a prize fly fishing destination.
Still the small town has gotten livelier in recent years, pandemic be damned. On Main Street, just a few doors down from the Beaver Kill, which is gushing wildly this time of year with spring thaw, the comically dubbed Walk In/Stumble Out is making the most of a single retail storefront with a combo cafe-by-day/bar-by-night concept.
Opened in February 2021 by Brooklyn expats and newlyweds Erin Ellis and Lily Price, the storefront at 62 Main is buzzing from 8am to 4pm with a faithful breakfast and lunch crowd that comes for the sandwiches served on flaky Southern biscuits made using a generations-old family recipe. These loaded breakfast and lunch selections might come with ham hock braised collards, local eggs, and Catskill Smokehouse ham; or buffalo fried chicken with bleu cheese, carrot, and celery; or refried beans, scrambled egg, avocado, queso fresco, and charred salsa. Walk In also serves up full espresso bar offerings using beans from Brooklyn darling Variety Coffee Roasters.
After closing for an hour, Walk In reopens at 5pm as Stumble Out a boisterous bar and restaurant, serving up specialty cocktails and a rotating food menu with dishes ranging from a lamb ragu, cacio e pepe, and endive salad with shaved fennel, candied spiced walnuts, bleu cheese, and a pear and lemon golden raisin vin, to a Thai sea bass special served with red curry coconut sauce, glass noodles and sautéed vegetables including leeks, scallions, carrots, and aromatics.
A street-side bank of windows floods the tiled space with natural light, while by night, the neon-surround bar back offers a different kind of illumination. The bar is long and regularly full with people sipping lattes and later cocktails alongside their food. During the warmer months, cherry red sidewalk tables fill up with chattering brunch guests and neighbors stopping for a chat.
Given the near-instant acclaim of Walk In/Stumble Out (it’s been written up in Forbes and Escape Brooklyn), owners Ellis and Price moved quickly to open a second location building on the homerun success of the Walk In’s fluffy biscuits. Directly across the street, the couple opened the Neon Croissant in July 2021. The storefront maintains the boulangerie tradition of previous occupant the Brandenburg Bakery with a mouthwatering selection of baked treats, ranging from croissants and breads to cookies, cakes, tartlets, and pies.
It’s not uncommon to see one of the employees from either business crossing Main Street with a tray of croissants or biscuits hoisted high, a sight that only confirms the feeling that you've landed in a utopic slice of Smalltown America.
