I'm not one to write about happenings in my hometown, but the 3 month old 36 Main Restaurant and Wine Bar is worth shouting about!

At long last, a classy, intimate (yet thankfully unpretentious) bistro lands in downtown New Paltz. The ambience is European-like, the food fresh and flavorful, the staff hip and happening. I love that ordering here allows your appetite to dictate what you eat and drink rather than the time of day/house wine 'by the glass'/or gargantuan dinner menu. There are small plates and large, the loveliest of apps (lamb chop lollipops and soy chicken wings to die for); and, of course, a swell selection of good-to-great wines. The servers are there when you need them, but never hovering, so you can enjoy leisurely conversation with chums. And Kathy Combs, the proprietor, welcomes you with a note of understated elegance and conscientious oversight each and every night...

Go there - native or tourist - and sit amid the street scene from the terrace or chill indoors. Some cool jazz a few Fridays nights ago...Trust me - its worth your time and $ - hope to see you!