Savor a mythic weekend celebrating the slow sweet rise of Catskills maple sap and the coming of spring. The Vernal Equinox has just arrived, and spring, however light of touch, is beginning to unfurl in the mountains.

Join our wonderful partners Table to Farm Tours and Spillian for a grand weekend exploring the sap bush and sap houses of the Catskill maple syrup world, and the hope of a Catskills spring.

And, of course, maple-inspired feasting and merriment will infuse the weekend.

The Sap Also Rises at Spillian. It’s Mythic. Local. Real.

Mythic Catskills Weekends

Spillian’s Mythic Catskills Weekends are an intersection with the essence of the Catskills: the forests, the mountains, the people, the deep stories that make this place so compelling.

Each weekend celebrates a facet of this gem-like place: its food, its fish and streams, its ringing summer, its snow-spangled winters, its flowing creative life force.

Come for a weekend of grand adventure. Feast. Explore. Hear the great stories and share your own.  Revel in the mythic possibility of the Catskills and find where it sings in your life – and then bring that song back home with you.

The Sap Also Rises: A Mythic Catskills Weekend | What’s Included

Friday

• 6 PM: A robust farm-to-table charcuterie, including local meats, cheeses, spring greens, house-made hummus, relishes, chutneys, tarts, and more from our neighboring farmers and food producers.
• 6:30 PM A maple syrup tasting, featuring the syrups of our friends and neighbors, Tree Juice Maple Syrup.
• Tales, real and mythic, about the history of syruping in the Catskills in front of the blazing fire.

Saturday

• 9 AM: A classic Spillian Catskills breakfast featuring eggs from Spillian Farm’s ridiculous chickens.
• 10 AM: A moving meditation with Spillian co-founder Leigh Melander, going deep into images of the mountains and metaphors of rising spring.
• 11 AM: A curated wander with Table to Farm Tours, visiting Catskills maple syrup producers Roxbury Mountain Maple and Hubbell Family Farm, award-winning cheese makers Two Stones Farm, and Union Grove Distillery to taste their Catskill Maple Spirits, with lunch at Kimchee Harvest Kitchen, an innovative local farm-to-table café.
• 5 PM: Cocktails featuring maple flavors, and live mountain music from the delightful Godforsaken String Band.
• 7 PM: A sap-rising feast around Spillian’s feasting table from our chef Christian Van Etten.
• 9 PM: A chance to share stories of your adventures around the fire.

Sunday

• 9 AM: A Spillian Catskills breakfast.
• 10 AM: Making maple syrup candy with Spillian chef Christian Van Etten in the snow (or crushed ice if the snows have disappeared!).
• 11 AM: A farewell toast with Spillian’s own maple cordial.

The Saturday Sap Also Rises Feast

A family style feast around our extraordinary mahogany dining table, all dressed for the season. This table is a true place of convivium, where tales are topped, ideas are birthed, and friendships created. Here’s what chef Christian Van Etten is thinking for the menu…

• Asparagus Salad with Two Stones Farm Goat Cheese, Frizzled Ramps, and a Tree Juice Maple and Awestruck Cider Vinaigrette
• Highland Farm Venison with Blue Sky Blueberry Wine Reduction
• Maple and Mustard Glazed Roast Chicken with Apples and Shallots
• Farro with Wild Mushrooms and Garlic Mustard Pesto
• Maple Glazed Roasted Brussel Sprouts
• House Made Maple Walnut Ice Cream with Union Grove Catskills Spirit Chocolate Drizzle