Jake DeNicola's Western Catskills
The spots the cinematographer frequents all summer long + LINKS
East Coast Summer is a seasonal Saturday column that serves as an alternative to Plugs. It’s where someone of note (with great taste) shares their go-to spots in the town or region where they summer. ECS will run every Saturday through August (save for monthly L.A. editions of Plugs), featuring destinations such as Amagansett and Cape Cod. It’s for paid subscribers of The Angel only; upgrade your subscription for all-access!
#2 is Jake DeNicola, one of my oldest and dearest friends, a talented cinematographer, and the co-founder of the production company ANIMA Works. We grew up together in Greenwich Village, and now he’s DP’d an impressive roster of music videos, shorts, and documentaries, including Santacon (2025) and Class Action Park (2020). Jake has also spent summers and many weekends in Delaware County, NY, for his whole life, and has become deeply enmeshed in the community over the years, watching it change and grow (more on that below). As someone who has stayed with him upstate and given myself over to his guidance, I can promise you: Jake knows what’s up. Here are his go-to spots for eating, drinking, shopping, and swimming in the Western Catskills.
Good Cheap Food
Before the multitude of upscale general stores, hipster cideries, and farm-to-table restaurants in Delaware County, there was Good Cheap Food. When Fega, the owner and founder (who calls herself my surrogate godmother), started the health food store in 1976, it was just a tiny hole-in-the-wall. Now, it is smack dab in the middle of Main Street in Delhi, NY. It specializes in local produce, dry goods, a sprawling tea section, local beer, wine, and cider, and also has an impressively large Asian grocery section. Fega, a vegetarian herself, has now turned operation of the store over to her son Jonah, who has started the incredible Catskill Smokehouse Company. His frozen sausages, smoked trout, and many other cuts of meat can be found at GCF. I don’t think I’ve had a better Berkshire pork chop in my entire life.
