Back in the day, if you were an English major at SUNY New Paltz and you needed to talk to your professors outside of class or office hours, the most reliable way to find them was at breakfast at Ed’s College Inn. In business since the early 1950s at the corner of Main and South Oakwood, the modest diner was especially popular with the English Department faculty, whose offices in College Hall were a short walk away. Students from New Paltz High School, when it was still housed in the building where the Middle School is now, would often congregate there after classes.
In subsequent years, the building with the deep awning and shady front patio at 164 Main Street had a long run as Hoffmann’s Deli and a shorter one as Paul’s Kitchen before being acquired in 2012 by Carmine and Debbie Penzato Russo. For more than a decade, after Chez Joey and Toscani’s and My Hero were no more, Russo’s Deli became the go-to place for the best Italian subs in town (https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2015/01/20/old-world-gourmet-goodies-are-back-in-new-paltz-thanks-to-russos-italian-deli).
But the Russos decided to retire this year, and the casual eatery has a new owner, Steve DiFiore, and manager, Tammy Klatt. It was Klatt who came up with the place’s catchy new name and logo: the Pickled Pig. “I love pickles, and we sell a lot of sandwiches with ham and bacon. Just saying it out loud, I liked the sound of it,” she says. Klatt is also the cook and generally runs the “back of the house,” and has worked for DiFiore for many years.
DiFiore grew up in Kingston and operated the Green Olive Deli in Pleasant Valley before relocating briefly to Lake Worth, Florida. “I was down there for 18 months and just didn’t like it. I liked the weather, but there was too much traffic,” he says. So, he headed back to the Hudson Valley, keeping a lookout for a likely space coming on the market. Soon he heard about the Russos’ intent to move on.
“I really liked the location in town, and New Paltz has good tourist traffic, and the college,” he says. “The business was a natural fit, because they sold a lot of chicken, and that was our specialty. All our chicken is cut here. We pound it ourselves and cook everything in-house. It’s good-quality chicken, not frozen.”
DiFiore took over the building’s lease on May 7 and kept the deli running without a break from when it was Russo’s. “We never closed,” he says. Renovations are happening incrementally, with construction work done after daily business hours end at 4 p.m. There’s already a new bathroom floor; the seating and counter areas are getting a fresh paint job in a light sage color; old fluorescent ceiling fixtures will soon be replaced; and new shiplap siding will cover the worn beadboard on two walls. There are still seven interior tables, counter seating for four and three tables on the patio – all of which DiFiore plans to upgrade over time.
The changeover being so gradual, longtime customers might not even notice that the Pickled Pig isn’t Russo’s anymore, save for the new faces behind the counter and the sign with a pig popping out of a pickle jar. The menu will feel familiar, as DiFiore and Klatt were careful to preserve some of the most popular items. “We kept the Luca and the Louie,” Di Fiore says, referring to two much-loved hero combos. “The focaccia bread is the only thing we don’t carry from when it was Russo’s.”
What has been added is a greater emphasis on specialty chicken sandwiches. Klatt has an especially deft hand with breaded chicken cutlets; the meat is moist, the coating thin, tasty, crispy, not too “bready.” We tried the Cluckin’, which includes Muenster cheese, bacon, lettuce and a tangy Thousand Island dressing, along with a roast beef and Brie sandwich enlivened with pickle slices that was a daily special when we visited. Both got enthusiastic thumbs up. We also recommend the lemon blueberry cookie, which passes our strict criterion that lemon desserts need to be noticeably tart, not utterly overwhelmed by sugar.
The Pickled Pig’s cold sandwiches are made with Boar’s Head cold cuts; the burgers are Smash Burgers, thin and juicy. There’s a steam table in the back that serves up daily hot special platters. The grill stays open until noon for breakfast sandwiches, and rumor has it that their bacon-egg-and-cheese-on-a-roll is up to the demanding standards of New York City expats. The Pickled Pig does catering as well, including three-foot and six-foot heroes as well as hot trays and salads, and there’s a 15 percent discount on catering for the month of August.
The Pickled Pig is located at 164 Main Street (Route 299), on the southeast corner of South Oakwood Terrace in midtown New Paltz. It’s open from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. every day at present, although Steve DiFiore says he hopes “eventually” to expand the hours to 8 p.m. five days a week. To learn more, see the full menu or place an order for pickup, visit www.pickledpigdeli.com, or call (845) 255-1485.
Join the family! 
