On July 17, less than half an hour into the first service at Pony's, chef-owner Matt Marchese decided the restaurant he had spent ten and a half months planning wasn't the one he wanted to run. He had planned breakfast and lunch at 95 Main Street, in the old Delhi Diner space. Edible Hudson Valley reported that by the second ticket he was muttering to himself, and soon after he told his staff to feed the tables in front of them and lock the doors. That same evening they served dinner, and Pony's has served only dinner since then.

That quick decision now lines up with Delhi's holiday calendar. The 2026 holiday markets around Delhi are out on Route 10, Route 28, County Road 18 and Lake Delaware Drive. Apart from one Friday evening market, every one of them opens in the morning or midafternoon and closes by 6 p.m. Around the time those vendors pack up, Main Street's newest kitchen is opening for dinner.

Three Weekends, Four Roads

The holiday market calendar fits into three weekends. None of the sites has a Main Street address.

The hours for the Nov. 27 and 28 markets come from the county tourism office's Great Western Catskills holiday roundup. The Birdsong, Christkindlmarkt and Holiday for the Heart times come from the organizers' own pages. The latest closing time in the whole table is 8 p.m., and that's the one Friday evening market.

November 20 and 21: A Community Garden and a Church on Lake Delaware

The season starts at Birdsong Farm, a community garden on Route 10. It describes its mission as hands-on gardening education, local food security and social connection. Its summer Saturday markets ended September 19, and its first Birdsong Bazaar was held October 17. On Friday, November 20, it hosts an evening holiday market from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, November 21, brings a daytime market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Birdsong's Saturday market closes an hour after the Christkindlmarkt opens on Lake Delaware Drive. Saint James Church and the Livestock Foundation host it from 3 to 6 p.m. The county roundup calls it an annual old-world, Bavarian-style Christmas market with local farmers, artisans, festive food and music. The event is partly indoors and partly outdoors, and the organizers suggest dressing for it.

Those two Saturday markets cover the hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pony's opens at 5, so a Christkindlmarkt shopper who leaves near closing time gets to Main Street early in the dinner service. Edible Hudson Valley says that early arrival matters, because Pony's only takes reservations for groups of six or more.

The Day After Thanksgiving Belongs to Route 28

The busiest stretch is November 27 and 28, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Three markets run both days, and two of them list Maxwell Farm addresses on Route 28. The county roundup lists them with different closing times, and the times give an order for the day:

1. Burn Ayr Farm Holiday Market, Maxwell Farm, 21031 Route 28, closes at 3 p.m. The county calls it an annual market with a wide range of locally made gifts.
2. Christmas on the Farm, Maple Shade Farm, 2066 County Road 18, closes at 4 p.m. The county listing describes it as a Delhi staple of more than 20 years, with artists, crafters, bakers and vintage sellers.
3. Lavender Fields at Maxwell Farm Holiday Pop-Up Shop, 21287 Route 28, closes at 5 p.m. It sells lavender spa and culinary gifts, cocoa mugs, handmade soaps and DIY lavender syrup kits.

All three open at 10 a.m. If you visit them in order of closing time, you can see everything in one day, with Lavender Fields last at 5 p.m. Pony's opens at that same hour, and Friday and Saturday both fall inside its Thursday-through-Sunday schedule.

December 5 Ends Where It Started, on Route 10

The last market weekend is back on Route 10. Heart of the Catskills' Holiday for the Heart Tree Celebration runs Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Delaware County Historical Association. The county roundup lists holiday shopping, light fare, live music, a bake sale and a raffle for a decorated Christmas tree.

It ends at 3 p.m., which leaves two hours before dinner on Main Street.

Main Street Starts at 5

The Edible Hudson Valley profile shows the reasoning behind Pony's dinner-only schedule. Marchese cooked for about 25 years before the pandemic, at No. 9 Park and Radius in Boston and at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and Eleven Madison Park in New York City, and then worked for years as a private chef. He told the magazine that breakfast and lunch didn't give him the creative freedom that brought him back to restaurant cooking.

The old diner counter is still in the room. A communal bench, vintage floral plates, mismatched serving pieces and a plaster horse's hindquarters coming out of one wall have replaced most of the diner look. Marchese described the menu to the magazine this way:

"My whole thing at Pony's is highbrow-lowbrow."

In August, that meant Frito pie made with Fieldstone Farm beef chili served next to a chilled cucumber rice pudding. It also meant "Pickled Things" made with Berry Brook Farm vegetables, creamed corn with no cream that is cooked down until it thickens and topped with chili crisp, and a brûléed Nutella Fluffer Nutter for dessert. The menu changes whenever Marchese wants to cook something new, so a December visit will likely bring different dishes. Wines share the list with Genesee beer. Chef Zach Huber often runs the line in the small open kitchen.

Pony's posts updates at @ponysdelhiny and takes calls at 607-746-3600. In its August profile, Edible Hudson Valley listed hours as Thursday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to "9ish."

Marchese also owns This & That, the antiques and design shop directly across Main Street. It sells vintage furniture, housewares, art and oddities, and Edible Hudson Valley reported it open Wednesday through Sunday. The shop also works as a backup supply closet for the restaurant. Marchese once ran across the street for small cast-iron pieces when three pork tacos looked lost on their plate. For anyone shopping for holiday gifts, the shop is a short walk from the restaurant door.

Before the Markets Open at 10

The morning before the markets has its own Main Street stop. Hudson Valley Style Magazine wrote about The Hollow, a café at 84 Main Street, Storefront #3. It serves a build-your-own breakfast sandwich, specialty coffee and pastries. The writer called the sandwich the best morning meal of twenty years of travel.

Outside the village, Food52 featured Magpies on Pink Street, a pie shop and bakery at 1051 Back River Road in Delancey. Food52 listed its hours as Friday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with seasonal pies and weekend breakfast sandwiches. A 9 a.m. start fits the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, an hour before the Route 28 and County Road 18 markets open at 10. A pie from Magpies is also an easy thing to bring to a holiday table.

The Greater Delhi Area Chamber of Commerce has pointed out that all three spots, Pony's, The Hollow and Magpies, have been featured by regional and national food publications. Put on a calendar, they cover breakfast and dinner, the hours before and after the farm markets. The middle of the day belongs to Birdsong, Maxwell Farm, Maple Shade Farm, Saint James Church and the Historical Association, all off Main Street.

When the holidays fill your Delhi home with guests, you might start wondering whether the space works for the way you host. That can mean a dining room that seats the whole table, a guest room, or a farmhouse kitchen that handles a Christmas on the Farm haul. Questions like these are where renovation, design and staging meet, and they're what The Machree Group works on across Delaware County. Let's Connect and Start Your Hudson Valley Project.