New diner taking it one meal at a time

MILLERTON — The sign for the new Oakhurst Diner has been shining brightly for the last three weeks; it’s the newest addition to the village business district and the revitalization of a local stalwart.

The Oakhurst Diner, co-owned by Paul Harney, John and Justin Panzer, opened last month, marking the transformation of the former Millerton Diner. The iconic sign has been modified, but as the owners point out the “new� name for the Silk City-manufactured diner actually refers to an old inn in the village’s history.

Opening a diner wasn’t the plan when the three partners set out to create a restaurant, but when the Millerton Diner became available, the trio jumped at the opportunity.

Serving traditional diner food with a new twist, the Oakhurst has been buzzing with activity since its opening, even though the diner is currently only operating during dinner hours. From frisèe salads to steak dinners, the owners say their food has been flying out of the kitchen at a pace that lets the new business make any needed adjustments.

“We’re currently open for dinner and we’re serving our lunch and dinner menus,� explained John Panzer on a late night last weekend, with people still filling the booth-style seating along the front window. “We’re still training staff and working out all the little issues that come with opening up a restaurant.�

“Once we get this part done, we’ll add lunch and then breakfast,� added Harney. “We’re taking our time with it because we want to do it right.�

The diner’s looking brand new these days, with a complete overhaul and renovation of the  dining and kitchen areas.

“It’s been a really great response so far,� said Justin Panzer. The business has been consistently busy since opening, the three reported, giving them encouragement for the future of the new Oakhurst Diner. “It’s been overwhelmingly positive feedback.�

The Oakhurst Diner is located at 19 Main St. Operating hours, subject to change, are 5 to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less