Shelter From the Ordinary

At Shelter, lifelong friends Martin Mazzoni and Diego Galarza—along with Martin’s wife, Stephanie Ullmann—have created the kind of Woodstock restaurant that feels instantly established: warm, spirited, and made for the people who actually live here.

Families arrive early, settling beneath the soaring wooden beams over plates of empanadas and pizza. Friends claim seats at the bar, while lunch and dinner spill into a lovely outdoor dining area that feels made for long, unhurried afternoons. Then the musicians begin to play, and the room subtly changes again. Dinner stretches into drinks. No one seems in a hurry to leave. The restaurant grows livelier without ever losing its warmth. It feels less like a night out than a place everyone has collectively decided not to leave. “It’s the place you want to be all the time,” says Diego. “That’s who we are. We love that.”

“It’s the place you want to be all the time. That’s who we are. We love that.” – Diego

That sentiment is at the heart of Shelter, the rustic-bohemian restaurant Martin, Diego, and Stephanie opened just off Woodstock’s main street in May 2024. Martin and Diego, lifelong friends from Argentina, have spent decades working side by side in hospitality. Stephanie, who grew up in Germany and is married to Martin, brings what the men fondly describe as the structure, organization, and backbone that keep their many ideas moving forward.

Together, the three have created a restaurant that feels like an extension of themselves: welcoming, generous, unpretentious, and filled with the kind of thoughtful details that only look effortless once someone has put an extraordinary amount of work into them.

Although Shelter’s story began elsewhere, this chapter belongs unmistakably to Woodstock.

Discover Shelter Woodstock: Argentine Eatery and Pizzeria

Finding Their Way Home

The Catskills had been quietly pulling all three of them north for years.

Long before they considered opening a restaurant here, Martin, Diego, and Stephanie came up for weekends, rented houses, skied at Hunter and Windham, and escaped the city whenever they could. Woodstock, with its abundance of rentals and particular amalgam of culture, eccentricity, and countryside, became a familiar landing place.

“We had been coming here for probably 20 years,” Martin says. “For a weekend getaway, it was always Woodstock.”

After the pandemic, Martin and Stephanie bought a home in the area. Then, while walking through town one day, they noticed a nearly invisible sign tucked low in the window of the former Maria’s space announcing that the business was available.

“We saw the tiny sign, looked at each other, and said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Martin recalls.

The timing seemed fated. The aftershocks of the pandemic were still being felt. Their Brooklyn lease was ending, rents were climbing in the city, and the neighborhood around their longtime Brooklyn restaurant had changed dramatically. Luxury storefronts were moving in, and the intimate community that they had helped build no longer felt quite the same.

Woodstock offered something different: not simply another location, but a chance to put down deeper roots. Securing the space took time. Months passed before they finally met the landlady Maria, whose restaurant had once been a beloved neighborhood mainstay in the same building. Once they connected, the process rapidly gained momentum.

Maria and her husband remained deeply invested in what the new owners were creating. During the long renovation, they regularly drove past the building, rolled down their car windows, and checked on the progress. Maria’s husband always asked the same question.

“Are you going to open before I die, or what?”

They thankfully did. And after Shelter opened, he returned several times a week, enjoying the renewed life inside a space he knew so well. “He came three times a week,” Stephanie says. “Maria loved what we had done. It was very special that he was able to see it.”

It is a tender detail, but also a fitting one. Shelter may have new owners, a new menu, and a completely reimagined interior, yet the building’s history has not been erased. It has simply been invited back in for dinner.

Letting the Building Speak

The transformation of Shelter did not begin with polished renderings, elaborate mood boards, or a rigid decorative plan. It began from instinct. “We respected the layout and kept the existing footprint,” Diego explains. “The oven was already there, and the kitchen was there. We worked with what we found.”

The original pizza oven remained, allowing guests at the bar to watch pizzas being prepared. The kitchen had been completely open, so the team enclosed part of it to create the cozy bar and give the room a stronger sense of structure.

Some pieces were brought from Shelter’s former locations, the massive timber bar, originally fabricated in Bushwick and later transported north. Other recurring Shelter elements—stacked wood with an X, industrial metal, antique soda crates, and natural materials—were reimagined for the mountain setting.

“There are always certain points you recognize,” Stephanie says. “The stacked wood, the back bar, the old soda crates. You see them and know, ‘That’s Shelter.’”

For Diego, the design philosophy is inseparable from the restaurant’s name. “The concept of shelter is that you build with what you find,” he says. “You use what is available to protect, feed, and nourish people.”

That idea has followed the restaurant from the beginning. Corrugated metal is used because it is one of the earliest man-made materials commonly used for barns and simple shelters. In Woodstock, the existing stone façade and cabin-like proportions offered an even more natural expression of the concept.

“This is the best fit Shelter has ever had,” Stephanie says. “Here in the mountains, it just feels right.”

Stephanie remembers standing in the gutted dining room and being unable to picture how it could possibly become the warm, layered space it is now. “For me, everything was empty, and I couldn’t even imagine where one chair would go,” she says. “Then Diego and Martin walked in and started placing tables. From one corner to the next, it organically evolved.”

Martin and Diego share an instinctive visual language developed over decades of friendship and collaboration. They can stare at an unfinished wall until its answer reveals itself, or look at an awkward room and see not what it is, but the room it could become.

“You have to be talented to do that,” Stephanie says. “You don’t just come up with it otherwise.”

One white wall remained unresolved for days until Diego envisioned the expansive forest landscape that now gives the room another measure of depth. The solution appears simple, but it alters the entire feeling of the space, drawing the outdoors inward and making the room feel larger, softer, and more enveloping.

“They can look at something and see what it should become,” Stephanie says. “I don’t have that ability. I watch them do it, and it is amazing.”

“They can look at something and see what it should become.”- Stephanie

The greatest revelation, however, came from above. The dining room originally had a low dropped ceiling. Suspecting that something more interesting might be hidden behind it, the owners asked Maria if they could cut a small exploratory hole. “She always said yes to everything and would give us the thumbs up sign,” Stephanie says.

Above the ceiling, they discovered magnificent original wood beams running across the room.

“We opened the hole, looked up, and said, we have to uncover this,” Martin recalls. “We celebrated.”

The celebration was followed by weeks of distinctly less glamorous work. The beams were covered in years of grime and tangled with countless small pieces of wood. Restoring them required endless cleaning, scraping, sanding, and perseverance. “Bringing those beams back to life was the most rewarding part,” Martin says. “But we spent more time on them than we did building almost everything else.” Today, the soaring ceiling is Shelter’s defining architectural feature. Guests regularly ask whether the beams were installed during the renovation; it is difficult to believe they had simply been concealed for decades.

The owners also sanded darkened window frames, recycled materials wherever possible, and completed much of the work themselves. “We renovate, and we recycle,” Diego says. “We have always grown that way—little by little, using what we have.”

“We have always grown that way—little by little, using what we have.” – Diego

The result is warm without feeling staged, rustic without drifting into theme-restaurant territory. Stone, logs, old wood, soft light, and substantial furniture give Shelter the feeling of a mountain lodge, but there is an understated sophistication to the room—a looseness balanced by a very good eye—that makes it equally suited to a casual Monday dinner or a Saturday night that somehow finishes several hours later than planned.

Three People, One Restaurant

Martin and Diego grew up together in Argentina and came to the United States during the same period, building lives and careers in hospitality side by side. “We grew up together in our country, and we came to this country together,” Martin says.

Martin met Stephanie in New York in 2005, when she was bartending on the Upper East Side and he was working as a waiter. Years later, the three now operate with a familiarity that makes their individual roles difficult to separate.

“We all do everything,” Martin says. Still, each brings something distinct to the whole.

Martin is the people person—the host, the connector, the warm familiar face guests hope to find when they walk through the door. “He is the PR, the face, the person you want to come and see,” Stephanie says. “He is the light.”

Diego is deeply involved in both food and design, with a natural instinct for flavor, space, and the visual language of the restaurant. “He has his finger in every pot,” Stephanie says. “In the kitchen, with taste, and with the design.”

Stephanie brings order to the creative current. “She is the structure,” Martin says. “The German backbone. She organizes everything and makes it happen.”

Stephanie is quick to deflect the praise. “They can do more of what I do,” she says. “But I cannot do what they do.”

It is less a division of labor than a balance of strengths. The admiration among the three is evident in the way they speak about one another, interrupting to give a compliment, supply a detail, or correct someone else’s modesty.

They share responsibilities, debate ideas, and allow the restaurant to follow them home. Even when Martin and Stephanie are relaxing at night with a glass of wine, the conversation inevitably circles back to Shelter.

“There is always a new dish, a new idea, something we are thinking about. But we chose this life. It is the best life.” – Stephanie

Hospitality is often glamorized as a series of beautiful plates and warmly lit rooms. In reality, it is a life composed of relentless decisions, daily problem-solving, and the willingness to care deeply about whether a stranger is comfortable. The three of them seem to understand both sides of that equation—and to love the work all the more for knowing exactly what it requires.

Food With a Memory

The menu at Shelter is rooted in the food Martin and Diego grew up eating in Argentina: empanadas, pizza, sausages, fish, steak, milanesa, and the long, expansive Sunday meals that stretched for hours around a table crowded with family and friends.

“It is what we would do every Sunday,” Martin says. “Four hours with family and friends, with the barbecue.”

Rather than presenting a formal or overly reverent interpretation of Argentine cuisine, Shelter offers something more intimate: food shaped by memory, appetite, and the dishes the owners still crave themselves.

The empanadas have quickly become a signature, with fillings that include hand-cut beef; onion and cheese; ham and cheese; and mushroom, goat cheese, and kale. The original pizza oven turns out pies such as the Bee and Love, layered with tomato, mozzarella, soppressata, chili-honey vinegar, and herbs, along with a summer pizza topped with thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, balsamic glaze, and basil. Elsewhere on the menu are tuna tostadas, burrata, Argentine spiral sausage, grilled skirt steak, roasted eggplant, and a rotating fish of the day.

For Stephanie, many of the flavors feel surprisingly close to the German food she grew up with.

“The food is not that different,” she says. “There are sausages, potatoes, gravy, pizza, and breaded meats. We call it schnitzel; they call it milanesa.”

The commonality gives the menu a cross-cultural warmth. A thin, crisp piece of breaded beef may carry an Argentine name, but it speaks the common language of comfort food—ideally with something cold to drink beside it.

Not every dish comes directly from childhood. Crudo-style preparations, for instance, reflect the owners’ contemporary tastes rather than tradition. “We didn’t grow up with that,” Diego says. “We just love it.”

The menu changes with the seasons, although certain favorites remain firmly in place. When a dish disappears, regulars are not shy about requesting its return.

“We took the watermelon salad off the menu this year, and people constantly asked us why,” Stephanie says, laughing. “So we put it right back. But there will always be surprises. I never know what Diego is going to come up with.”

The restaurant incorporates regional ingredients whenever possible, including local trout, Hudson Valley beers and ciders, and products from nearby farms and bakers. Small-scale sourcing can present challenges: a farmer may have an exquisite ingredient one week and none the next, making consistency difficult for a restaurant. Still, the owners are committed to building those local relationships.

“We want to use local farms and local products,” Diego says. “The challenge is being able to put something on the menu and know we can continue to get it.”

The cocktail list is equally spirited, moving from a spicy watermelon-cucumber margarita to the First Love, made with Hendrick’s, Sirène Americano Rosso, Cocchi, Bordiga Bianco, and grapefruit. The drinks follow the same mixture of personal history and pleasure. The wine list includes Argentine, Italian, and French selections, along with organic wines the owners are especially excited to share.

Then there is Fernet-Branca and Coca-Cola, an Argentine party staple that quickly sends the three into a spirited debate about digestifs, grandfathers, European drinking traditions, and strong spirits that seem more suited to lighting a bonfire than politely concluding dinner.

That is part of what makes talking about food with them so entertaining. A question about a cocktail becomes a family story. A discussion of milanesa travels from Argentina to Germany to Italy. Every flavor opens another door, usually into a memory, a laugh, or both.

Built for the Locals

When the trio arrived in Woodstock, they did not attempt to reverse-engineer a restaurant based on what they imagined the market wanted.

“This is us, and this is what we came to offer,” Diego says.

They believed in the combination of soulful food, accessible pricing, a welcoming bar, and a room where people would want to spend time.

More importantly, they understood that a lasting restaurant must belong to the people who remain after the weekend crowds leave.

“We work for the locals, not the tourists,” Diego says. “The locals are the people who will be here when nobody else is.”

Photo: Julian Bracero

It is not simply a business strategy. It is the kind of restaurant they themselves want to return to. “We love having a place where people come all the time,” Martin says. “You know their names. You listen to them.”

That relationship is already visible in Shelter’s weekly rhythm. Saturdays can be packed with visitors, including former customers who travel up from the city. But Monday and Tuesday evenings have taken on a different, deeply local character. Regulars settle into their favorite seats. The owners greet them by name. The room becomes theirs.

“The locals like the weekends too, but during the week, it becomes their space,” Stephanie says. “That is very nice to see.”

Feedback is welcomed rather than resisted.

“If someone gives us advice or makes a comment, we work on it,” Diego says. “We hear them, and we adjust.”

That openness has helped Shelter become part of the town remarkably quickly. The owners have also formed friendships with other local business owners, visiting their establishments and welcoming them in return. “They come here, and then we go there,” Stephanie says. “It doesn’t feel competitive. It feels neighborly.”

The response from Woodstock has moved them.

“The people were kind to us from the beginning. We are very happy here.” – Martin

There is something refreshing about a restaurant that wants to be loved by its regulars rather than merely photographed by its visitors. Shelter is certainly photogenic—the beams, the firewood, the low light, the forest mural all perform beautifully—but the real luxury is recognition: walking in and being known.

The Sound of Friday Night

Shelter’s live music series has become one of the clearest expressions of its local spirit. Every Friday since the restaurant opened, regional musicians have performed in the dining room. Nearly all are local, ranging from young songwriters to experienced performers who have played for decades.

At first, booking the calendar required persistent outreach. Now, musicians approach Shelter asking for a chance to perform, and the schedule stretches months into the future. “We have music booked for six months,” Stephanie says. “Now people call us because they want to play here.”

The performances are designed to remain intimate. The music does not overpower dinner; it gently reshapes the evening. Families and early diners give way to a later crowd, and the room takes on a more festive energy. “You can feel the flow of the night,” Stephanie says. “People come for dinner, then the music starts, and it becomes something else.”

“You can feel the flow of the night. People come for dinner, then the music starts, and it becomes something else.” – Stephanie

Friday nights tend to draw an especially local crowd, while Saturdays bring a more energetic mixture of residents and weekend visitors. Through it all, Shelter retains the feeling of a gathering rather than an event. A restaurant, a neighborhood bar, a listening room, and a mountain refuge all coexist beneath the same beams.

Putting Down Roots

“This is us, and this is what we came to offer.” — Diego

For Martin, Diego, and Stephanie, Shelter is not simply the latest location of an established idea. It represents a decision about the kind of life they want to build.

After years in cities, they were drawn to the quieter pleasures of the Hudson Valley: birdsong, open space, familiar faces, and a community in which relationships deepen through repetition. “There is nothing we don’t love about Woodstock,” Martin says. “Every place has its own personality and its own character.”

They delight in the particularities of the town: the independent businesses, the local musicians, the restaurant owners who support one another, and the regulars who arrive on a Monday and immediately make the room feel full. The restaurant has given them a way not merely to operate in Woodstock, but to belong to it.

That may be why Shelter feels so settled despite being relatively new. The trio did not arrive looking to impose an identity on the town. They brought the things they know best—hospitality, friendship, food, and an ability to transform overlooked spaces—and allowed Woodstock to shape the rest.

“Shelter is where people gather,” Diego says. “It is where you feed them, nourish them, and make them feel safe.”

In Woodstock, they have created exactly that.

A room beneath old beams. A song beginning on a Friday night. A plate of empanadas arriving at the table. A familiar face at the bar.

Not simply a place to find shelter, but a place to feel at home.

+ + + 

SHELTER
21 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, NY | 845-633-6003
Weekend brunch and dinner six nights a week.

Follow/Connect with Shelter via Website | Instagram

Photos: Julian Bracero and Food Photos Courtesy of Shelter Woodstock

+ + +

Hungry for more? EXPLORE THE DIRECTORY for delicious places to eat and drink throughout the Hudson Valley.

What to Do. Where to Go. Who to Know.
Start with INSIDE+OUT Upstate NY