Tucked away in the heart of the northern Catskills, Round Top Productions is an indie special events company creating programs and projects in the visual, literary, and culinary arts

FOUNDED BY JULIA JOERN

Collaborating with local friends, neighbors, and businesses, Round Top Productions brings together adults and kids, alike, for community programs that share in the resources and bounty of the region.

Round Top Productions co-exisits in the building that houses the new restaurant Julia’s Local, located on Heart’s Content Road in the Greene County hamlet of Round Top.

Round Top Productions hosts a wide variety of pop-up events, cooking classes, workshops, supper clubs, and food-related philanthropic initiatives. These special events take place at Julia’s Local, as well as at a the outdoor one-acre garden space on Blackhead Mountain Road in Round Top.

 

ABOUT JULIA
Julia Joern has been a Round Top resident for close to 25 years. Up until 2017 (and for about a decade) she worked in New York at David Zwirner, a contemporary art gallery. With a background in architecture and design, she had a range of professional experiences during her 25-year career in the visual arts and special events, including holding key positions at Rizzoli and The Monacelli Press in New York, Bruce Mau Design in Toronto, and Phaidon Press in New York and London.

In 2019, she founded Round Top Productions and Round Top Communications & Consulting.

She has been on the Board of Trustees of the Aperture Foundation, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Radius Books, and Triple Canopy. She was most recently the host of ‘Hudson Valley Word of Mouth,’ a radio show on WGXC/Wave Farm featuring interviews with creative entrepreneurs throughout the Catskills, Hudson Valley, Capital region, and beyond.

Babette's Feast
Launching 2024

Round Top Productions is teaming up with Chef Henning Nordanger to bring Babette's Feast to our table. Enjoy a memorable and delectable evening screening this Oscar-winning 1987 Danish movie and sharing in Babette's remarkable meal. 

Based on a story by British writer Isak Dinesen, the film is not only about food, but also love, generosity, and spiritual fulfillment. Watch a short video clip of A.O. Scott, film critic of The New York Times, discussing Babette's Feast where the meal is "lingered over in wonderful detail."

Set in 19th-century Denmark, on Babette's menu: Potage à la Tortue (turtle soup) served with Amontillado sherry; Blinis Demidoff (buckwheat pancakes with caviar and sour cream) served with Veuve Cliquot champagne; Cailles en Sarcophage (quail in puff pastry shell with foie gras and truffle sauce) served with Clos de Vougeot Pinot Noir; endive salad; Savarin au Rhum avec des Figues et Fruit Glacée (rum sponge cake with figs and candied cherries) served with Champagne; assorted cheeses and fruits served with Sauternes; coffee with vieux marc Grande Champagne cognac

Limited to 30 guests at Julia’s Local

Around Round Top

West of the mighty Hudson River and north of Woodstock, the quiet and magical hamlet of Round Top is nestled in Greene County in the lushness of the northern Catskills. Harking back to another time, around here it remains an enchanting place with many long-time family-owned and operated resorts like Reidlerbauer's, Blackhead Mountain Lodge, and Glen Brook Farm (with its own weekly summertime fireworks); old-school German restaurants such as the Bavarian Manor and legendary Mountain Brauhaus (part of Crystal Brook Resort); an antique bowling alley inside Winter Clove Inn; and a tavern for bands, DJs, and karaoke at Glen Falls House. For contemporary dance lovers, perched high on Crow’s Nest is the Petronio Residency Center, led by world-renowned choreographer, Stephen Petronio.

Situated among mountains, streams, hilly roads, and endless trails, Round Top is an ideal home base for any hiker, biker (check out the Round Top Mountain Bike Association), camper, or dreamer. And it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to Kaaterskills Falls, North-South Lake, and the magnificent Escarpment Trail, a 23.9-mile adventurer's heaven that summits at Blackhead Mountain. 

Within a 20-mile radius of Round Top are some of the area's most beloved towns and villages. Favorites include Catskill for its charming Main Street and for visiting the home and studio of Hudson River Valley painter Thomas Cole (and teacher of Frederick Church, whose gorgeous 'Olana' can be found directly across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge); Greenville for its retro drive-in movie theater; Windham Mountain and Hunter Mountain for all types of skiing; Tannersville, ‘The Painted Village in the Sky’; Saugerties for a well-loved indie used bookshop; Athens for riverfront views and a landmark lighthouse; and Hudson for its historic main street filled with antique shops, restaurants, and the arts and cultural anchor, Hudson Hall.

There is also no shortage of family-run farms and local farmers markets including Black Horse Farms, Bulich Creekside Farm, Churchtown Dairy, Climax Cooperative, Coxsackie Farmers Market, Hudson Farmers Market, Johnk Family Farm, Lime Kiln Farm, Saugerties Farmers Market, and Story Farms.

Venture north to our state capital to see architecture by Wallace K. Harrison, H.H. Richardson, Calvert Vaux, and Standford White, then cross the river to check out Albany's industrial sister city, Troy. Travel further south from Round Top and discover historic Kingston, the state's first capital now experiencing its own renaissance. And the Big Apple is just 120 miles away.

With its restorative natural beauty, alluring history, and back country roads, Round Top is truly a hidden gem. Join along in discovering the people and places in this unique corner of the world by getting an insider’s recommendations, from diamonds in the rough to well-established classics.

INSTAGRAM:
@round_top_recommends
@round_top_productions

Photos: View of the Hudson River by Jake Rajs from "The Hudson River: From Tear of the Clouds to Manhattan" published by The Monacelli Press (2006); view from Sunset Rocks of North-South Lake by Mark Fickett

ROUND TOP PRODUCTIONS
PO Box 348
Round Top, NY 12473
julia@roundtopproductions.com