the great outdoors

Olmsted Turned Its Back Garden Into a Cozy Autumn Refuge

S’mores! Photo: Melissa Hom

Fall in New York is the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also the most fleeting. You’ve got a short window to sit outside, sipping a hot toddy while admiring the foliage, before you lose feeling in your toes on your schlep to the subway and face-plant into a mound of dirty snow. (Sorry.)

The folks at Olmsted — the Prospect Heights restaurant that opened in May, to much acclaim — know this all too well, so they’re putting their beautiful backyard garden to good use by introducing some cold-weather offerings. They’re going all out in creating warm and fuzzy feelings, serving warm cocktails in Stanley thermoses and hot chocolate in mismatched mugs, with a housemade Swiss Miss–style mix and dry country marshmallows. Best of all, perhaps, is that you can make your own s’mores, with housemade vanilla marshmallows, graham crackers from Runner & Stone, Hershey’s chocolate (thank god, no one wants Mast Brothers in their s’mores), and a personal charcoal fire.

Now’s the time to visit, but rest assured that Olmsted will keep this up through the holidays, providing heaters and Instagram-friendly Pendleton blankets. Take a look:

Cute AF. Photo: Melissa Hom
The Zabar’s mug is a nice touch. Photo: Melissa Hom
S’mores never looked so elegant. Photo: Melissa Hom
Another good mug. Photo: Melissa Hom
Burn, baby, burn. Photo: Melissa Hom
Yes! Photo: Melissa Hom
Seriously, who was in charge of buying mugs? Good job. Photo: Melissa Hom
If you don’t eat these until you’re ill, you’re doing it wrong, and you need to go back to summer camp. Photo: Melissa Hom
Olmsted Turned Its Back Garden Into a Cozy Autumn Refuge