The Little Poconos Town That Accidentally Got Cool

A bunch of young, entrepreneurial cool kids are shaking up the rural northeast Pennsylvania town of Honesdale and turning it a hot spot that could very well be the next Catskills. But with a now-cutthroat real estate market and an influx of city-weary crowds, how long can this charmingly small town stay … small?

Scotty Kurtain, meanwhile, was lured to Honesdale by Philly real estate developer John Longacre, who owns American Sardine Bar, South Philly Tap Room, and Second District Brewing. Longacre is perhaps best known for investing in Point Breeze and Newbold when most of his peers were staying far away, so it probably bodes well for Honesdale that his latest venture is a spot called Second District Vineyard, located just 20 minutes outside of town. ­Longacre bought the place in 2014 and eventually recruited Kurtain, a former barback at South Philly Taproom, to transform it into a farm for his restaurants. Kurtain didn’t know much about agriculture when he arrived, but he’s turned the place into a thing of beauty. –Philadelphia Magazine