Good Friend Cafe in West Shokan has opened its doors, giving Olive residents a new place to grab a morning coffee, a breakfast sandwich or burrito, a midday hot dog, some candy, or just a place to hang out.
Located next to the West Shokan Post Office, the cafe held its grand opening on July 4. Since then, owners Marta and Jeremy Baumann have focused on expanding the menu and building a gathering place around the cafe and marketplace.
The earthy, brown-and-green interior has five tables. Shelves lining the walls hold chips, condiments, graham crackers, honey, and household items such as Advil and hand soap. A refrigerator is stocked with Mexican Coke, Sprite, other soft drinks, eggs, and fresh produce.
“It’s been really fun getting to know all these people,” said Marta Baumann, who runs the cafe with her husband, Jeremy, its chef.
The kitchen is open Thursday through Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Its breakfast menu includes homemade biscuits, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast tacos, baked goods, and a breakfast plate. Hot dogs and chips are served for lunch.
The cafe and marketplace remain open until 5 p.m. on the same days.
About 200 customers visited during opening weekend, Jeremy Baumann said.
“The food was phenomenal, and it was fresh,” said Scott Mackenzie, a Stone Ridge resident who stopped at the cafe after walking along the Ashokan Reservoir. “It’s inviting, it’s clean, it’s warm. The food’s filling.”
The building has long been a fixture in Olive. Constructed in 1917, the storefront previously housed Skin’s Place, the American General Store, and Marty’s Mercantile, which closed in 2023. It remained vacant until the Baumanns opened Good Friend.
“I love being a little hub, seeing everybody catching up in here over coffee in the morning, and having breakfast,” Jeremy Baumann said.
The Baumanns moved from Texas to New York City’s Lower East Side in 2005, carrying two bags of clothing each and knowing no one in the city. A few days after arriving, they spotted a yellow sign with red lettering and walked into a tiny cafe that could hold barely seven people.
During that visit, they met the cafe’s owner, who became their first friend in New York.
The cafe soon became their neighborhood gathering place. More than 20 years later, the Baumanns still keep in touch with friends they met over coffee there.
That cafe was called Good Friend. The sign that welcomed them in 2005 now hangs in the dining area of their West Shokan cafe.
“That’s why we decided to do this here,” Marta Baumann said. “We were so welcomed when we moved to New York City that we wanted to recreate that here.”
Marta Baumann hopes the cafe becomes a home for regulars, weekenders, and visitors. She envisions a place where full-time residents can catch up over coffee and a meal while part-time residents, who may struggle to form local connections, can feel welcome.
“We try to create a welcoming, open environment so people feel comfortable being here and talking to other people,” she said.
The cafe’s early hours are intended to accommodate Olive residents whose workdays begin before 6 a.m., Marta Baumann said.
Outside, Jeremy Baumann keeps ice water available for cyclists traveling along Route 28A and allows them to refill their bottles, which he said happens regularly.
The Baumanns also turned a closet on the front porch into Buddy’s Snack Shack. Decorated with string lights, streamers, and a disco ball, it offers candies selected by the couple’s 12-year-old next-door neighbor. The self-serve space also has a freezer stocked with ice cream.
“They want to be part of the community,” Mackenzie said. “They want to enhance the community in a good way, and that’s rare.”
Kyle Bredberg is an intern and contributing reporter. You can reach him at kyle@theoverlooknews.com.
