{"id":151238,"date":"2026-03-03T17:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151238\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:16:20","slug":"from-food-desert-to-deli-destination-the-rise-of-wylde-young-in-johnsburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151238\/","title":{"rendered":"From food desert to deli destination: The rise of Wylde & Young in Johnsburg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Word travels fast in the Adirondacks, especially when it involves a legendary sandwich. I first heard about Wylde & Young<\/a> from my nephew Riley, who came upon the deli after a day of hunting and claimed it was the best Italian sub he\u2019d ever eaten. A month later, I visited the Johnsburg storefront to find he was right\u2014but the shop is more than just a pit stop on Route 8. It\u2019s the latest chapter for owner David Webb, an outdoors enthusiast and glamping pioneer who is now working to transform a food desert into a community crossroads.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first five months have surpassed all my hopes for how well we\u2019d do,\u201d said Webb, owner and cook at Wylde & Young, which opened Aug. 1. He cites support from the local community as well as word-of-mouth that\u2019s bringing visitors from Saratoga, Glens Falls and Blue Mountain Lake. The Route 8 location also means catching folks just passing through. \u201cWe estimate over 30 different state license plates have stopped in,\u201d Webb said.<\/p>\n

\"ManWylde & Young<\/a> owner David Webb, right, chats with a customer. Photo by Nancie Battaglia<\/p>\n

This is not the first business Webb has started. In 2011, he was a pioneer in opening one of the first glamping sites in North America when he created Camp Orenda, a secluded 40-acre site on property in Johnsburg, owned by his family since the late 1960s.<\/p>\n

Camp Orenda was in operation from 2011 through 2025. It ran seven days a week for 120 consecutive days, and its mission was to have people enjoy a camping experience at one of their four custom-made canvas tent cabins. Webb\u2019s wife, Laura Marie, is a classically trained chef who prepared seasonal fine-dining menus daily. Webb, a trained mountaineer, would take patrons on canoeing, kayaking, caving, fishing, hiking, mountain biking and whitewater rafting adventures.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe loved the experience of creating Camp Orenda, but it was time to move on,\u201d Webb said. \u201cWe were the first glamping site around here, but it has now taken off. It did what I had hoped it would do, be a place to get people not very familiar with the outdoors to enjoy nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Adirondacks have toughened me up, and I learned that no matter how difficult things are, you just need to keep moving.<\/p>\n

David Webb, owner, Wylde & Young<\/p>\n

He was one of those people as a boy growing up in Brooklyn. \u201cMy parents bought a place here in Johnsburg when my brother and I were young so we could experience the outdoors. That\u2019s when I fell in love with the Adirondacks,\u201d he said. Back in New York City, he worked at delis and pizza places, and looked forward to returning north to set up a tent in the wild backwoods behind their house. As he got older, he climbed most of the High Peaks and had many Adirondack adventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Adirondacks have toughened me up, and I learned that no matter how difficult things are, you just need to keep moving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"CloseThe W&Y Italian Mix sub sandwich is a popular offering. Photo by Nancie Battaglia <\/p>\n

Some of that attitude may explain why Webb and his wife were willing to take their life savings and put all of that into this new deli in Johnsburg, about 15 miles northwest of Lake George. \u201cWe purchased this abandoned property in 2024. At one time it was a general store and a gas station, but it had fallen into serious disrepair. It sat here as a reminder how depressed and how forgotten some of these little hamlets can be in rural America. We spent a lot of time renovating it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

We purchased this abandoned property in 2024. At one time it was a general store and a gas station, but it had fallen into serious disrepair. It sat here as a reminder how depressed and how forgotten some of these little hamlets can be in rural America. <\/p>\n

David Webb, owner, Wylde & Young<\/p>\n

Unlike Camp Orenda, Webb is enjoying the simplicity of the menu. \u201cWe\u2019re open five days a week Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Our mission is to provide excellent fresh deli food at an affordable price as a way to support our community and the place where we live. It\u2019s a bit of a food desert up here, but if you put out good food, whether it\u2019s pizza, a fish fry or even a hot dog, people will come. I also wanted to open a deli because there are so few true delicatessens anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wants this establishment to be for the people. \u201cWhen you walk through the door, we don\u2019t judge you. Every customer gets the same friendly hospitable treatment. We may have a sweaty logger sitting at a table across from a wealthy summer resident. My hope is that this is a place where people from different backgrounds can enjoy good food and good conversation, and we want you to keep coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping his deli open till 7 p.m. is for many of the hard-working people in the area. \u201cSome of them can no longer go out to eat, but they can buy their cold cuts, bread and cheese here for a drastically low price. Maybe they can buy a sandwich that will last for two or three meals. It\u2019s so rewarding for me to see people enjoy what they\u2019re eating, and I especially love to see all the smiles in here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Word travels fast in the Adirondacks, especially when it involves a legendary sandwich. I first heard about Wylde…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[63271,44965,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-151238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-adirondackers","tag-johnsburg","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}