Finch

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Three Centuries of Table and Tavern

Stockton Inn has stood at the edge of the Delaware River since 1710 — before the town around it had even earned its name. The building that now holds Finch's dining room, tavern, and terrace was, at various points, a farmer's bar, a Prohibition-era speakeasy pouring Wikecheoke Apple Jack, and a weekend retreat for F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Algonquin Roundtable. The wishing well at the entrance inspired Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "There's a Small Hotel," later recorded by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Margaret Mitchell is said to have written parts of Gone With the Wind in the carriage house out back.

After sitting empty for eight years following an unexpected closure in 2014, the inn was purchased in 2022 by a local couple who undertook a full restoration. By 2024, it had reopened as a refined boutique retreat with nine bespoke guest rooms, three distinct dining spaces, and a culinary program built around the rhythms of the Delaware River Valley.

Chef Bob Truitt and the Kitchen Behind It

Executive Chef Bob Truitt grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs eating chicken cutlets, stuffed shells, and Italian wedding soup — the South Philly Italian-American table that still threads through his cooking today. His professional path ran through some serious rooms: James Beard Award-winning Chef Guillermo Pernot's Pasíon during the ceviche revolution, Morimoto Philadelphia, Ferran Adrià's three-Michelin-starred El Bulli in Spain, and Michael White's Marea and Ai Fiori in New York, where Truitt was named a James Beard Semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef. He joined Stockton Inn in 2024 alongside Managing Director Anthony Rudolf, both Bucks County-area natives returning to their roots.

The menu reflects that background without announcing it. Seasonality and sourcing are treated as baseline, not selling points. Organic chicken, beef, duck, and eggs come from Lancaster farms. Burgers and bolognese draw on beef from River Bend, a local cattle farmer. Greens arrive from Blue Moon, fish from Local 130 — a south Jersey monger working with independent fishermen — and polenta from Castle Valley Mill in Doylestown. Wood-fired pizzas on the menu pay homage to Truitt's early days at an Iron Hill Brewery pizza oven. Duck agnolotti, bucatini, and house-made pastas appear in the gallery of dishes coming out of the kitchen, their Italian American character grounded in local, organic ingredients.

The wine program earned a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2025, a recognition that reflects the seriousness with which the list is curated. Sommelier Nikki Palladino leads wine events and pairings on-site, while head bartender Brian Miller — a figure in the modern craft cocktail movement, known for Death & Co, Pegu Club, and The Polynesian — defines the bar program with what the inn describes as "elevated and eccentric."

The Rooms and the River

The dining room, tavern, and terrace sit within a property that also offers nine guest rooms and a full calendar of events: wine dinners with figures like Master Sommelier André Hueston Mack, private tasting menus in the art deco Fox Room, and mixology classes with Miller. The inn is positioned between New York and Philadelphia, at the center of a string of Delaware River towns connected by bike paths and walkable bridges — Lambertville, New Hope, Frenchtown — that have evolved from early American settlements into a destination for those who prefer the countryside to the city grid.

The Condé Nast Traveler 2026 Readers' Choice Awards nomination adds to the recognition the property has gathered since reopening. But the most honest description of the place comes from local historian Marfy Goodspeed: "It's a landmark. It had been closed for a while, which I found very disturbing, and I'm delighted to see it brought back to life."