Sloatsburg — Hikers into Harriman State Park know it as pretty much the last stop for a bite of lunch, bottled water or supplies. Locals like the convenience store and deli counter, where most mornings there’ll be a coffee run as residents head out Rt. 17 on their way to work. The building has been on Seven Lakes Drive forever, since Bob and Dolores Manning opened shop as Miele’s back the 1950s, serving ice cream and hot dogs at the takeout window. But Sterlington Station is still sort of a secret in Sloatsburg.

New Sterlington proprietor Eric Lutz, from Ramsey, wants more people to know about his secret. He loves the local color and loyalty of his customers; how most everyone who drops in to Sterlington knows someone else already there. But he also wants to get word out that change is going to be good for the Station. He views the secret to his success as great new pub food, featuring plenty of steaks, and infusing a whole new vibe into a Sloatsburg tradition.

“We’ve renovated the entire inside,” said Lutz, referring to the new pub look which had its official grand opening the first weekend of November. “We tore out walls and opened everything up to create an old-fashioned, family pub atmosphere. We’re small, have good food and are a real hideaway.”

Part convenience store, part deli counter, and mostly pub, Sterlington Station can be a handful, as it’s just off the beaten track.

Lutz got the itch to enter the restaurant business just as Sterlington Station owner Lisa Bonkoski, along with her husband John, were ready for a break, after taking over ownership from the Mannings in 2005 and making exhaustive updates to the property. Lutz leased the business and intends to pick up where the Bonkoski’s left off.

“I’ve known John’s family for 30 years,” said Lutz, noting that the Bonkoskis’ support has been invaluable.

The new pub features a 22′ shuffle board table along the back wall, and a nice addition to the growing collection of fire helmets above the bar. Lutz is a fellow fire fighter like Bonkoski, having served as a volunteer for the Ramsey Fire Department for 19 years.

“I opened on my mom’s birthday,” said Lutz, recalling how his mom passed away suddenly, before she got a chance to see his new place. He took on the business right after Hurricane Irene blew through Sloatsburg, washing out the Seven Lakes Drive bridge and flooding Sterlington’s basement. “We had to pump four feet of water out,” he said. The hardships of that time, access shut off and people preoccupied with storm damage of their own, showed him something important about the Sloatsburg community.

“Meeting all the people, seeing how everyone cares for each other,” he said, “how everyone pulled together, that told me a lot about this community. It was hard but people are coming back and business is really picking up now that things are back to normal.”