 |
|
North Adams Restaurant to Reopen With Med Menu |
|
On: 03:40PM / Tuesday June 11, 2013 |
|
|
 The set-to-open Mediterra will offer Mediterranean dishes, a sampling of which was offered at a recent gathering of business and cultural representatives. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Local is undergoing a name and menu change.
The restaurant at 67 Main St. was closed over the weekend and is set to reopen on Wednesday as Mediterra, with a new menu of Mediterranean dishes along with some American bistro-style option.
According to a statement through the North Adams Chamber of Commerce, owner Fahri Karakaya, who opened the restaurant last year with sandwich and breakfast offerings, has been considering the change for some time.
"It was always in my mind to open a Mediterranean restaurant. After operating The Local for over a year, I have realized that there were many similar restaurant concepts in the area, but no Mediterranean cuisine," he said. "Many of The Local guests constantly asked if I was thinking of making a change, and here I am. I am running toward my dream."
Karakaya previewed some of the dishes at a recent gathering to update the area on coming events, including the Solid Sound Festival. He said he has found an experienced chef to execute the new menu of Turkish, Italian, Greek and Lebanese selections.
"I am proud of my Turkish heritage and am looking forward to sharing this with my guests," he said.
Several upgrades have been made to the kitchen as well as painting and redecorating the dining room.
With the change, Mediterra will be open for lunch and dinner during the week, and will also include traditional breakfast choices on the weekend. The restaurant also offers beer and wine.
Hours will be Tuesday to Friday beginning at 11 and serving dinner; breakfast will be offered on the weekends beginning at 8 a.m. Closed Mondays.
For more information, 413-346-4172.
|
|
|
Berkshire Co-op Market Offers Farm Tour Program |
|
On: 12:05PM / Friday May 24, 2013 |
|
|
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Farm Tour program, a project of the Berkshire Co-op Market, will continue into the summer.
"Farm tours are a great opportunity for participants to deepen their relationships with their food," said Matt Novik, the Co-op's communications manager, "Each tour offers a unique look at a local farm and how they produce the food they offer. It's one thing to know where it comes from. It's an entirely different thing to meet the cows, taste a fresh picked carrot and feel the soil between your fingers."
The farmer-led tours will be offering at Indian Line Farm, Rawson Brook Farm and Sol Flower Farm.
Indian Line Farm is a 17-acre operation located in South Egremont that grows vegetables, herbs fruit and flowers. Elizabeth Keen and Al Thorpe, who have been growing at Indian Line since 1997, will lead the tour that will focus on how to grow food for season extension. While plants will be in their beginning stages outside, the tour will take a closer look at what's happening inside the greenhouse. The tour will take place Friday, May 24, at 4 p.m.
Rawson Brook Farm, located in Monterey, is best known for their only product, Monterey Chevre. Owner Susan Sellew will give an in-depth tour from caring for the goats, especially the new kids of the farm, to the cheese-making process and a taste testing featuring a special recipe from the Co-op's kitchen. The tour will take place Saturday, June 8, at 11 a.m.
Sol Flower Farm in Ancramdale, N.Y., is a diversified market farm that sustainably grows vegetables and flowers. Farmer Andy Szymanowicz will lead the tour and show off the farming practices. The tour will conclude with a sample of a dish made with Sol Flower ingredients from the Co-op's kitchen. The tour will take place Saturday, July, at 2 p.m.
Participants should sign up at the Co-op, located at 42 Bridge St., or call 413-528-9697. Tours meet at the farm. For directions or more information, call the Co-Op or visit www.berkshire.coop.
|
|
|
Barrington Brewery: Come for the Beer, Stay for the Cake |
|
By Stephanie Farrington On: 05:40PM / Tuesday May 07, 2013 |
|
|
 Cheddar ale cheese soup starter at Barrington Brewery. |
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — What's better than chocolate cake?
For you, it might be a really good beer or a great sandwich, even a really fresh salad but for me, it's chocolate cake. So you should know, even if the rest of the menu at Barrington Brewery was just OK, I'd still go there for the cake.
Situated on Route 7, on the fringe of Great Barrington, the Barrington Brewery prides itself on serving "solar powered" beer brewed on the premises. For $4.95 you can try five of them served in three-ounce glasses set in a wooden tray. It was fun to try the beer but the real appeal of the Great Barrington Brewery for me was the food.
We arrived at 6 on a Friday night. The place was pleasantly busy with beer lovers enjoying happy hour in the pub while couples and families had dinner in the rustic dining room.
The decor is typical for a Berkshire pub, rustic and low key with a whiff of "Ye Olde English" about it, but unpretentiously so. Rough-hewn wooden tables and benches are surrounded by walls decorated with quaint farm and brewery memorabilia. It's comfortable and makes for a congenial setting for a relaxed Friday night supper.
Barrington Brewery offers specials for every weeknight. On Friday, the special is a New England Fish Fry. Served with salad, it includes scallops, cod, shrimp, cole slaw and fries. The Fish Fry is a big meal, so if you also want to try their soup or share an appetizer, you might want to share one plate between two. That's especially true if you plan on dessert.
We started with cheddar ale soup. I have never understood the appeal of soups that are basically melted cheese and beer heated together but this soup was excellent, sharp, tasty, rich and satisfying. Topped with crunchy croutons and served with a good loaf of bread, it was a great start to the meal. A cup was ample.
The salad that comes with the nightly specials is a good-sized side salad. It's balanced and fresh. It's a real salad that you'd pay extra for in many restaurants, which made it a pleasant surprise. It arrives at the table before the entree. The contrast of the fresh, crisp salad with the rich mellow soup made me feel a little less guilty about eating an entire plate full of fried food.
Our fish fry was good, hot and fresh. The batter was crisp and tasty and the plate was not overwhelmed with french fries. The fish fry is served with cole slaw, tartar sauce and cocktail sauce — with the ketchup on the table and vinegar available on request, I don't think you could ask for much more.
My partner found the scallops a little small but I think, for $14.95 for a good-sized serving of three kinds of fresh seafood, that's quibbling.
 A chocolate cake of many layers. |
We talked, we laughed we ate and when we were done, my thoughts returned to the dessert display and that great, big cake. We asked for a dessert menu.
If you don't want cake, you can choose from three different pies, a lemon tart, choclate tart, brownie sundae, cheesecake or a fruit crisp. All of them looked good, but for me there was no question. We ordered a piece of the chocolate stout cake to share and I will be back for another to keep to myself on a night when I eat a much lighter dinner.
Because there is nothing light about this chocolate cake. Wrapped in fudgy dark chocolate icing, it is three layers high. Rich and heavy, moist and soft — deeply chocolatey with a mellow undertone that could only come from the addition of house-made stout. This cake calls out for an ice cold glass of milk, if you can manage it. But with or without milk, it's a classic.
And it's huge. Honestly, between three of us I wasn't sure we would finish it.
I was wrong.
So, do yourself a favor, any night you're in South County and don't feel like cooking, head down to the Barrington Brewery. The prices are modest, (three of us ate well for around $70) the service friendly, and most important of all, beer or no beer, they're cooking what you want to eat.
|
|
|
The Hub Restaurant Celebrates 5 Years on Friday |
|
By John Durkan On: 06:30PM / Thursday May 02, 2013 |
|
|
 Matt and Kate Schilling pose outside of their restaurant, The Hub, on the eve of its fifth birthday. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Thursday afternoon at The Hub seemed typical.
The lunch rush has passed. Matt Schilling checks over slider supplies and gets his line staff ready for the next rush. Kate Schilling goes over adjustments in the restaurant's computer with waitress Jennifer Tatro.
Tomorrow's a different story. After all, the popular Main Street establishment will celebrate its fifth birthday on May 3.
"We're really proud of it, and mostly I'm proud of Matt," Kate Schilling said. "He deserved this. It was always his dream to have his own place and he worked his way up to it and he's really the backbone, he holds it all together."
Friday's already usually busy. But it will be busier than usual in celebration, as the Schilling family has birthday plans.
Every table will receive mystery envelopes, which at random hold a discounts from 10 to 50 percent or a free meal or desserts, Hub T-shirts, bumper stickers and more. In addition, they'll have a big cake that everyone will get a slice of, $5 appetizers all day long and $5 drink specials.
Matt and Kate Schilling both have been in the restaurant business for awhile. Matt Schilling has about 25 years of experience, and even ran the Mangrove Mamas, located in Key West, Fla., for 14 years. Kate Schilling started her restaurant experience at 16 and worked in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she met and worked with Matt.
"I was as far north as you can go and he was far south as you can go on the same seaboard," said Kate, a North Adams native.
They made a good team, and as Kate put it, "decided to get married even after working together in a restaurant," which if you have ever worked at a restaurant, you would understand.
They eventually moved to North Adams to get married and then they saw the old Milan at 55 restaurant for sale and decided to make a move.
"We were like, 'would this be a good opportunity?' And it was a good spot, right on Main Street," said Kate. "Me being from North Adams, I felt like there was so many things missing restaurantwise. Even since we opened in five years, so much has happened. The town has really improved, there's a lot more here."
Kate felt her connection to North Adams also helped her decide on the menu.
"I felt like I knew what North Adams needed," she said. "I knew that most people don't want the fancy-schmancy escargot ... People just want good food, good honest food ... It doesn't need to be that complicated."
Matt joked that the expectation was to "become millionaires and retire" but quickly retracted that statement. They just want to make a living, offer the city a restaurant to "be here for the long haul."
"We hoped that the town would keep us going and they have," Kate said.
The Schillings, as well as their staff, credited the local residents for their success.
"We have such a good local following, and that's the most important thing ever," Kate said, noting that they are also thankful for the added business from Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Porches and other venues.
They also credited their staff, the "Hub Family," for keeping the place successful.
"We have the best staff, and you know who says that? The customers say that all the time," Kate said.
Tatro, a waitress at The Hub, echoed Kate's feelings.
"I love all the staff, we're like family," Tatro said.
The Schillings hope for the next five years to treat them as well as the first, and hope to expand to offer entertainment.
The Hub is located at 55 Main St. and is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until 9:30.
|
|
|
Nudel Chef-Owner Nominated for Top 100 Chef |
|
On: 09:49PM / Wednesday March 13, 2013 |
|
|
|
Bjorn Somlo of Nudel has earned a second nomination for best new chef.
|
LENOX, Mass. — Bjorn Somlo, chef-owner of Nudel Restaurant, has been nominated one of the top 100 chefs for The People's Best New Chef award for Food & Wine magazine.
This is Somlo's second nomination for an award honoring up-and-coming innovators who have run their own kitchens for five years or fewer.
Restaurant devotees will determine The People's Best New Chef winner by voting online here through March 18.
His bistro takes its inspiration from the bounty provided by local farms and food producers of the Berkshire region. He is committed to using local, organic, ethical and natural ingredients whenever and as much as possible.
Somlo started out bussing tables at the county fair when he was 16 years old. Since then, he has worked in the kitchens of restaurants across the region. After living in New Orleans and New York City and working abroad, he returned home to the Berkshires. Somlo opened Nudel in August 2009 and has been nominated one time for Rising Star Chef and three times for Best Chef: Northeast by the James Beard Foundation, in addition to this second nomination for The People's Best New Chef award for Food & Wine magazine.
"I am honored to be nominated for the Food & Wine award and extend this recognition to the incredible farmers, artisans and purveyors I have the privilege of working with," said Somlo. "Nudel's success is the result of collaboration and partnerships in the Berkshires and Hudson Valley and I am so fortunate to play a part in this food community."
The field of 100 nominees for The People's Best New Chef award includes 10 chefs in each of 10 regions across America. Somlo has been nominated as a top 10 chef in New England. The chefs with the most votes in each of the regions will be named finalists and the most votes overall will be named The People's Best New Chef on March 18. The winner will also be featured in the July issue of Food & Wine, the same issue that profiles the Best New Chefs.
Nudel is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 until 9:30 p.m., no reservations required. For more information: 413-551-7183 or info@nudelrestaurant.com.
|
|
|
Stephanie Farrington of 
