Places I Like to Write: Patrick's Pub

By Sharon Mack
iBerkshires Columnist
03:14PM / Sunday, April 12, 2009

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PITTSFIELD, Mass.

I love food, which is probably one of the reasons I like to mix it with my other favorite things — writing and reading. They all seem to go hand in hand for me somehow. Reading breeds writing and writing makes me hungry and good food inspires me to write.

I love Patrick's Pub! I try to visit at least once a week armed with book, pens and pad. Usually, as at other favorite spots, I go early enough to get good parking and to be sure I get my favorite table.

I walk through the front door and invariably go to the right. The table in the corner has two seats and gives an excellent view of the city and its citizens walking by, doing business, meeting friends, and coming in to eat. The tables around me are not so many that the noise is ever distracting and I love people-watching. I make them characters in my mind and create scenarios, personalities, families and friends for them. What are they like? Do they hurt? Are they happy? Are they lonely?

Photo courtesy Dave Powell   My favorite table at Patrick's Pub.

I watch a man with a bedraggled dog on the end of a rope, but I see that the dog looks at the man with utter love and devotion. Where do they live? How do they eat? Neither looks thin. I write a short story called "Dancing in the Fountain." A story set in Pittsfield — sort of — in these hard financial times and foreclosures. It features the rotary and all the businesses there, including Patrick's Pub, and, no, the man and his dog are not in it.

The menu at Patrick's has everything from chicken wings (Berkshire's Best) and Bloomin' Onion, to seafood, steak and sandwiches of every kind, including several hamburgers that will make your mouth water. I try something new each time I go. I started with a Bombay Sapphire gin martini, straight up (not dry), well chilled with four (count them) olives, shaken, not stirred. The bartender did not let me down. It came to me cold and icy, just the way I like it. 

The new item I try this week is an appetizer. The Bloomin' Onion with a horseradish dip. It's crispy and crunchy and to die for. You can't eat just one of those lovely petals — you must go on to finish.

Patrick's Pub

on Park Square Kitchen Hours Monday & Tuesday 4:30 - 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday 11:30 - 11:30 Friday & Saturday 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

My all-time favorite for dinner is the filet mignon with two large mushroom caps on top and Hollandaise sauce served on the side. Great for dipping each tender morsel into between words I write on the page. The entree comes with salad; rice pilaf, baked potato or french fries and a vegetable. I have had this several times — I keep returning to it — and each time the filet is cooked to perfection. Last time, I wrote a whole chapter to my latest novel-in-progress "Road to Osceander" — and no, the man and his dog are not in it either.

The staff, the waitresses and the hostesses always have a smile and a good word, so for my money — you can't go wrong at Patrick's.

Sharon Mack is a member of the Berkshires Writers Room and is working on a mystery novel.

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