Gala Restaurant & Bar

Print Story | Email Story

Gala Restaurant & Bar is a AAA 4-Diamond-rated fine dining restaurant featuring a fusion of classic and contemporary cuisine. 

Located inside the Orchards Hotel, in Williamstown, Mass., Gala offers its guests both a formal dinner setting and a more relaxed pub experience. Gala serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and a Sunday brunch. According to  Brian Flagg, Restaurant and Banquet Manager, "Our local community has been a great inspiration and we want everyone to feel welcome whether it’s to stop by for a cocktail after work, to watch the game, or meet friends for dinner."

The menu at Gala, created by Executive Chef Chris Bonnivier, blends Berkshire Grown products featuring fresh produce, meats and game from local Berkshire Mountains region farms and seafood from the highest quality purveyors in the Northeast. Chef Bonnivier’s culinary experience both locally and abroad brings a truly unique perspective and style to his menu creations.



Gala also boasts courtyard dining all summer.  Encompassed by a beautiful garden and surrounded by the Orchards Hotel, the courtyard provides another gathering place for hotel guests and diners alike. Along with private functions in the courtyard, there are events throughout the summer like courtyard barbecues and live entertainment not found at other venues. The courtyard is available throughout the summer and into early fall for weddings, parties, al fresco dining and just about any other function a guest could want.

In addition to the fine dining, pub and garden courtyard opportunities, Gala also has private function spaces available all yearlong. With a capacity for more than 100 guests, the Cabaret Ballroom features delicate candlelit chandeliers, a cathedral ceiling, views of the spectacular courtyard and the Berkshire Mountains, and stylishly warm and elegant decor. The versatility of this beautiful room allows for a bright and lively afternoon affair or a chic candlelight evening event.  The Chandler Room, with bright and sunny windows, is an ideal space for a seminar, luncheon or cocktail party and dinner for up to 40 people. The Baxter Room, the  private dining room, with its crystal chandelier and elegant decor  is ready for a party of eight to 10. The boardroom, Sawyer, can accommodate up to a dozen people for a strategic planning meeting, brainstorming session or board of directors meeting.

General manager Bernie English, Chef Bonnivier and Flagg have worked diligently to make Gala welcoming for Berkshire residents. A monthly calendar loaded with special events is designed to appeal to residents in the hopes of creating a destination location.  With events like a monthly  courtyard lobster and steak bake, karaoke, trivia and free dessert, Gala definitely appears to be the place for residents and out-of-town visitors to gather with friends and family.


The winter hours are:

Lunch 11:30AM-2.15PM daily

Dinner 5:30PM-9:00PM

Sunday-Tuesday - Bar Menu Only

Wednesday-Saturday Full Dinner and Bar Menu

Sundays we offer a special treat, Brunch from 11:00AM to 2:15PM

Lighter Fare Bar Menu available 11:30AM to 9:00PM Daily

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williamstown Planning Board Narrowing in on Subdivision Bylaw Changes

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board late last month discussed specific features of what it plans to pass as a new subdivision control bylaw this year.
 
The board long has discussed the complex set of regulations as being out of date and cumbersome to both potential developers and the board itself, which has needed to hear requests for waivers of outdated rules for the handful of residential subdivisions that have been proposed in town in recent years.
 
This spring, the town engaged consultants from Northampton's Dodson and Flinker Landscape Architecture and Planning to go through the existing bylaw, compare it to more contemporary regulations in other communities and help craft a revised bylaw.
 
Unlike the zoning bylaw, where amendments require approval of town meeting, the subdivision control bylaw is a creation of the Planning Board, which can make changes on its own after a public hearing process it hopes to complete this year.
 
At a special Planning Board meeting on May 26, Dillon Sussman of Dodson and Flinker and his colleagues walked the board through a dozen different decision points that the board must resolve — either by leaving the bylaw as is or making a change — and offered suggestions based on best practices.
 
All of the issues are technical and ranged from the fundamental, like how the bylaw will define types of subdivisions, to the highly specific, like what turning radii will be required in new streets that are constructed to serve planned developments.
 
One example of a topic that came up in the recent approval of a four-home subdivision off Summer Street is stormwater management.
 
View Full Story

More Williamstown Stories