Ta Bellas Italian Restaurant Opens in North Adams

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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'Chef Alex' and owner Farhi Karakaya are reopening MediTerra in North Adams as an Italian restaurant.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — New restaurant Ta Bellas is bringing Italian cuisine back to North Adams.

Owner Fahri Karakaya has reopened Mediterra on Main Street as an Italian restaurant, which the city has not had since the closing of Red Sauce two years ago and Isabella's a year or so before that.

"This area in Northern Berkshire needs an Italian restaurant," Karakaya said. "The menu is purely Italian, and the name is Ta Bellas, 'the beautiful tables.'"

Karakaya explained that he made the switch to Italian because his newly hired chef specializes in Italian cooking. "Chef Alex," most recently of Haflinger Haus in Adams, felt North Adams was in need of an Italian restaurant and wanted to bring his skills to the table.

"He is very dedicated and ambitions, and I am hoping it is going to work," Karakaya said. "That’s why I changed it based on his experience and his ideas."

This is Karakaya's third try at an eatery in two years in the corner location that was once the Boston Store. The Local opened in 2012 as a sandwich and coffee shop, similar to previous occupants Petrino's and Cup & Saucer. Last year, he switched to a Mediterranean menu but closed in the fall to concentrate on a new restaurant on Spring Street in Williamstown.

Although Ta Bellas is open, Karakaya chose to have a soft opening to see how it does and how his newly constructed menu and team work. Karakaya is experimenting with the new restaurant so he can provide the best service during a grander opening.

"I don't mind if I serve a couple of tables, and you can't always see the problem when you try something new and different, he said. "Make it go slowly, and if there is a problem you can easily fix it."

Ta Bellas started serving a small lunch menu in addition to dinner. Karakaya said eventually he would like to serve Sunday breakfast.

"Since I have taken over this place, Sundays have been my best days ever," Karakaya said. "Many people are going to church and after church everyone is here."


Tags: new business,   Italian,   restaurant,   

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Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
 
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
 
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
 
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
 
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
 
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
 
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
 
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