At the Readsboro Inn, it’s a whole new world

By Glenn DrohanPrint Story | Email Story
READSBORO, Vt. — The specialty of the house at the Readsboro Inn used to be a cheeseburger and a beer. Now it’s sesame-encrusted salmon and Chablis — among other more upscale dishes. Owners Marcia Evans and Nadia Todres have brought an entirely new look to the historic inn and tavern on Main Street (Route 100), which they bought in December 2003 from the Bolognani family, who had been owners since 1931. Since the takeover, many of the regular customers have had to learn to leave their shotguns in their pickup trucks and to get used to white tablecloths and candlelit dinners. They can still get their cheeseburgers, spaghetti and meatballs and beer aplenty, but they’re more likely to find that in a newly built, spacious tavern, which Evans and Todres built in a huge adjacent room that had stood empty as long as anyone can remember. The former bar on the north side of the inn’s ground floor has been completely revamped into an elegant dining room, complete with a breakfast and lunch counter and seating for about 40. With help from local contractor Gary Dix, Evans and Todres moved the pool table into the new tavern, ripped down ugly drop ceilings and tore out the multi-level floor, over which many a patron had tripped in the old days. Todres said Evans did most of the interior design work. “She saw a lot more possibilities than I did. I saw it as sort of a mess,” Todres said. In August, through a bit of luck combined with no small amount of charm, they landed not the short-order cook they had been searching for but a master chef, Helmut Eckart, who once cooked at the Ritz Carlton in Boston and aboard the five-star luxury diner MS Europa. Eckart has introduced a distinctive menu, featuring prime rib, steaks, pasta dishes and seafood, which prompted the proprietors to expand dinner to three nights a week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, a move that has drawn in a large clientele from surrounding towns. “Our best advertising has been word of mouth,” Todres said. The inn already has 60 reservations for this Friday’s “German Night,” at which Eckart will provide a variety of traditional German dishes, including sauerbraten, potato dumplings with pickled red cabbage, wiener schnitzel, veal cutlet and “seezungin weisswe in sosse” (fillet of sole in white wine sauce). Those who don’t like beer, can get “gluehwin” — spiced red wine — or any number of other beverages. Eckart, of Rowe, Mass., who has extensive international experience and last worked as executive chef at Mount Snow, said people are always asking him what his specialty is. “I’ll tell them, ‘pick a year,”’ he said. This year, he’s catering to whatever diners like at the Readsboro Inn — or whatever he thinks they’ll like. That sometimes means whatever gourmet meal he is inspired to cook in any given week. Evans and Todres acknowledged that Eckart is “very overqualified” for the establishment, but they love the class he has brought to the place. “He’s big on educating the customers,” Evans said. “I’ll just tell them, ‘If you can’t pronounce it, trust me, it’s good.’” Eckart admitted he almost didn’t take the job, once he walked into the inn, which was in the middle of renovations at the time. “I looked around and said, ‘Oh gee.’ It wasn’t as nice then,” he said. “But I deeply sensed they needed help, and I couldn’t justify not helping them. That was in the middle of August, and I’m still here.” He said he’s enjoyed the camaraderie of working with Todres and Evans, and the restaurant’s weekend schedule has allowed him time to pursue his other passions: holistic healing and philosophy. Evans, who grew up in Pownal, and Todres, who is from the Boston area and met Evans while attending Bennington College, have done more than just renovate the dining room and bar. They said they invested more than $25,000 of their personal savings to completely redo the building — installing a new kitchen, buying new restaurant equipment, building an outside deck and putting down hardwood floors, which were installed at a bargain price by Dix. They also fixed up the inn’s seven rooms, buying new beds, new televisions and supplying down comforters. The inn is open seven days a week, with single rooms available for $25 a night and doubles for $35. Evans said she chanced upon the Readsboro Inn while out snowmobiling with a friend a few years ago. She soon learned it was for sale. “I liked it,” she said. “It reminded me of a tavern my parents had run in Maine.” At the time, she and Todres had been living in New York City, where Evans was a bartender and Todres worked for a photography studio. They said they both yearned for a more rural life, off the beaten track, and decided to close the deal. They said it took awhile for many customers to get used to the idea of a more upscale and modern inn, but most of them seem to like the changes. They started with a clean slate, even allowing back one former customer who had been barred for life because he once rode a horse into the bar. “This is a tough town. Many people were reluctant to change,” Evans said. “The inn’s reputation before was a rowdy, rough smoky bar. It’s a lot different now.” The new bar in the tavern area might look familiar to some customers. Todres and Evans bought it and much of their furnishings from the former Howard Johnson’s in Greenfield, Mass., and Dix helped them move it and set it up. They also established a “history nook” in the tavern, featuring historic pictures of Readsboro and the inn, most of which they obtained from the Bolognanis. Customers in the tavern who don’t like pool, television or just plain eating and drinking can enjoy video games or a round of darts in the history nook. Once a month, live bands perform — anything from bluegrass and rock and roll to country. The tavern still allows smoking, but the dining room is completely smoke-free. Dix, in addition to being a main force behind the renovations, has helped out by being the breakfast and lunch cook on weekends, because it is winter and his flooring business is slow. He said he met Evans and Todres in his usual place, “the corner seat” at the former bar, and they’ve since become good friends. When he’s not cooking chili and homemade apple pie or pitching in on the latest renovations, he often occupies the corner seat in the new tavern. The tavern is open daily at 4 p.m., except Friday and Saturday, when it opens at noon. The dining room is open for breakfast and lunch Friday through Sunday and for dinner Thursday through Saturday. On Thursdays from 5 to 9, Eckart offers “Thursday nights for two,” during which couples can have their choice of several Italian offerings, plus a bottle of wine, for $17.95. Without the wine, the cost is $11.95. On Fridays and Saturdays, entrees range in price from $8.95 for pasta dishes to $14.95 for prime rib. On Feb. 1, Super Bowl Sunday, the inn will try something a little different — a potluck buffet, to which customers are invited to bring their favorite dish for game time and enjoy $1 draft mugs of Coors and Bud all day long. Evans said she and Todres plan to continue improving the inn, restaurant and tavern, in phases, over the next several months. “We don’t have time to think about it, really. There’s so much to do, always something to fix,” she said. “It hasn’t been easy,” Todres said. “We still have people talking about how it used to be, and there’s been some resistance to ‘outsiders’ running the place. But people are starting to find out about it and how nice it is now. And we’re really not that far away from things — only 18 miles from North Adams.” Walk-in customers are welcome anytime, but reservations are recommended for the dinner specials. For information and reservations, call 802-423-5048 or visit www.reasboroinn.com. And remember: Leave the shotguns — and horses — outside.
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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