Searching out scratch bakeries

By Judith Lerner12:00AM / Thursday, November 18, 2004Print Story | Email Story

It started with a doughnut quest from Williamstown and North Adams down to Great Barrington for Mother's Day. I went that far stopping wherever a doughnut might be for sale; looking for something like my mother's aromatic little yeast/bread doughnuts. Many years ago, I invented a joke bakery, The American Pie Service Company. This spring, I created a fictional, conceptual art installation, â€œThe Pound of Flesh CafÃ©.â€ These are all about food obsessions, false food, pleasure in food and nourishment. The cafÃ© opened for two hours for teatime during Pittsfield's Art of Food show in May. Afterwards, a friend sent me a New Yorker cartoon of a street food vendor grilling little somethings and whose cart umbrella fringes read, "foodlike substances" or items or something. I'm not the only one. Real food versus foodlike substances is a real concern of mine. Perhaps of yours. Yes, it is true that real ingredients cost more than artificial. Vanillin, hydrogenated vegetable shortenings, margarine, chocolate flavoring are cheaper than pure vanilla extract or vanilla beans, butter and cocoa or chocolate. And fresh fruits, freshly milled or unbleached flours and freshly whipped cream also cost more than canned, bleached and non-dairy crÃ¨me (whipped water, hydrogenated shortening and air). I asked a baker whether her fruit fillings were fresh. She was proud that her fruit bars are made with canned fruit. They cost only 50 cents apiece. A fruit bar made with fresh fruit which she bought while traveling in Vermont cost $2.25. But when you buy this ersatz food, what will you be eating? You pay less, but it's not for food. It is for something that looks like food. You're not saving. You're paying for nothing. You will be eating nothing. It doesn't nourish you. It may even make you ill. So you really pay more for fake food. Think of it as "The Emperor Has No Food." The following are South County's bakeries, cafÃ©s and other eateries from which you can buy baked goods made from scratch. The choices here are wonderful. Many of them even good for you. Really real food. They are made to delight you while they fill your stomach and cells with digestible, pronounceable deliciousness. So enjoy these real, from-scratch breads, cakes, pies and all. Their calories convert to energy. Even those without chocolate will make you feel good. And you won't need to consume a store windowful to feel full. If I've missed your favorite bakery or cafÃ©, ask them about their ingredients. Let me know if I should add them to the list of where to get baked goods from scratch. Barrington Brewery and Restaurant, 424 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington, 528-8282. Desserts here are made by Odille Carpenter, a culinary arts educator and reformed restaurateur herself. Her all-butter piecrusts melt in your mouth. The rich chocolate stout cake, carrot cake, lemon torte, brownies, etc. are all worth the calories. Berkshire Coop Market, 42 Bridge St., Great Barrington, 528-9697. Mostly organic ingredients in the desserts the kitchen makes. Fresh crisps on hot bar. Cheesecakes to come. Berkshire Bagels, 18 Franklin St., Lenox, 637-1500. Over 15 flavors baked fresh throughout the day. Available all over the county, in New York state and Connecticut. Owner Jack Franchebois delivers them himself in the middle of the night. Berkshire Bagels makes its own cream cheese spreads. Berkshire Mountain Bakery, Route 183 / 367 Park St., Housatonic, 274-3412. Sourdough breads, rolls, pizza crusts, pizzas, toasts, cookies made from organic ingredients and whole wheat flour they themselves mill freshly, owner and baker Richard Bourdon said. Mostly whole grain. Many types of breads including sunflower and flaxseed, spelt, whole rye, brown rice, a ciabatta filled with Cabot sharp cheddar, focaccias, cherry pecan bread and chocolate bread and rolls. Sold at the bakery, at Great Barrington's Berkshire Coop Market, Wild Oats Coop in Williamstown, Guido's, the Nejaimes Wine Cellars, many local farmers' markets, smaller stores and restaurants in Berkshire County, Connecticut and New York state. The best! Bread Alone, Saugerties, N.Y. Tasty, simple, traditional, non-sourdough yeast breads available weekends at various Nejaimes Wine Cellars in Lenox and Stockbridge. Caffe Pomo d'Oro, 6 Depot St., West Stockbridge, 232-4616. Croissants, muffins, biscotti, pastries, pies and desserts using butter and the finest ingredients by owner Scott Cole or from his recipes. Cakewalk Bakery & CafÃ©, 56 Main St., Lee, 243-2806.Everything from soup to sandwich breads to dressings and sauces is made from scratch except mayonnaise, which is Hellmann's â€” owner Rachel Portnoy childhood comfort-spread. Real butter pie, tart and quiche crusts, cakes and cakelets with butter cream frosting. Danishes, scones, breakfast breads and muffins, pastries, bars, brownies and blondies. Breads of many sorts including brioche, challah, multi-grain baguette. I know I'm forgetting something ... it's all delicious. Don't miss the lemon squares. Chaiwalla Tea Room, Main Street, Salisbury, Conn., 860-435-9758. Owner Mary O'Brien does all the baking herself in a kitchen above the dining room of this charming tea house. She serves Bread Alone bread, bakes muffins to go with her soups, tomato pie and desserts you must eat to believe: Berry and other fruit crisps, crumbles and pies, carrot cake, chocolate cakes, whiskey cake. Save room when you order lunch or early dinner. But a serving can satisfy three eaters. Cheesecake Charlie's, 271 Main St., Great Barrington, 528-7790. For 20 years, first in Lenox now in Great Barrington, Sophie (nickname Charlie) Petillo, co-owner with her husband Ralph Petillo, has been lovingly handcrafting cheesecakes, carrot cakes, chocolate, white, even wedding cakes, no more than four at a time, in a big bowl with a little, old hand held mixer. Her cheesecakes are now available in 58 flavors such as best-selling plain, butterscotch, chocolate, new homemade lemon curd, Snickers, fresh fruits and white chocolate raspberry in various sizes. Petillo bakes muffins, scones and cookies, too. Chocolate Springs, The Lenox Shops, Pittsfield Road (Route 7), 637-9820. All confections â€” biscotti, cookies, scones, cinnamon sticks, mousse cakes, not to speak of truffles and other chocolates and ice creams â€” are European-style, low in sugar, high in chocolate, made from the freshest real ingredients, such as the mint picked from chef/owner Joshua Needleman's mother's garden. Chocolate Springs also features its own puff pastry pizza with fresh basil, tomato and mozzarella cheese. Daily Bread Bakery, Main Street, Great Barrington and Stockbridge, 528-9610 or 298-027. Breads and homey baked goods. They make a really good marbled cream cheese-chocolate cupcake. The Great Barrington Bagel Company, 777 South Main St., Great Barrington, 528-9055. Marvin and Judy Lieberman's bagels, spreads, soups and store made deli meats are too numerous to count. The bagels are the real thing. Crunchy. Flavorful. Not overblown or doughy. Schmoozing here over a bagel, soup or sandwich is a way to pass a morning or an afternoon. Everyone becomes family at Great Barrington Bagel. Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Harlemville, N.Y., 518-672-7500. All organic and biodynamic ingredients in more than two dozen varieties of delicious breads, as well as bagels, rolls, Danishes, scones, brownies and cookies. Love Dog CafÃ©, The Lenox Shops, Pittsfield Road (Route 7), 637-8022. Restaurant-made desserts are all organic except for whipped cream made from High Lawn Farm cream. Butter is used except in vegan products where unhydrogenated soy margarine or safflower oil is used. The Marketplace at Guido's, 760 South Main St., Great Barrington, 528-5775. The breads come from Berkshire Mountain Bakery and Bread Ventures but they make everything else they sell from scratch. You can look up any ingredients in a book available at the counter. All the very delicious rich, buttery pies, cakes, etc. are made with mostly organic ingredients. Paula's Pastries, 5 Center St., West Stockbridge, 232-7722. Home-style pastries. Roadside Store & CafÃ©, Main Road (Route 22), Monterey, 528-2633. Organic breads, muffins and bars come from Gould Farmsâ€™ kitchen across the road. The cafÃ© makes incredible pancakes. Try them. Rock Hill Bakehouse, 21 Saratoga Road, Gansevoort, New York, 518-743-1627. Variety of excellent traditional breads, some whole grain, some organic. Sold in Berkshire County at the Pittsfield Guido's and Wild Oats Coop in Williamstown. Used by area restaurants such as Bistro Zinc, CafÃ© Lucia, Church Street CafÃ© and Wheatleigh, all in Lenox, and Caffe Pomo d'Oro in West Stockbridge.

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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

02:13PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."

The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School.

The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday.

The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season.

The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations.

"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.

"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."

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