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Gustavo Cruz and Yuridiana Zaragoza with a tray of her tamales.

Yury's Kitchen Brings Traditional Oaxacan Food to Pittsfield

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Yury's Kitchen, located at 496 Tyler St., opened on Feb. 18 and began selling traditional Mexican dishes from Oaxaca as well as some American cuisine.
 
The owners, Yuridiana Zaragoza and Gustavo Cruz, are originally from Oaxaca and wanted to bring the culture and tradition to Berkshire County. 
 
Cruz's sister, Sheyla Cruz, who also works at the restaurant helped translate for this article.
 
"They wanted to share what is the tradition because it's not just food, it's a whole tradition so they wanted to share that with Berkshire County people so they can try technically how Oaxaca tastes," said Cruz.
 
Zaragoza moved to Berkshire County five years ago and started selling tamales from her house, hoping to one day open her own restaurant like her mom and grandmother before her. 
 
"They've been dedicated to the kitchen for a long time so it was a dream to open up their own," Gustavo Cruz said. 
 
Zaragoza said her customers wanted to have a place to go to enjoy more of her food. 
 
"When they started they only did delivery so a lot of other customers asked for a place and a place for them to come and have dinner and breakfast and so now that they have it they feel really happy and being here they say it makes them feel at home," Zaragoza said.
 
 Zaragoza said she is the third generation in her family to have a restaurant. 
 
"She especially feels really happy and proud of herself to have a restaurant here in the United States and her mom also has a restaurant in Oaxaca, Mexico," Zaragoza said. 
 
Yury's Kitchen not only has Mexican dishes but also some American favorites, as they wanted to make sure anyone could come to Yury's Kitchen and have options to enjoy.
 
"For their own experience when they go to a restaurant from their own experience one might want to have American food and the other one probably wants to have Mexican food so they said once they opened their restaurant they then will think about their customers and for them to have options," Cruz said. 
 
Yuridiana Zaragoza and Gustavo Cruz, who are married and have two kids, said their 9-year-old son said he feels famous now that the restaurant is up and running. 
 
"He's like really happy because a lot of people post them on social media and now he says that he's famous," Cruz said.
 
In the future they want to be able to open another restaurant that's bigger and where they can have social events. For this year they hope to win Best of the Berkshires for Mexican food. 
 
Yury's Kitchen is closed on Wednesdays but open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. closing at 7 p.m. on Sundays. They serve American breakfast from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Mexican dishes noon to 8 p.m. Find the menu and more information on their Facebook page

Tags: new business,   mexican food,   restaurants,   

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Dalton Board Signs Off on Land Sale Over Residents' Objections

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

Residents demanded the right to speak but the agenda did not include public comment. Amy Musante holds a sign saying the town now as '$20,000 less for a police station.'
DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board signed the sale on the last of what had been known as the Bardin property Monday even as a handful of residents demanded the right to speak against the action. 
 
The quitclaim deed transfers the nine acres to Thomas and Esther Balardini, who purchased the two other parcels in Dalton. They were the third-highest bidders at $31,500. Despite this, the board awarded them the land in an effort to keep the property intact.
 
"It's going to be an ongoing battle but one I think that has to be fought [because of] the disregard for the taxpayers," said Dicken Crane, the high bidder at $51,510.
 
"If it was personal I would let it go, but this affects everyone and backing down is not in my nature." 
 
Crane had appealed to the board to accept his bid during two previous meetings. He and others opposed to accepting the lower bid say it cost the town $20,000. After the meeting, Crane said he will be filing a lawsuit and has a citizen's petition for the next town meeting with over 100 signatures. 
 
Three members of the board — Chair Robert Bishop Jr., John Boyle, and Marc Strout — attended the 10-minute meeting. Members Anthony Pagliarulo and Daniel Esko previously expressed their disapproval of the sale to the Balardinis. 
 
Pagliarulo voted against the sale but did sign the purchase-and-sale agreement earlier this month. His reasoning was the explanation by the town attorney during an executive session that, unlike procurement, where the board is required to accept the lowest bid for services, it does have some discretion when it comes to accepting bids in this instance.
 
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