30 West Center Street
Lee, MA 01238-1503
(413) 243-1011
I am very fond of Lucky's because it has the charm of a handmade Dairy Queen - more selection, more Lee-ishness, outdoor tables, and outdoor order window as well as indoor seating. I can bring the dog. The food is all pretty good and very cheap - decent cheeseburgers with lots of cheese for $2.75, for example. The ice cream is fine - it's Hood's.
However - be warned that part of its charm is that I don't think I've ever seen anyone older than 17 working there. This means you will often see many well-meaning and cheerful bodies speed past you and wonder why no one is waiting on you. It also may mean no one will be able to figure out how to run your debit card through the cash register. But remember - it's all part of the charm!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Nudel
37 Church Street
Lenox, MA 01240
413.551.7183
I was really expecting to love Nudel. This restaurant has been receiving ecstatic raves for its not just seasonal food, but food based on what is available fresh on a daily basis. So very few items are repeated and menus are posted daily on the web site. Ah -= foodie heaven! Fresh! Inventive! Tiny and hard to get a table!!
Sigh.
Where do I begin? I asked what the appetizer bluefish confit was - specifically, was it a spreadable consistency? I will be honest and seeing "confit" without "duck" before it was in and of itself confusing. The response I received was "no" from the waiter. No other helpful info. Hmmm. When i got home I looked up the definition of confit, which specified that it was meat, usually duck, salted, cooked and then preserved in its own fat, or a condiment cooked to a jamlike consistency. So my question was not, in fact, stupid. I did take the plunge and ordered the dish and what arrived in front of me was a square of bluefish in an orange sauce (a "consomme"). The bluefish has a strong oily taste and the orange sauce was sharply acidic. Not a particularly tasty combination. My friend ordered young lettuces in a sherry vinaigrette with almonds and wheat berries and what arrived was a bowl of sloppy looking, too-large green. I had just seen an episode of Top Chef where chef Eric Ripert had taken a contestant to task for putting salad in a bowl because the different elements of the salad prove hard to get at in a bowl. This was the case with the Nudel salad. And - we were almost done with our appetizers (in a very tiny restaurant with a "bar" made up for a few bottles of wine) before our glasses of wine appeared.
I had a pasta with shredded beef, "bone marrow roasted garlic", white beans and lemon. It was rich and interesting, but one note, under seasoned. My friend got the split pea hummus which was satisfactory but not spectacular. The best thing on the table was the side of sourdough toast with olive oil - crispy and moist on the top with a soft underside, as if it had been grilled. Yum.
The dessert was the best part of the meal. I had a walnut tart that would have been perfection with a few dark chocolate morsels, but still managed to be very satisfying. My friend had a vanilla pot de creme. I tried it and while it was nice, I did not have the desire to dive into, the way I did with the maple pot de creme at Allium in GB.
Will I try Nudel again? Likely yes as often the menus are intriguing. Will I rush back? Likely no.
Lenox, MA 01240
413.551.7183
I was really expecting to love Nudel. This restaurant has been receiving ecstatic raves for its not just seasonal food, but food based on what is available fresh on a daily basis. So very few items are repeated and menus are posted daily on the web site. Ah -= foodie heaven! Fresh! Inventive! Tiny and hard to get a table!!
Sigh.
Where do I begin? I asked what the appetizer bluefish confit was - specifically, was it a spreadable consistency? I will be honest and seeing "confit" without "duck" before it was in and of itself confusing. The response I received was "no" from the waiter. No other helpful info. Hmmm. When i got home I looked up the definition of confit, which specified that it was meat, usually duck, salted, cooked and then preserved in its own fat, or a condiment cooked to a jamlike consistency. So my question was not, in fact, stupid. I did take the plunge and ordered the dish and what arrived in front of me was a square of bluefish in an orange sauce (a "consomme"). The bluefish has a strong oily taste and the orange sauce was sharply acidic. Not a particularly tasty combination. My friend ordered young lettuces in a sherry vinaigrette with almonds and wheat berries and what arrived was a bowl of sloppy looking, too-large green. I had just seen an episode of Top Chef where chef Eric Ripert had taken a contestant to task for putting salad in a bowl because the different elements of the salad prove hard to get at in a bowl. This was the case with the Nudel salad. And - we were almost done with our appetizers (in a very tiny restaurant with a "bar" made up for a few bottles of wine) before our glasses of wine appeared.
I had a pasta with shredded beef, "bone marrow roasted garlic", white beans and lemon. It was rich and interesting, but one note, under seasoned. My friend got the split pea hummus which was satisfactory but not spectacular. The best thing on the table was the side of sourdough toast with olive oil - crispy and moist on the top with a soft underside, as if it had been grilled. Yum.
The dessert was the best part of the meal. I had a walnut tart that would have been perfection with a few dark chocolate morsels, but still managed to be very satisfying. My friend had a vanilla pot de creme. I tried it and while it was nice, I did not have the desire to dive into, the way I did with the maple pot de creme at Allium in GB.
Will I try Nudel again? Likely yes as often the menus are intriguing. Will I rush back? Likely no.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Flattest Walk in the Berkshires
I enjoy taking Nessa over to Stockbridge on a beautiful day. There are several do-able hikes with dogs in the area, but I confess one of my favorite walks is just from one end of Main Street, down by the town hall, all the way to the other end, where the country club and cemetery reside. For anyone who is adverse to hills, this is a great, scenic walk - and a walk without hills is hard to come by in the Berkshires.
Most people walk the few blocks down the main drag of Stockbridge and end at the Red Lion. If you keep walking, you will see beautiful homes (and if you check out some side streets, even more beautiful homes), lovely gardens, and at the end, a view of Monument Mountain overlooking the Stockbridge Country Club.
My very favorite part of the walk (and I realize this is not everyone's cup of tea), is to walk through the cemetery, which features many 19th century graves (and maybe older ones I haven't found) with interesting inscriptions, statuary, etc. It's not a huge cemetery, but I feel as if every time I visit, I find a new path and something interesting to study. Make sure to walk across the street to the other section of the cemetery that gives you a great view of the golf course and the mountains beyond.
Most people walk the few blocks down the main drag of Stockbridge and end at the Red Lion. If you keep walking, you will see beautiful homes (and if you check out some side streets, even more beautiful homes), lovely gardens, and at the end, a view of Monument Mountain overlooking the Stockbridge Country Club.
My very favorite part of the walk (and I realize this is not everyone's cup of tea), is to walk through the cemetery, which features many 19th century graves (and maybe older ones I haven't found) with interesting inscriptions, statuary, etc. It's not a huge cemetery, but I feel as if every time I visit, I find a new path and something interesting to study. Make sure to walk across the street to the other section of the cemetery that gives you a great view of the golf course and the mountains beyond.
New Stuff in Downtown Lee!
Just a short post - Alpamayo Restaurant, a new Peruvian place, has a sign up in the storefront next to the Cakewalk and they seem to be working hard to open soon.
Across the street, the Berkshire Spiritual Center left last May; however, I saw a big sign this morning in the window of the empty space - "Main Street Books coming soon." Squee!!! A bookstore - very exciting. Let's hope it's a good one.
Across the street, the Berkshire Spiritual Center left last May; however, I saw a big sign this morning in the window of the empty space - "Main Street Books coming soon." Squee!!! A bookstore - very exciting. Let's hope it's a good one.
Dreamaway Lodge
1342 Country Road
Becket, MA 01223-8725
(413)623-8725
The Dreamaway is a Berkshire legend, known for its former existence as a speakeasy and possible brothel, and then for a night in 1975 when Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, and the Rolling Thunder Review spend a night jamming in the parlor. It is also now known for good food and being notoriously hard to find.
However, I took two visiting friends there last weekend and I was pleased to find that if you follow the directions on the website, it's not hard to find at all. We had left early, basically prepared with snacks, blankets and a compass in case we were never seen again. But we found it right away and it was perhaps a 15 minute drive at the most from my house in Lee. One tip that is one the website I can vouch for, though - don't assume your GPS is smarter than the directions the restaurant gives you. After dinner, we got in the car and tried to GPS just to see what it would do - it directed us the wrong way, and then showed the road ending on the screen - and then shut off. You would not think that in a location just a few miles from the Mass Pike you would be so far off the beaten path, but at least to the satellite, you are.
The Dreamaway is in a beautiful location on a rural road, and old farmhouse surrounded by gardens, a wildflower maze, and in the front, a fire pit and area to sit down. At 6:30 on a warm Saturday night, people were wandering around the grounds with drinks and the dining rooms were packed. We were seated in the back near the bathroom (the Loo Gallery where exhibits change regularly) and the kitchen, so I would suggest asking for a table near the front of the house. Reservations are a must.
The interior is shabby chic/antique store/yard sale, with an array of old kitchen implements, toys, religious icons and the like in every nook and cranny. The walls are hung with a combination of kitsch and contemporary art. Very charming and very unique. The menu is relatively small but covers it all: fish, steak, lamb, chicken and spareribs, and a vegetarian option (which actually appeared to be vegan). There are also small plates - mac and cheese, pizzas, and a hamburger.
It was hard to decide - it's a nice menu and there are many appealing options. We ended up going for three salads - the mixed greens with green goddess dressing, a frisee salad with bacon and cheese, and a roasted baby beet salad. Everything was extremely fresh and delicious, as the restaurant is committed to using local ingredients. The baby beet salad was five beets around Greek scordalia mi kapari - basically, a cold roughly-mashed potato with garlic, capers, and almond. Definitely unusual, tasty, and worth trying. The frisee salad was also rather revelatory in the simple way a vey good salad sometimes can be - I am not a big fan of bitter, spindly frisee that usually comes in a mixed green salad. This frisee was still a little bitter, but it was not like eating twist-ties - it was substantial and more the texture of "normal" green. I would order any of those salads again.
For entrees, we ordered pizzas - two shrimp pizzas and one feta, beet greens and garlic. A side of lemon should come with the feta pizza and if you order it, make sure you let the waitress know right away if it isn't there - the spray of lemon really brings the flavors alive. The feta pizza had a little too much raw, crunch garlic for my taste - it imparted a bit too much onion-y flavor, as raw garlic can, and that's not my scene with a pizza. Neither had sauce on it. The shrimp pizza was just fabulous - the shrimp were beautifully cooked.
We were all worried that the pizzas would not be substantial as they were under the "small plates" - but they are solid individual sized pizzas that were quite filling, and the crust was thin, crunchy and flavorful - very authentically Italian.
For dessert, I had the vanilla bundt cake - a choice that seemed to go with the nostalgic funky decor of the place. It was quite good, although I was full so I could not enjoy it as much as I would have - I think a lighter fruit dessert might have been a better choice, or the buttermilk panna cotta. The chef formerly owned a bakery, so she is an excellent pastry chef. My friends had a raspberry sorbet from SoHo Creamery which was bursting with flavor - it really tasted as if it had been just made from fresh raspberries.
I would highly recommend the Dreamaway - it is definitely a unique Berkshire experience. There were diners of all ages when we were there, from small kids in booster seats to a group of older couples. Before I had visited, I was wondering if the place would be too "hipster" to bring older folks or young kids - not the case. There is music after 10, and my sense is this place changes flavor then completely, and the hipsters descend. The band for the evening was happily sitting outside at a picnic table enjoying some ribs as we left around 8pm.
Becket, MA 01223-8725
(413)623-8725
The Dreamaway is a Berkshire legend, known for its former existence as a speakeasy and possible brothel, and then for a night in 1975 when Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, and the Rolling Thunder Review spend a night jamming in the parlor. It is also now known for good food and being notoriously hard to find.
However, I took two visiting friends there last weekend and I was pleased to find that if you follow the directions on the website, it's not hard to find at all. We had left early, basically prepared with snacks, blankets and a compass in case we were never seen again. But we found it right away and it was perhaps a 15 minute drive at the most from my house in Lee. One tip that is one the website I can vouch for, though - don't assume your GPS is smarter than the directions the restaurant gives you. After dinner, we got in the car and tried to GPS just to see what it would do - it directed us the wrong way, and then showed the road ending on the screen - and then shut off. You would not think that in a location just a few miles from the Mass Pike you would be so far off the beaten path, but at least to the satellite, you are.
The Dreamaway is in a beautiful location on a rural road, and old farmhouse surrounded by gardens, a wildflower maze, and in the front, a fire pit and area to sit down. At 6:30 on a warm Saturday night, people were wandering around the grounds with drinks and the dining rooms were packed. We were seated in the back near the bathroom (the Loo Gallery where exhibits change regularly) and the kitchen, so I would suggest asking for a table near the front of the house. Reservations are a must.
The interior is shabby chic/antique store/yard sale, with an array of old kitchen implements, toys, religious icons and the like in every nook and cranny. The walls are hung with a combination of kitsch and contemporary art. Very charming and very unique. The menu is relatively small but covers it all: fish, steak, lamb, chicken and spareribs, and a vegetarian option (which actually appeared to be vegan). There are also small plates - mac and cheese, pizzas, and a hamburger.
It was hard to decide - it's a nice menu and there are many appealing options. We ended up going for three salads - the mixed greens with green goddess dressing, a frisee salad with bacon and cheese, and a roasted baby beet salad. Everything was extremely fresh and delicious, as the restaurant is committed to using local ingredients. The baby beet salad was five beets around Greek scordalia mi kapari - basically, a cold roughly-mashed potato with garlic, capers, and almond. Definitely unusual, tasty, and worth trying. The frisee salad was also rather revelatory in the simple way a vey good salad sometimes can be - I am not a big fan of bitter, spindly frisee that usually comes in a mixed green salad. This frisee was still a little bitter, but it was not like eating twist-ties - it was substantial and more the texture of "normal" green. I would order any of those salads again.
For entrees, we ordered pizzas - two shrimp pizzas and one feta, beet greens and garlic. A side of lemon should come with the feta pizza and if you order it, make sure you let the waitress know right away if it isn't there - the spray of lemon really brings the flavors alive. The feta pizza had a little too much raw, crunch garlic for my taste - it imparted a bit too much onion-y flavor, as raw garlic can, and that's not my scene with a pizza. Neither had sauce on it. The shrimp pizza was just fabulous - the shrimp were beautifully cooked.
We were all worried that the pizzas would not be substantial as they were under the "small plates" - but they are solid individual sized pizzas that were quite filling, and the crust was thin, crunchy and flavorful - very authentically Italian.
For dessert, I had the vanilla bundt cake - a choice that seemed to go with the nostalgic funky decor of the place. It was quite good, although I was full so I could not enjoy it as much as I would have - I think a lighter fruit dessert might have been a better choice, or the buttermilk panna cotta. The chef formerly owned a bakery, so she is an excellent pastry chef. My friends had a raspberry sorbet from SoHo Creamery which was bursting with flavor - it really tasted as if it had been just made from fresh raspberries.
I would highly recommend the Dreamaway - it is definitely a unique Berkshire experience. There were diners of all ages when we were there, from small kids in booster seats to a group of older couples. Before I had visited, I was wondering if the place would be too "hipster" to bring older folks or young kids - not the case. There is music after 10, and my sense is this place changes flavor then completely, and the hipsters descend. The band for the evening was happily sitting outside at a picnic table enjoying some ribs as we left around 8pm.
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