Berkshire Grown's Annual Maple Dinner at the Red Lion Inn

The annual Berkshire Grown Maple Dinner is an exercise in counterintuitive programming. Held in late March (when there are few local vegetables) on a Monday night (when weekenders can't buy tickets), the dinner gets bigger every year, and more than locavores packed into the main dining room of the Red Lion Inn on March 22. They ate a five course feast that began with hors d'oeuvres (such as maple glazed smokey bacon donuts) by Katie Baldwin Catering;  fennel-and-apple soup by John Dudek of Bascom Lodge; maple-glazed free-range chicken ballotine by Peter Platt of Old Inn on the Green; celeriac-and-arugula salad with maple cured Berkshire pig by Brian Alberg of the Red Lion and Daire Rooney of Brix Wine Bar; maple glazed crispy duck confit with Equinox Farm red mustard greens by Chris Bonniver of Gala Restaurant & Bar; Kombucha maple sugar cake with ginger-maple gelato by Dan Smith of John Andrews.

Carole Murko of Heirloom Meals with Kay Taygan visiting from Cape Cod; Berkshire Mountain Distillers' Chris Weld and Colin Coan.

Caterer Katie Baldwin who made the hors d'oeuvres with host chef Brian Alberg of the Red Lion Inn.

Jonathan Ball of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Pittsfield with Barbara Schulman of Wheeler & Taylor in Stockbridge; Nancy Thomas of Mezze and Allium with Ted Dobson of Equinox Farm.

Nancy Kalodner Benchmark Realty, Sheryl Lechner, the outreach coordinator for Berkshire Grown, and event planner Amy Rudnick.

Bob & Karen Youdelman; Berkshire Grown executive director Barbara Zheutlin with vice-chair Laurily Epstein.

Roberto Flores of Good Dogs Farm in Sheffield with Honey Sharp; Gussie Greer with her son Sam.

Chris Masiero of Guido's Fresh Marketplace and photographer Lincoln Russell.

John Dudek of Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock with Chris Bonnivier & Mike Kelly of Gala Restaurant at the Orchards in Williamstown; Daire Rooney of Brix Wine with Peter Platt of Old Inn on the Green in New Marlborough.