Restaurant Review: More Than a Pretty Face, The Cliff House Makes Opening Statement
Located on the grounds of the new Prospect resort hotel, the restaurant is making a powerful first impression.
The first course at the Cliff House in Egremont is fresh air. As you walk the crushed white stone path, the atmosphere is laced with the smell of nature and the relaxed energy radiating off Prospect Lake, over which the restaurant’s dining room dangles. Not too high up. Just enough to feel like you’re floating through the natural setting—lush green shores and water sparkling like a disco ball in the evening sun.
The Cliff House is a part of Prospect, the new boutique resort with 49 modern Scandinavian-style cabins, a pool, spa and lakeside activities. Originally built in 1876 as a lake-viewing platform, the structure later transformed into a popular tavern and gathering place before falling into disuse over the last century. Now, following a meticulous restoration led by the founders of Alander Construction, Prospect and the Cliff House make for an arresting destination.
Photo by Cole Wilson.
The dining room is a mix of Nordic wooden minimalism and a few plush, floral flourishes. “We want guests to feel connected to the outdoors, but still cozy and well‑served,” says Lannon Killea, service manager. Naturally finished walls, thick beams, and enormous windows bring the outside in.
But the striking ambiance would all be for naught if not for, what turned out to be, a culinary experience as pleasant and refreshing as the summer breeze. The plant-based appetizers made it immediately clear Chef Damian Evangelous was speaking to us. And what his dishes had to say was confident and distinct.
The rainbow carrots starter grabbed our attention immediately. Delicate in appearance, the perfectly cooked multicolored gems, under a blanket of pea shoots were elevated to the rafters by an electrifying buttermilk dressing, spiked with the allium richness of nigella seeds ($15).
“The menu is about sharing great local ingredients in an accessible-yet-surprising way,” Killea adds. That philosophy becomes exceedingly clear across the menu.
Killea praised Evangelous and his sharp kitchen crew but was also quick to acknowledge that the quality of the menu and service wouldn’t exist without local hospitality icon Nancy Thomas, co-founder of Mezze Hospitality Group. “Nancy guided the program from day one—she led the design, launched it. It’s her touch you feel in every dish,” he says. With decades of experience building local restaurants and hotel food programs, Killea says Thomas is behind it all.
Photo by Cole Wilson.
While The Cliff House speaks, it’s not a treatise. It’s a conversation between the kitchen and the land, led by a team that understands when to “embrace technical cooking” and when to “stay out of the way of really good ingredients,” as Killea put it. Evangelous brings a culinary sensibility shaped by time in the kitchens of Spain’s Basque region, Northern California, and Boston.
To start, guests are invited to graze on fish croquettes with charred scallion aioli ($7) and toasted rosemary almonds ($8). Small plates let produce shine with understated flair. Along with the carrots, beets and grapes are paired with almonds and salty sheep’s milk ricotta salata ($15) to great effect. Sunderland asparagus—served with hazelnuts, parsnip, and fines herbes ($15)—echoes the restaurant’s mission of letting produce lead protein.
Horseradish-brightened steak tartare with cucumber, dill, crème fraîche, and toast ($19) exemplifies the house style: confident, focused, unfussy. Mains include a striped bass entrée served with flageolets, favas, squash, and a standout salsa verde made divine by the surprisingly nutty punctuation of toasted sunflower seeds ($34). For a restaurant that’s only been open a month, the kitchen’s rhythm is already quite sharp. “They’re starting to really have a creative mind meld,” Killea says of the back of house crew. “People are upping each other’s game.”
Photo by Cole Wilson.
Roasted chicken from La Belle Farms ($30) arrives with broccolini and a tarragon-leek jus; a vegetarian stroganoff layers Tivoli mushrooms and Swiss chard over black pepper-dressed egg noodles ($29). Spring lamb stew, full of texture and warmth, comes with fregola, cauliflower, and orange ($32), while an eight ounce Prime New York strip with brown beech mushrooms and fingerlings in sauce Diane anchors the menu at $42.
Dessert options are short and sweet: a strawberry-rhubarb almond cake with chantilly ($10), a dark chocolate pudding with burnt cinnamon crunch ($10), and a rotating sorbet ($8).
Killea sees each dish as part of a larger hospitality arc: “It’s the view, the plates, the energy—all curated—and Nancy’s fingerprints are on every part.”
Cliff House’s beverage menu is as thoughtfully curated as its food. “It’s a relatively short list, but everything’s very intentional,” says Killea. “We wanted everything to feel layered and dynamic, even if it’s playful. There’s a subtle throughline to it all, with the setting in mind.”
Photo by Cole Wilson.
Signature cocktails include the Cappaletti Spritz—a bright, herbaceous blend of Cappaletti, col fondo sparkling wine, soda, olive, and orange ($16); and the Rhubarb Gimlet, balancing London dry gin, lemon, and house-made rhubarb syrup ($16). The Delores del Rio leans tropical and spicy with passionfruit, tequila, jalapeño, and lime ($16), while the Mezcamaro brings smoky intrigue with mezcal, amaro, and orange bitters ($16).
A robust non-alcoholic list ensures inclusivity, with drinks like The Prospect—a basil seed fizz flavored with citrus oleo and palo santo ($12)—and the Tumerickey, a zesty and earthy tonic of turmeric, pineapple, and lime ($12).
Photo by Cole Wilson.
Wines by the glass lean natural and European, including a refreshing Txakoli Rosato from Ameztoi in Spain ($18), and a bright Vermentino from California’s Monte Rio Cellars ($16).
In the Berkshires, a restaurant with a view is not rare—but the Cliff House is. It isn’t a showy stage; it’s a quietly curated retreat where a chef and his team have composed an experience grounded in nature and shaped by people with confident intent.
