Food

Food

Bizalion's Is Le Source for Pluperfect Picnics

A humble ham-and-cheese sandwich does not sound like picnic fare fit for Tanglewood, unless it comes from Bizalion's, a cafe and charcuterie in Great Barrington.  Jean-Francois Bizalion, who grew up in France, creates sandwiches that are unapologetically un-American.  On a crusty baguette made daily by a baker in

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Food

Robin's Candy Store: The Sweet Smell of Excess

There's a fine line between whimsy and wacky, and Robin Helfand is the tightrope walker behind Robin's Candy Store, which opened on Main Street in Great Barrington on June 21. She's taken the old White Knight Records space and renovated it so that it

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Food

Bubby's is the Burrito Stand of Your Dreams

Update July 2010: Bubby's is now located by Hardeman Orchards.Most people we know turn up their noses at trailers, except for the little trailer near the intersection of Route 9G and Route 199 in Red Hook (or Annandale on Hudson, depending on who you ask), which makes

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Food

It's Pick-Your-Own Strawberry Season

A friend of mine has a theory about local strawberries, which are really the only strawberries worth eating. She believes that you should gorge on strawberries while they're in season and eat them three times a day. She maintains that you should consume nature's bounty in

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Food

A Paean to Germana: The Guido's Butcher

Like any good butcher, Germana Sachs has rough hands and a thick skin. But what makes Germana a great butcher is that she's also got a tender heart. "I enjoy making people happy," she says softly and sincerely. "That's my special trade."

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Food

Food Festival: The Long Day of the Knives and Forks

This Saturday, the Cornwall Free Library’s Food, Glorious Food Festival will have us covered in delicious crumbs from breakfast through cocktails. The day starts at 9:30 with coffee and breakfast baked goods under the tent.  But for our money, things get serious at 11 a.m. That'

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Food

The Greening of the Red Lion Inn

Like the rock band Wilco playing at Tanglewood (on August 12), Brian Alberg's running the kitchen at the Red Lion Inn is a case of cultural dissonance.  Like many old guard Berkshires institutions, the Red Lion wants to maintain beloved traditions while developing a modern sensibility. Even as

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Food

Cocktails: The Grey Ghost

Former beer drinker and Berkshire Mountain Dilstillers founder Chris Weld is becoming an expert on cocktails as travels the region selling the gin, rum and vodka that he makes at Soda Springs Farm in Sheffield, MA. For the opening night party of the Berkshire International Film Festival, he devised this

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Food

The Saturday Night Special

Leave it to Matthew Rubiner to turn eating a prosaic grilled cheese sandwich into an event.  A few weeks ago, Rubiner decided to start keeping Rubi's cafe in Great Barrington open until midnight on Saturday nights (it closes at 4 PM the rest of the week) and feature

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Food

Liquor for Locavores: The Berkshires Own Booze

You might assume (as I did) that Berkshire Mountain Distillers is a boutique brand dreamed up by a green-minded, martini-drinking MBA as as a thesis project. It has a smart slogan ("Think Globally • Drink Locally") a product line whose evocative names have regional resonance ("Ice Glen Vodka,

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Food

Swiss Hutte

There’s something literally fantastic about the Swiss Hutte, a half-timber 19th-century farmhouse that’s been in continuous operation as an inn for over fifty years. Tucked in a hidden valley amid gardens at the foot of Catamount ski slope, it feels half-a-world and at least half-a-lifetime away. The menu

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Food

Tasting: Apple Blossoms, a Walk and Some Wine

On Friday and Saturday, Furnace Brook Winery at Hilltop Orchards introduces its eagerly awaited Dry Riesling at the 6th Annual Apple Blossom Bash.  In 2007, their Johannisberg Riesling won the Gold Metal at the Big E Northeast Wine Competition (having copped the silver just the year before), so hopes for

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