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Cantina 229: A Convivial Gathering Space In New Marlborough

By Hannah Van Sickle Barrett Photos courtesy Cantina 229. Cantina 229 — a nod to both the restaurant’s address and the New Marlborough, Mass. telephone exchange — is less about the menu, neither Mexican nor Italian, but rather the owners’ vision for a space that would be a destination, a proverbial

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Community

Quilts Uncovered: Jane Fitzpatrick’s Collection Reflects Love Of Textiles And Community

By Shawn Hartley Hancock For years, the late Jane Fitzpatrick, whom we’ve unreservedly and respectfully called the queen of the Berkshires, displayed a crazy quilt on the wall of her office at Country Curtains, the business she founded with her husband Jack back in 1956. Country Curtains is headquartered

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Food

At Nejaime's, The Art Of Wine, And The Wine Of Art

By Lisa Green We’re accustomed to sipping wine while perusing art at a reception. But when the gallery is in the wine store — and there are simultaneously more than 70 fine wines being poured — well, that’s a different type of wine and art happening. On Saturday, June 25,

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Community

Speaker Series Brings Economic Issues Home

By Hannah Van Sickle Barrett It seems entirely fitting that whether by happy accident or some kind of market prescience, the American Institute for Economic Research relocated from Cambridge, Mass. to Great Barrington in the 1940s. The independent nonprofit organization was established in 1933 to help ordinary Americans deepen their

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Food

A New Bright Spot Opens In North Adams

By Amy Krzanik If you’re looking for a poorly lit watering hole with a handful of blaring TVs, some stale pretzels for snacking and a surly bartender who acts like he’s doing you a favor when he takes your order, you’re really going to hate North Adams’

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Community

Sit Awhile: The Porch Brings Storytelling To The Spiegeltent

By Robert Burke Warren A single spotlight, a bare stage, a microphone, and a true story. With that simple formula, Red Hook resident Joey Shavelle has created The Porch, a standing-room-only storytelling series coming to Bard’s Spiegeltent in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, on Friday, June 24 at 8 p.m.

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Community

At The Mount, La Conversation Est En Français

Les Francophones in 2012. Photo courtesy Jan Werner. Francophiles take note: beginning June 23, on Thursday mornings through Sept. 1, only French will be spoken at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, Mass. And could there be a more glorious setting than the Terrace Café for Le Café

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Community

A Tradition Continues: Morris Dancing In The Northwest Corner

The Bouwerie Boys By Amy Krzanik Morris dancing, a traditional English folk dance dating back to at least 1448, has made its own history of sorts right here in our part of New England. Morris troupes, or teams as they are called, have performed in the northwest Connecticut and southwest

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Food

Former Neighborhood Diner Spruces Up As GB Eats

Photo courtesy GB Eats. By Hannah Van Sickle Barrett It is screen door season at GB Eats, the newly rejuvenated and increasingly trendy dining spot at 282 Main Street in Great Barrington, Mass., owned and operated by Chef Pierre Cum and his wife Candice Rischner. The beautifully updated face of

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Food

Hudson Valley Food Tours: Sampling The Region's Food Scene

On the tour: Sunflower Cafe's signature Sunflower Salad. Photo: Jennifer Brizzi. By Andrea Pyros You may think you’ve got your farmers’ market and post-farmers’ market lunch game down, but Jennifer Brizzi, owner and operator of Hudson Valley Food Tours (HVFT), believes there’s much more we can

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Community

Hudson Sloop Club Embodies The Past But Looks To The Future

A digital rendering of the future Everett Nack Estuary Education Center proposed by the Hudson Sloop Club. By Jamie Larson Hudson, New York has a long and complicated relationship with its namesake river. Centuries of industry and pollution led to a city built with its back to the Hudson. It

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Community

Now There Are Four RI Apps On The Map

When we launched our first app, The Rural Intelligence Guide to the Berkshires and Beyond, last spring, we were thrilled to bring our readers into the app universe with us. It was — and still is — the only app of its kind that focuses on our region. As we said at

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