Wells Provisions Is “Worth The Drive For Gumbo”
Located just beyond the Berkshires, Wells Provisions is offering New Orleans-inspired fine dining in an approachable way.
Photos by Nan Bookless
In our recent survey, Rural Intelligence readers let it be known that, of the subjects we cover, food and daytrips rise above all the others. That wasn’t really a surprise, of course; we already knew you come to RI to hear about new food finds and places to explore. Which is why I’m so jazzed to bring you the best of both categories. Have I got meal and a day trip for you!
Wells Provisions Café and Market offers, as its website touts, New Orleans food in the hills of western Massachusetts. To be honest, it’s not exactly in our stated coverage area: it’s one town outside of Berkshire County, in Charlemont, a hilltown community in neighboring Franklin County located along the Deerfield River and the scenic Mohawk Trail. But for New Orleans food around here, you need to travel. Not as far as New Orleans — just a beautiful ride through Windsor and Savoy, winding roads through forests abutting the Deerfield River. It’s “worth the drive for gumbo,” the website says, and yes, it is.
Once you’re dropped into Charlemont, it feels bustling after seeing nothing but trees, river, and views. The town runs on recreational activities and its businesses support the outdoors oriented: skiing, whitewater rafting, tubing, skiing, flyfishing, ziplining. Wells Provisions, a market, café and sort of general store, opened in the spring of 2021, and has quickly become a go-to destination by outdoors enthusiasts, locals, and, no doubt, daytrippers who happen upon it, or those who are just jonesing for New Orleans food and know where to get it.
Wesley and Levi Janssen. Photo credit: Eric Korenman
And for that, we must thank Wesley and Levi Janssen, a couple who, early in the pandemic, packed up their kids, their restaurant careers and knowledge of good food, New Orleans style, and left the Crescent City for western Mass. Wesley, who grew up in Northfield (also in Franklin County), went to school in New Orleans and stayed for 20 years, working in restaurant marketing. Levi, born and raised in NOLA, was the operations manager for the Dickie Brennan family of restaurants, considered the first family of Creole cuisine. Although they loved New Orleans and were deeply ensconced in the culture, when the pandemic interrupted the restaurant business and tourism industry, they looked and found an opportunity to use their experience and skills in a business of their own. Their concept: a New Orleans and New England meetup.
They chose Charlemont for several reasons, Wesley explains in her blog. The Wells Corner store, a historic building in the village and a staple in town since 1845, was for sale. There was Berkshire East, a ski resort that’s become a year-round resort with mountain biking, a mountain roller coaster and canopy zip line. The Deerfield River is a popular destination for whitewater rafting, tubing, and fly fishing. “We saw this sleepy little town as the perfect location to bring a concept that locals and visitors will love,” she says.
You can follow their story on their social media, but it’s obvious that the couple have put enormous love, thought , and plenty of sweat equity into their venture. Wells Provisions, named to honor the original building owner, is the café, coffee shop, specialty market and package store every town needs. While it doesn’t have an on-premise liquor license, its package store liquor license allows them to stock a curated spirit collection, local craft beers, and a wine selection focused on natural wine from small producers. The baked goods are made on site, and an ice cream window serves local hard scoop and creamy soft serve cones, floats, sundaes and milk shakes. Fridge and freezer cases stock not only specialty foods, but, thankfully, items from their own menu, should you wish to take some New Orleans-style yumminess home with you. (You will.)
The kitchen is driven by Chef Jeff Van Iderstine, who was trained in Creole and Cajun cooking. The menu, developed by Van Iderstein and the Janssens, changes often, and breakfast is served all day (all day being 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.). My two co-diners and I chose to order some of the staples, starting with the Gumbo Yaya, chicken and sausage gumbo over white rice ($6 for a cup, $10 for a bowl). I’d never thought of food as velvety before, but this gumbo had that quality — smoky, smooth, with just the right amount of heat. One of my companions, whose discipline is superior to mine, planned to eat half so as not to impinge on what was to follow. She set the cup aside, only to finish her gumbo a few moments later, discipline be damned. The depth of flavor, Wesley explains to us, is achieved by the layers of seasoning added throughout the long and slow cooking process: roux, trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), homemade stock made from the bones of chicken procured just up the road, and andouille sausage with seasonings including their own Creole blend. It’s comfort food at a high level.
We shared the dishes that followed. The shrimp and grits ($16.50) was a marvel to me, introducing me to flavors I couldn’t exactly place. How often do you get to savor a new taste sensation? All three of us paused to parse out the flavors, and we mostly got them wrong. Wesley came to our aid.
The organic stone-ground grits, she explained, are special ordered from War Eagle Mill in Arkansas, and made daily with local butter and milk. The coarse texture demands slow cooking, which yields a creamy grit, nothing like the instant grits you may know. They’re topped with a New Orleans-style BBQ sauce of Worcestershire, an amber beer, lemon, butter and garlic — luscious and rich.
To us northerners, the collard melt sounded, well, intriguing. It was more than that, an inspired southern take on the grilled Reuben, minus the corned beef. Collard greens are slow braised and seasoned with apple cider vinegar and pressed between rye bread with provolone, Creole slaw and thousand island dressing. You don’t miss the corned beef at all.
A New Orleans meal needs to include a shrimp po-boy, that much I know. Here, the wild-caught gulf shrimp is fried and artfully placed on a po boy loaf imported from New Orleans, dressed with tomato, lettuce, pickles and mayo (half, $10; whole, $18). My lingering takeaway? If you haven’t tried pickles in a po-boy, you don’t know what you’re missing.
The Janssens opened Wells Provisions with the intention of serving and enhancing the community, and the vibes inside reflect that, with the game tables, coffee bar, and ice cream window. A steady and diverse stream of customers flowed through while we ate. Where else might we find ourselves talking food and geography with a group of friendly motorcyclists coming in after a whirl on the zipline?
We meant to leave room for dessert but failed miserably and instead took home one of their now-famous chocolate chip cookies. It was a Fried Chicken Friday Nights day, and I was sorely tempted to come back later for a bucket of their buttermilk fried chicken. Wells Provisions also celebrates the weekends with Seafood Saturday Nights and Sunday Specialty Burgers, available to order and pick up or dine in 4:30-7 p.m. We can't wait to make the trip again, soon.
Wells Provisions
155 Main Street, Charlemont, MA
(413) 526-6515
Market and coffee bar hours:
7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., Thursday and Monday
7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Brunch hours 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Thursday-Sunday
Dinner 4:30-7 p.m.:
Fried Chicken Friday Nights
Seafood Saturday Nights
Specialty Burger & Frieds Sunday Nights
Ice cream window, Saturday and Sunday, 2:30-7 p.m.
