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Berkshire Tidbits: Greek Pastry & Wine Dinners
By Judith Lerner, Special to iBerkshires
04:21PM / Monday, March 21, 2016
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The annual pastry sale at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Pittsfield is this Saturday from 9 to 2; it's suggested you arrive early. (photo by Judith Lerner)

The menu for the Haven Cafe Supper Club for the week of March 21 will be as follows:

Herb roasted rack of lamb with couscous and roasted asparagus
Rosemary, lemon and balsamic marinated chicken with saffron rice and grilled zucchini
Grilled shrimp over spinach and scallion pancakes with lime butter

Entrées come with soup or salad and cost $22 for one to three dinners ordered, $75 for four dinners ordered, $110 for six dinners, $200 for 12 dinners. They can be any of the dinners.

Order by Wednesday, pick up at the bakery in Lenox on Friday. The staff suggests people can order for different meals and can choose among that week's options. Contact Haven at 413-637-8948 or havencafebakery@gmail.com, to order and get on the list to received upcoming menus.

 

Rainbow Restaurant, 109 First St. in Pittsfield, 413-443-0004, is having a Taste of Italy dinner in conjunction with Caffo Beverages of Italy on Tuesday, March 22, starting at 6:30 p.m.

The menu includes eggplant rollatini, lasagna and chicken Parmesan with an Italian salad,  rolls and their signature dessert bakanoli — a round filo crust baklava filled with chocolate chip cannoli cream. Diners finish with a choice of espresso or cappuccino with a choice of cordial from Caffo Beverages.

Dinner, by reservation only, costs $25 plus tax and gratuity.

 

Wild Oats Market Co-op, 320 Main St. (Route 2) in Williamstown, produce, meat and cheese manager Leigh-Anne Nicastro and grocery manager Nicole Delmolino will be serving creamy mushroom-barley soup as their Soup of the Week to be sampled, free, at the hot bar next Wednesday, March 23, from noon to 1 p.m. It'll be for sale from about 10:30 a.m.

The Old Inn on the Green, 134 Hartsville-New Marlborough Road (Route 57) in New Marlborough, 413 229-7924, and Spirited Wines of Lenox are presenting a Journey Through Burgundy wine dinner with special guest speaker, Burgundy expert, Tom Modica this coming Friday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Jim Nejaime, owner and wine merchant of Spirited, said this dinner would be both "an introduction into the world's most famous wine region" and for the experienced Burgundy lover.

"The dinner will feature classic appellations, such as Meursault from Jean and Gilles Lafouge, as well as other gems like the Château de la Maltroye Premier Cru Chassagne, Montrachet Rouge, 'Clos du Château' Monopole," he said.

"We'll also be juxtaposing Côte de Beaune with Côte de Nuits," Nejaime continued, "tasting side-by-side 2013 Fixin Premier Cru Clos from Joliet and 2010 Pommard Premier Cru from Chaponnieres in order to explore and enjoy distinct, yet powerful expressions of Pinot Noir.

"We'll cap the evening off," he concluded, "with a Grand Cru red Burgundy from Domaine Meo-Camuzet, the 2011 Corton Les Perrières."

Old Inn on the Green chef and co-owner Peter Platt has crafted the following menu and wine pairing for the dinner:

passed hors d'oeuvres in the Tap Room

Chollet Cremant de Bourgogne Oeil de Perdrix Blanc de Noir

roasted beet salad with arugula and chevre vinaigrette

2012 Domaine Jean et Gilles Lafouge, Meursault, "Meix Chavaux", Burgundy

duck confit with wild rice, dried cherries, turnip and cranberry sauce

2013 Langoreau St. Aubin, 1er Cru, Sur Le Sentier Du Clou

2014 Pernot-Bellicard, Puligny Montrachet, 1er Cru, Perrieres

lightly smoked salmon poached in vegetable broth

with braised red cabbage, parsley and preserved lemon coulis and crispy sunchokes

2011 Chateau de la Maltroye, Chassagne Montrachet Rouge, 1er Cru, "Clos de Maltroye"

grilled beef sirloin with kohlrabi purée, baby carrots, kale and black currant jus

2013 Joliet Fixin Clos, 1er Cru

2010 Parent Pommard, 1er Cru, Chaponnieres

Bayley Hazen Blue with poached fruit and Zinke's greens

2011 Meo Camuzet, Corton Perrieres, Grand Cru

The dinner cost will be $165 plus tax and gratuity. Call The Old Inn for reservations and directions. The sooner the better.

The Inn is also offering a special rate on an overnight stay for two that night of the dinner. It will be $198 plus tax and gratuity and include the Inn's Continental breakfast.

 

It is time for the choreographed ballet of the annual pre-Easter Greek pastry sale at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 73 Bradford St. in Pittsfield, again. It's this Saturday, March 26, presented by the Greek Ladies Philoptochos (phil-OP-to-khos; friend of the poor) Society.

Those who come every year know the drill. Park across the street in the funeral home parking lot. Line up at the side door to the basement social hall starting about 8 a.m.

Enter one-by-one as you are let in by the church members, starting at 9 a.m. Carefully circle the tables that fill the room, laden with countless Greek pastries, escorted by your personal volunteer who fills boxes for you and writes down your order.

Once you have made your choices and been handed your boxes and list, you get on the line to pay Jay Amandos or Gigi Trahanas.

Finally, you stagger up the back stairs under your year's load of baklava, buttery simple koulouria cookies, brown finikia walnut butter cookies, syrup-drenched karithopita spiced walnut cake, confectioner's sugar piled kourabiedes aka Greek wedding cookies, lattice topped jam filled pasta flora short pastry squares, crunchy crumbly paximathia known as Greek biscotti, spice and nut-filled syrupy saragli filo cinnamon buns and, of course, more boxes of spanakopita and one or two or more braided tsourekia, the Greek Easter breads.

Plus ahladthakia, floyeres, formakia, galaktoboureko, gianotika, kataifi, melomakarona, ravani, thiples and more … .

Shoppers certainly are allowed to buy one pastry only but, can you? These are all church member baked, from family recipes that go back generations. And, syrup and sugar-drenched as they are, most of  them are not as sweet as today's commercial baked goods people eat regularly.

The sale is scheduled to run until 2 p.m. but most pastries are pretty much gone by 11:30.

 

Jae Chung just told me that he is still awaiting final inspection for his new Thai and Vietnamese restaurant, Vong's, at the corner of Seymour and Center Streets in Pittsfield, in the space that was Paul's Greek Restaurant for so many years. As of now, he still plans to open Saturday, March 26.

 

At 6 p.m., on Wednesday evening, March 30, Alta Restaurant & Wine Bar, 34 Church St. in Lenox, 413-637-0003, Spirited Wines of Lenox and Don Muraca, portfolio manager for the Somerville wine distributer MS Walker, will pair five Val de Loire wines with a five course menu created by Alta chef Ben Daire for a French wine dinner.

I find the menu irresistible. If you are interested, call immediately for reservations if there are any left. The cost of the dinner is $55 plus tax and gratuity.

Menu

smoked eel canapé with beet Chantilly and Champagne reduction

Louis de Grenelle, Saumur Brut, Sparkling Rose, NV

duck terrine and pistachios with pickled mushrooms and shallots

Domaine St Nicolas, Pinot Noir, Cuvée Jacques, 2008

pan-seared walleye in "Marchand de Vins" sauce with farro and grilled scallions

Saumur Champigny, Thierry Germain, Cabernet Franc, 2013

Vermont Creamery "Bonne Bouche" goat cheese on a kale salad with mustard vinaigrette

Sancerre, Paul Cerrier Père & Fils, 2014

"aumonières"/a crêpe purse filled with apple and pear compote with sabayon sauce

Vouvray, Domaine du Viking, Gautier-Lhomme, Chenin Blanc, 2013

 


Guido partner Mike Mazzeo serves mini plates of steak and salad with sips of wine. The avocado-fennel-spinach-orange salad created by Guido owner Chris Massiero.

Thursday, March 31, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., will be the last Thank You Thursday of the year at Guido's Fresh Marketplace, 1020 Pittsfield-Lenox Road (Routes 7 & 20) in Pittsfield, 413-443-9912, and 760 South Main St. (Route 7), 413-528-9255, in Great Barrington. This month the emphasis is on local foods.

There will be samplings and tastings — from tofu to truffles to fennel salad to seared salmon, chips, dips, wine, cheeses, cookies — throughout the day of food from Guido's departments and from its popular vendors. Recipe cards are available. Special sales and discounts will be applied that day only. Shoppers receive 10 percent discount that day and a coupon for 10 percent discount at a future date within the following month. A $200 Guido's gift card is raffled off in each store.

This is a fun shopping day with a party atmosphere.

 

On Thursday, March 31, at 6:30 p. m., Rouge Restaurant & Bistro, 3 Center St. in West Stockbridge, 413-232-4111, will be presenting a wine pairing dinner called Rioja and Beyond. Six courses will pair with six wines.

Chef co-owner William Merelle will present the wines and foods of Northern Spain featuring wines from Rioja, Priorat, Rías Baixas, Castilla y Leon and Navarra. Producers include Fillaboa, Artadi, Palacios Remondo, Bodegas Leda, and Vall Llach.

Chef Merelle keeps his menu a surprise until the time of the dinner.

Rouge wine dinners are evenings filled with trivia, wine, fine food, prizes and more. The cost of the dinner is $100 plus tax and gratuity. Call to reserve.

Becket Monthly Community Breakfast

Saturday, March 26

The Yoked Parish of Becket presents its monthly all-you-can-eat breakfast on the last Saturday of every month from 8 to 11. All are welcome. Meal is usually homemade scrambled eggs, pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage, ham, hash, home fries, fresh fruit, juices, tea and coffee.

At Becket Federated Church, 413-623-5217, 3381 Main St. Adults $6; children younger than 12, $3.

Chef-owner Michael Marcus at Bizen in Great Barrington has a good time teaching students/dining guests how to make a sushi roll.

Last week I had lunch with a group at Bizen Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Bar in Great Barrington. The lunch was light and pleasant. Choose salmon teriyaki or choose vegetable tempura. To be served in a box with other little things, a small bowl of miso soup and pots of fresh green tea.

The highlight of our dining experience was watching and listening to Bizen owner Michael Marcus encapsulate his life and his philosophy and passions — making unglazed, functional Japanese Bizen pottery and creating a world in which to use it by learning to make sushi and opening his restaurant to serve authentic, traditional Japanese food.

And, to cap off the sushi/seasoned rice sharing, Marcus personally helped each of 25 guests to make a ball of rice, spread it on a sheet of nori seaweed, sprinkle on a few sesame seeds, lay a couple of pre-cut cucumber spears down the center of the rice roll to-be, roll it into a bamboo sushi mat and, voila, a cucumber sushi roll/kappa maki!

Which we each ate as part of our lunches in our Bento boxes.

You, too, can probably make arrangements to bring a group to Bizen for lunch and a lesson on a quiet Tuesday. You'll have to negotiate your cost. Our lunch was $20 bucks.

 

Finally, a bill to bar states from individually enacting laws to require food manufacturers to label genetically modified ingredients in their products was defeated in the U.S. Senate last Wednesday, March 16.

As of now, states continue to have the right to enact their own laws regarding the labeling of genetically modified organisms/GMOs.

The issue is not settled but Vermont's GMO mandatory labeling law will probably be allowed to go into effect this summer. Vermont's stance may encourage Massachusetts to enact its own GMO labeling bill. Mandatory GMO labeling has a lot of support in our legislature.

Our U.S. senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, voted to defeat the bill.

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