As we do every year, in these warm months we like to get outside and do some traveling to places that are great summer destinations.  To kick the season off, for Memorial Day weekend this year we decided to travel to the Berkshires, which make up the western end of Massachusetts.  We went for all the hiking that’s on offer in the area, but of course we also wanted to find some great food.  So we explored all of the towns that make up the Berkshires and stopped at lots of places, and here we’ll share everything we got and what we recommend – but just be warned that we will show some images of meat here.

We’ll go north to south, starting with a pretty cool shop we found in Williamstown:  A Frame Bakery, which is housed in a very distinctive purple-accented house.  We were on our way to a hike, so we got some of their chocolate chip cookies to snack on.

 

 

Then on a bike ride through through the northern Berkshires on the Ashuwillticook rail trail, we stopped at Whitney’s Farm Market to try one of their donut whoopie pies.

 

 

For dinner one night we stopped at Olde Forge Restaurant in Lanesborough for some really great pub food with lots of vegetarian options.  We started with these homemade potato scoops, topped with cheese and served with sour cream on the side (they’ll kindly make them for you with no bacon).

 

 

Then Miriam tried one of their specials for the summer, the “Not” chicken sandwich, made with a fried meatless cutlet topped with cucumbers, carrots, onions, and a sriracha slaw, all on a jalapeño ciabatta roll, plus a side of their onion chips.

 

 

And Cyril got some of their wings, in the sweet and spicy Buff Orpington sauce.

 

 

In Pittsfield we found King Kone, a very old school, cash-only ice cream stand where you can get towering soft serve cones.  We split this twist cone with a peanut brittle and rainbow sprinkles topping.

 

 

We also stopped at The Roasted Garlic in Pittsfield for some creative Italian food, starting with their signature appetizer – tomatoes and a whole head of garlic roasted and served with baguette slices.

 

 

Then we split some cavatappi a la vodka (which you have to ask for without a meatball) …

 

 

… and a verdure pizza, made with pesto, mozzarella, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and zucchini, and arugula.

 

 

For a pre-hike breakfast one morning we stopped into On a Roll Cafe, where Miriam tried the avocado toast, which comes on a 7-grain bread, topped with everything bagel seasoning and a salad on the side.

 

 

And Cyril got this toasted coconut and pecan French toast.

 

 

Another great breakfast spot in Lenox was Haven Cafe, where we shared one of the specials for the day:  grilled polenta topped with a sunny side up egg, tomatoes, pesto, feta, and a side salad.

 

 

In Lee we made a visit to High Lawn Farm, where you can visit the cows on the farm and then buy milk, cheeses and ice cream that come right from them.  We decided to try some of the ice creams:  mint chocolate chip (on the left), and a double cone of vanilla and their signature purple cow flavor, made with blueberries, blackberries, and white and dark chocolate chips.

 

 

We also stopped in Lee for dinner at Park 51, where we got to eat out on their porch with a great view of the town square.  There we shared the jalapeño poppers, stuffed with three cheese and served with a red pepper sour cream on the side …

 

 

… plus these truffle fries.

 

 

We also split two entrees:  first, the pappardelle, in a pomodoro sauce with spinach and shallots.

 

 

And also a diavolo pizza, topped with cherry peppers, red sauce, and basil (it usually comes with sausage but we asked for them to leave that off).

 

 

In Great Barrington we made a stop at Berkshire Mountain Bakery to try their famous bread and chocolate, which has dark chocolate chunks baked inside one of their classic white boules.

 

 

We also snacked on more ice cream in Great Barrington at SoCo Creamery, where Miriam got a scoop of espresso cookie (on the right) and Cyril had a cone with one scoop of salted caramel and one scoop of blueberry honey lavender.

 

 

And we ended our trip at one last Great Barrington spot –  Baba Louie’s, which is famous for making sourdough-based foods – like this loaf of their potato rosemary sourdough bread.

 

 

They also make their pizza with a sourdough crust, so we got the Dirty Brutto, topped with roasted red potatoes, pesto, and Parmesan.

 

 

And we shared one of their huge salads:  the Dawn’s Delight, made with pears, dried cranberries, gorgonzola, and walnuts, all topped with a balsamic vinaigrette.

 

 

We really went all over the place in the Berkshires, from up near the Vermont border and all the way south, nearly to Connecticut.  We liked traveling through all the towns there, finding fun local places serving up delicious food.  Since it’s summer we definitely got a lot of ice cream, but we also enjoyed the breakfast spots, bakeries, pastas, pizzas, and other cool things we sampled.  This was just the first of our warm weather trips, and in the coming weeks we’ll share more of our adventures and all the delicious things we were able to try!