Berkshire Bites

Hungry? There are plenty of new restaurants, pubs and bistros offering a variety of dining experiences.

NEW BISTROPUB AT BOUSQUET

You don’t have to ski to enjoy Lift Bistropub, a new full-service bar and restaurant at Bousquet Mountain. Open year-round, Lift has indoor and outdoor seating, complete with expansive views of the mountain. Its menu ranges from everything from snacks to dinners and desserts.

BITCOIN INVESTOR

Bitcoin tycoon Ryan Salame, the newly minted CEO of FTX Digital Markets in the Bahamas, has invested about $5 million into Lenox’s downtown restaurant scene. The Sandisfield native owns a half-dozen commercial restaurant properties in Lenox including Firefly Gastropub, Olde Heritage Tavern, Café Lucia and the Scoop.

BACK FROM HIATUS

Longtime Lenox restaurateur Bjorn Somlo’s prominent Church Street restaurant has evolved to become Nudel Bar: Comfort & Craft. The restaurant shut down in March 2020, periodically resurfacing as pop-up, to-go ventures. In November, Nudel reopened with a new name and a new, seasonally inspired “New American” menu. Gramercy Bistro also is back from a coronavirus pandemic-forced hiatus, reopening in October in a new location in Williamstown, at Water and Main streets. The bistro, previously located in North Adams, opened with largely the same menu — dinner, Sunday brunch and lunch, that will be brought online in May.

NEW PITTSFIELD VENUES

Flat Burger Society, a burger joint on McKay Street, and RJ’s Restaurant, on First Street, opened in August and September, respectively. Berkshire Palate, the new restaurant in Hotel on North, opened in October.

Flat Burger Society’s owners, Austin Oliver and Joe Bowman, operate Thistle & Mirth in Pittsfield. Jose Reyes operates RJ’s with his cousin and business partner, David Reyes. Berkshire Palate is run by Paul Brassard, who owns 413 Bistro and Taproom, located within Hotel Downstreet, on Main Street in North Adams.

NEW OWNERS AT CAFÉ TRISKELE

Franck Tessier and Rachel Portnoy, longtime owners of Chez Nous in Lee, used a pandemic pause to rebrand and reopened the Main Street restaurant as Café Triskele in April 2021. In December, they sold the restaurant to another husband-and-wife team, Gilbert and Rebecca Clerget, two veteran chefs from the Washington area, one of whom once worked at the White House. ■