A few weekends ago, we spent just under 48 hours in Lenox, Massachusetts to celebrate a friend’s milestone birthday.  On the agenda was good food and drink, a little activity both in and out of doors and lots of laughs.

We stayed at The Cranwell which is a lovely resort that offers a broad range of activities including golf and tennis and lots of spa services.  The resort is also popular as a wedding and meeting venue.  Fine and casual dining options are offered and the resort is very family friendly.

We spent a leisurely hour or two at The Norman Rockwell Museum which was well worth it and gave me a new appreciation for the artist and his work’s complexity and narratives.  We also enjoyed a lovely round of golf that unfortunately was cut short due to a torrential rain storm that involved some lightening.  Our solution was to head into town late in the day and spend an hour at Hoadley Gallery which was recommended to us by another friend.  The gallery is packed with jewelry, original art, glassworks and ceramics that kept us quite busy. We did purchase some jewelry, but there were two artist’s work, including the gallery owner’s that really caught my eye. The pictures on the website don’t do them justice, but click here and here to check them out.  Definitely stop in if you go!

And of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without some wonderful dinners out.  We enjoyed two places that I can definitely recommend in case your travels take you to Tanglewood this summer, to Canyon Ranch for some rejuvenation or just out to the beautiful Berkshires for some rest and exploration!

Both restaurants were right in the center of Lenox on Church Street, within a short distance of each other.  The first restaurant, Bistro Zinc that has been in operation since 1999. Zinc serves lunch and dinner seven days a week and its sleek bar stays open until 1:00 AM nightly…

Loved this interior door made from wine and champagne boxes…

Zinc is a self described modern French bistro and offers traditional dishes such as moules frites, onion soup gratinee, trout meuniere, steak frites and boeuf bourguignon.  Yet, the menu also celebrates other international influences with its unagi shrimp and wakame salad, pork schnitzel and penne puttanesca.  Among 5 of us on our first evening, here are the dishes we ordered…

Zinc Salad which had pancetta lardons, avocado, roasted tomatoes and toasted pine nuts served with a balsamic vinaigrette…

Crispy Goat Cheese Salad served with arugula, cucumber, cilantro and a citrus-coriander vinaigrette…

And Mushroom Gougeres studded with herb goat cheese and served with arugula…

Our appetizers were followed up by one of the evening’s specials, Lemon Pepper Cod served over whipped parmesan potatoes and accompanied with sauteed spinach and haricot verts.  This was my dish and it was fabulous.  I also ordered their appetizer special which was smoked salmon on toast points that was served with a cucumber salad, basil pesto and whipped goat cheese which was delicious…

Pan-Seared Scallops with pea shoots, pineapple-mint salad and pickled shallots was light and refreshing for my husband…

Pan Seared Chicken was served with potatoes, haricot verts and a green peppercorn sauce that the birthday girl loved…

And pan roasted Salmon was served with a light lemon-coriander sauce…

We did order a tarte tatin to share which finished off our meal nicely…

We ate on the late side so the restaurant had quieted down a bit.  Service was extremely attentive.  Of note, our server advised my husband against his original order of the swordfish which he said wasn’t as well received a dish in his experience on the Zinc menu (have to love his honesty!).  Also, when the restaurant did not have the bottle of wine we ordered, they happily provided us with a similar although meaningfully more expensive bottle at the cost of our original request.  Kudos!

Overall, our experience at Zinc was solid and I would repeat a visit to this lovely establishment without question.

On our second night of dining in Lenox, we visited a restaurant that was recommended by the birthday girl’s friend, the same person who recommended a visit to Hoadley Gallery.  Since 2008, Alta Restaurant & Wine Bar has been serving lunch and dinner with Mediterranean flavors on its seasonal porch and within its cozy interior, complete with an intimate bar that looked really fun.  We were seated outside on the porch and since the storm clouds had cleared away, it was a perfect evening…

Here are some of the items our group of now 7 ordered.  First up was my Tomato & Shallot Tarte Tatin.  A layer of puff pastry was topped with eggplant caviar, freshly sliced tomatoes and Vermont goat cheese.  The dish was very tasty, but the pastry could have been a little crispier to my liking…

Fois Gras Terrine with Rhubarb and Maple Gelee was not the prettiest but one of our friends loved this dish…

The Alta salad of mixed greens, radishes, apples, sunflower seeds, goat cheese and a maple dressing was a winner…

As was the Mediterranean Salad studded with feta, raisins, tomatoes and pistachios and dressed with a creamy champagne vinaigrette…

For dinner, The Moroccan Lamb Tagine with dried apricots and almonds was really well received by two diners…

As was the Cod Nicoise, a dish I would love to recreate at home…

My husband and I both ordered the Seared Beef Tenderloin served with a cognac and green peppercorn sauce. While our dishes were tasty and the meat was tender, the tenderloins were overcooked to our liking (and our request).  Oh well…

One lonely, but delicious Creme Brulee was ordered for dessert!

We really enjoyed everything about Alta and I would love to return on a cool Fall evening so I can enjoy the inside of the restaurant as well.  Service was attentive without being overbearing and the entire staff was extremely friendly.  The restaurant was clearly a local favorite as it was very busy all evening.

I hope you have an excuse (or make one) to get out to the Berkshires sometime soon.  If you do, you’ll have a couple of restaurants to try!  Please let me know in the comments if you have other suggestions on things to do or places to eat in the Berkshires.  I’d love to hear them!

Until next week…

Two Years Ago:  Black Bean Burgers with Lemon Yogurt Sauce and Review of Farmstead Table in Newton, Massachusetts.