There are plenty of places in Berkshire County serving breakfast for hungry New Year's customers, including dining in style at Cranwell.
LENOX, Mass. — When I was growing up, my parents would eat New Year's morning breakfast out. At a restaurant, with their friends, not with us. Us being the three kids.
Before they went out they would get dressed up.
My mother put on a strapless evening gown made of heavy satin in a color I couldn't na.m.e. Somewhere between black and purple. I remember that distinctly. At least, I think I do. My mother did not regularly wear evening gowns.
My father wore a tuxedo. A tuxedo? Is this memory really true? Well, some suit with which he had to have a shirt with cufflinks. And a bow tie. A bow tie? My father never wore a bow tie. Hmmm.
Anyway … They got dressed up and went out and stayed out all night with their friends being people I did not know and could not imagine and ate New Year's breakfast out in the middle of the night. And, without us.
I couldn't picture what they did all night before the breakfast but I could picture a breakfast. We ate those. Fresh squeezed orange juice. My father did that for us every morning. The aroma of brewing coffee. My father also did that. He made fresh coffee for himself every morning in a glass coffee maker. No one else in our fa.m.ily drank coffee. Tea — we drank Tetley tea. Or Swee Touch Nee.
We, as a family, ate in restaurants. Dinner, however. Sometimes lunch at a department store.
Breakfast out seemed very extreme and fancy. Very exotic, mysterious and desirable to me. Eating breakfast out in the middle of the night while wearing a tuxedo. Or a strapless satin evening gown. In the middle of winter.
Still, I could picture eating in a restaurant.
All these years later, in my everyday adult life, I eat breakfast out fairly often. When I'm out early for errands or work. Because it is a convenient time to meet with busy friends before the real day begins. Sometimes, just because.
On New Year's Day when it is so quiet, especially in the morning, breakfast out takes on a silvery quality different from the rest of the year. Partyish.
For me, that breakfast has to start with fresh orange juice that no one squeezes in our house anymore. I can get it at Martin's in Great Barrington if I go there. I can also get a dish of grits, scrambled eggs, cheddar, sausage and spinach chef-owner Martin Lewis makes.
I could get fresh orange juice at the Elm Street Market in Stockbridge with simple eggs over medium. Sitting at the counter, there, feels a bit like childhood, too.
Or I might start with a small dish of banana slices with sour or sweet crea.m.. I can get that at the Red Lion in Stockbridge with a great breakfast there, overall. Their breakfast sausages are memorable. And, they also offer fresh orange juice.
Now, I drink coffee in addition to tea and I would want that strong coffee smell and taste. Freshly ground beans. Maybe, cappuccino. Places with distinctive coffee are countless here in the Berkshires.
If I went to No. Six Depot in West Stockbridge, which roasts and sells its own coffees that is right now sweeping the county, I could have a breakfast both classic and inventive. Chef-owner Flavio Lichtenthal uses local ingredients like maple syrup, breads, eggs and tempeh as well as Nutella with his waffles, apricots and hazelnuts with the steel-cut oatmeal and truffles and capers on the slow-roasted porchetta (pork) panini.
Or, I could crave a big bowl of house soup like the cider butternut bisque I love at On A Roll in Pittsfield. Where I could also get chef-owner David Barile's eggs Benedict any of at least six ways with his delicious Hollandaise sauce. Barile also makes his own breads, muffins, pastries, granola, pancake batters, homefries, sausage and hashes — more than one kind.
The food at tiny Shots Café in Lenox is all organic. It feels like someone is home-cooking breakfast for you, personally, in their kitchen when you eat at Shots. They also make their own pastries, including croissants.
Fresh croissants and croissant sandwiches are breakfast staples at Cakewalk Bakery and Café in Lee. As are their scones, muffins and their especially buttery and crunchy cinna.m.on rose. Their large front window would be a nice spot to watch the quiet street scene and expected icy weather New Year's morning.
If I a.m. in the mood for lively atmosphere as well as good food, Otto's Breakfast & Deli across the street from Cakewalk seems to be the hottest ticket in the area. Full from door to counter with patient and dining diners.
As is Haven Café & Bakery in Lenox with a more upscale crowd awaiting coffee cake or muffins or egg specials-of-the-morning.
Spoon is another choice for healthy, fresh breakfast in Lenox.
And for a really healthy start to the year, both Kripalu Center in Lenox and Kushi Institute in Becket make the finest, tastiest organic mostly vegan and vegetarian meals.
Food at Kushi is macrobiotic and usually vegan. You have to call for reservations by the day before.
When Kripalu is busy as it is now, it is necessary to pre-book a meal, they say. Other times, you can walk in and purchase a dining ticket at the registration desk.
Kripalu serves a station of macrobiotic dishes but is much broader. Food there is vegan and vegetarian with a bit of meat or fish. Breakfast at Kripalu is silent in the main dining room with a small, sunny room overlooking the Stockbridge Bowl for those who want to converse at breakfast.
Breakfast could be lox and bagels or waffle with strawberries or a huge plate of huevos rancheros at chef-owner Zee Vasso's The Kitchen in the Lenox Commons just north of town on Routes 7 and 20. A popular and reasonably priced breakfast and lunch restaurant.
If I'm not up at the crack of dawn this Thursday, and I still want to have a festive first meal of the day, there are a few restaurants in the county serving New Year's Day brunches.
They aren't serving a holiday brunch but Amazing Pavilion, under new ownership within the last couple of years, opens at 10:30. Sometimes, Chinese dumplings and appetizers are the perfect start to a day. Or a year.
A cup of cappuccino at Shots.
Many other Chinese and Oriental restaurants around the area open early enough for brunch, too.
Bombay Grill in Lee will host a New Year's Day brunch/lunch buffet which is fun, looking out at Laurel Lake. Their buffet features uncommon dishes not on their menu in addition to favorites like Tandoori chicken and chicken masala. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are prominent on Bombay's buffet.
Cranwell Resort in Lenox is having first a breakfast buffet followed by a brunch buffet in their elegant setting dressed for the holidays including a fire in the large fireplace surrounded by sofas.
It is best to have reservations for Cranwell's buffets, especially the brunch.
The Crowne Plaza serves both a breakfast menu and breakfast buffet every day. No reservation necessary.
Finally, Willia.m.s Inn in Williamstown has its lavish brunch buffet featuring a station where your eggs will be cooked to order any way you want them — scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, omelets — a carving station with ham, beef and chicken, a salad station, vegetables, accompaniments and "an assortment of holiday desserts" all made in their kitchen.
Reservations are in order at Williams Inn, too.
So for you, dear readers, here are the results of my tracking down as many local restaurants and other dining institutions — like Berkshire Medical Center, Fairview Hospital, Kripalu Yoga Center and Kushi Institute — as I could find. You can sit down for the first breakfast of the New Year and relax over eggs Benedict, homemade waffles, housemade hash or organic breakfast breads, pastries or pancakes and maple syrup, breakfast burritos, even miso soup and brown rice. I can't believe I found more than 50 breakfast spots. I'm sure I've missed some but you've got your choices.
Adrien's Diner: 413-236-5928, 145 Wahconah St., Pittsfield, 7 to noon
Amazing Pavilion: 413-448-2647, 88 North St./26 Dunham Mall, Pittsfield, Chinese brunch 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Berkshire Medical Center Cafeteria: 413-447-2673, Wahconah St., Pittsfield, breakfast sandwiches, hot oatmeal, no hot dishes, 6 to 9:30
Bob's Country Kitchen: 413-499-3934, 42 South Main St./Route 7, Lanesborough, 6:30 to 2
Bombay Grill: 413-243-6731, 235 Laurel St./Route 20 in the Black Swan Inn, Lee, brunch/lunch buffet, noon to 3
BrewHaHa: 413-664-2020, 20 Marshall St., North Adams, 8:30 to 5
Cakewalk Bakery & Café: 413-243-2806 56 Main Street/Route 20, Lee, 7 to 4
Moonlight Diner: 413-458-3305, 408 Main St./Route 2, Williamstown, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Mom's: 413-528-2414, Main Street/Route 23, South Egremont, 6:30 to 3
Monterey General Store: 413-528-4437, Main Street/Route 23, Monterey, 7 to 6
No. Six Depot Roastery & Café: 413-232-0205, 6 Depot St., West Stockbridge, 10 to 4
On A Roll Café: 413-236-5671, 75 North St., Pittsfield, 7 to 3
One West: 413-499-2000, 6 to noon, buffet or omelet station
Otto's Breakfast & Deli: 413-243-6060, 87 Main St., Lee, 9 to 2:30; 413-344-4748, 95 East St., Pittsfield, 8 to 2:30
Ozzie's Steak and Eggs: 413-655-8309, 26 Maple St., Hinsdale, 7:30 to 12:30
Ozzie's Becket General Store: 413-623-5700, 30 Washington St./Route 8, Becket, 7 to 8
Pleasant and Main Café: 413-274-6303, 1063 Main St., Housatonic, 8 to 3
Red Lion Inn: 413-298-5545/1629, 30 Main St./Routes 7 & 102, Stockbridge, 7:30 to 10
Renee's Diner: 413-664-2070, 780 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams, 7 to 2
Richmond Grille: 413-663-6500, 40 Main St./Route 8, Holiday Inn, North Adams, 6:30 to 10
Rita Marie's: 413-448-2742, 685 South Main St./Route 7, Lanesborough, 8 to 2
Riverbend Café: 413-528-0858, 403 Stockbridge Road/Route 7, Great Barrington, 9 to 5
Shots Café: 413-637-1055, 27 Housatonic St., Lenox, 8 to 4
Southfield Store: 413-229-5050, Norfolk Road, New Marlborough, 7 to 5
Spoon: 413-881-4040, 26 Housatonic St., Lenox, 8 to 3
That's A Wrap: 413-243-3209, 50 Water St./Outlet Stores food court, Lee, 10 to 8
The Dalton Restaurant: 413-684-0414, 401 Main St./Routes 8, 8A & 9, Dalton, 6:30 to 12:30
The Donut Man: 413-443-6161, 1653 North St./Route 7, on Pontoosuc Lake, Pittsfield, doughnuts, bagels, breakfast sandwiches and more, 5 a.m. to midnight
The Kitchen: 413-637-1402, 55 Pittsfield Road/Routes 7 and 20, Lenox, 7 to 3
The Williams Inn: 413-458-9371, 1090 Main St./Routes 2 & 7, Williamstown, brunch buffet, 11 to 3
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There are plenty of places in Berkshire County serving breakfast for hungry New Year's customers, including dining in style at Cranwell.
A cup of cappuccino at Shots.
A plate of lox and bagel at The Kitchen in Lenox.
