2009 in the Pioneer Valley – Restaurants and CSAs

2009 was not a good year in which to open a restaurant, but even so more than a few intrepid souls took the plunge.

In Northampton, LOCAL (formerly LOCAL BURGERS) combined the American staples, hamburgers and fries, with the current obsession for local produce and was swarming with customers. SAKURA, on King Street, introduced a buffet concept for Chinese and Japanese food. While buffet sushi may sound daunting, initial signs are promising and there seems to be enough turnover to keep things fresh. And Mosaic Café on Masonic Street serves interesting and tasty Moroccan-style food, sweet mint tea, and desserts that go way past the cliches.

In Amherst, MISS SAIGON, a Vietnamese restaurant, took over the space Souper Bowl vacated in its move several doors down, offering pho noodle soups and other Vietnamese specialties. MOTI MOTI opened in the former Fatso’s and Rolando’s space, serving Persian food. Judging by the number of people who ask me if I’ve eaten there, the place deserves looking into. Longtime fixture Delano’s is now STACKERS PUB, featuring bar food.

In Easthampton, Apollo Grill’s Casey Douglass and two partners opened VENUS and THE CELLAR BAR on Main Street. Venus is easily one of the top high-end restaurants in the area and seems to be thriving. The Cellar Bar offers its own menu, along with the full Venus menu when that restaurant’s kitchen is open, just in case you meet some friends for a drink after work and find yourself hungry. Zoe’s Fish and Chop House owner Jim Sands opened YOURWAY GOURMET in the old Blue Moon space in the Eastworks Building and is looking to re-open Zoe’s in the Hadley space that formerly housed Butternuts, which shut its doors this year.

There were a number of closings in 2009. The idiosyncratic PIZZA SHARK in North Amherst succumbed. A new pizza place is taking over the space and the Shark’s black walls and ceiling are already painted a warmer and more inviting beige. In Northampton, BISTRO 186 on the site of the former Good Thyme Deli closed and ECLIPSE is poised to take its place (no word yet on the kind of food it will serve). On Route 9, CHINA DYNASTY closed suddenly. I had my first date in Amherst at an earlier place on that site, Steak Out, and followed the various restaurant incarnations through to Gulf Stream, a fish place where my stepson waited tables. In 1992, when China Dynasty opened, the place seemed finally settled. Now it’s up for grabs again.

The former jewel of South Deerfield, SIENNA, closed its doors this fall after trying unsuccessfully to make the progression from haute cuisine to a less pricey menu, and a more neighborhood feel. In Holyoke, TRAMORE CHIP SHOP closed two weeks ago. However, the DAM CAFE opened next door, serving breakfast, lunch and early dinners.

No year-end story is complete without mentioning the sudden death of GOURMET magazine. It was so sudden that editor Ruth Reichl apparently found out about it while on a promo tour for the latest Gourmet cookbook. Gourmet was the original glossy food magazine, founded in 1941 and holding near-icon status for much of its life. By the time Reichl came on board in 1999, Gourmet had become ossified. Reichl changed the tone of the magazine in an attempt to grow with the times. Barry Estabrook’s expose of the plight of tomato pickers in Florida in the March 2009 issue resulted in a $1/hour pay raise for the pickers.

The precipitous drop in advertising revenue which has hit the entire newspaper and magazine industry took its toll, but the story is more emblematic of the times. Like those who bemoan the death of local book and record stores while ordering mostly from Amazon, many readers held Gourmet in a high regard that did not translate into sales. The Gourmet “brand” will most likely continue as a Web site and a series of books, but a touchstone is gone from the culinary world.

The other big story of the year could be called the DEATH OF ORGANIC AND RISE OF SUSTAINABLE. The Pioneer Valley has a rich array of farms, farm stands and farmers markets, making local eating, at least during the growing months, harder to avoid than to practice. The debate between organic produce shipped long distances versus local but not necessarily organic produce has focused attention on sustainable agriculture. Sustainable practices are often, but not always, organic methods, and have three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability and thriving farming communities.

Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions (CSAs) have also exploded. You buy a share in a local farm, giving the farmer some cash early in the year when it is needed most, and in return you pick up a bag of local produce weekly, right up until the frost. What is especially nice is that the concept has spread beyond vegetables and herbs. The Pioneer Valley will always lack a Boston-style seafood CSA, but growing numbers of local beef, lamb and pork producers have led to two meat CSAs: AUSTIN FARMS in Belchertown and CHESTNUT FARMS in Deerfield Hardwick. In Amherst, WHEATBERRY BAKERY sponsors both a BREAD SHARE and PIONEER VALLEY HERITAGE GRAINS, a local beans and grains farm share.

As we move into the next decade, it is nice to have even more of these to look forward to. Happy New Year all.

Originally published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, January 1, 2010