The Best of the Berkshires

With its grand inns, stylish restaurants, and charming scenery, this corner of Massachusetts is just the place for a delicious Thanksgiving getaway.

By Janice Wald Henderson



THE BERKSHIRES, a collection of rolling hills in the westernmost reaches of Massachusetts, are picture-postcard material. The scenery - with old-fashioned main streets, soaring white steeples, and weathered barns - looks like a Grandma Moses-meets-Norman Rockwell collaboration. But more than the Americana landscape, the region's newly flourishing dining scene makes the Berkshires a wonderful place to consider exploring over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Although the New England locale may be quaint, the food is often anything but. Sure, country restaurants still prepare traditional meals. But the edgy dishes offered in some new places seem straight out of SoHo. And the elegant cuisine served in hotels, inns, and farmhouses often includes classics updated with modern flair. In short, there are many great dining rooms to choose from - for Thanksgiving dinner . . . and all weekend long. . . .

The Mill on the Floss
Tucked inside a 17th-century farmhouse in New Ashford, this French restaurant is a refuge from modern times. "It's like a page out of Dickens," says chef Suzanne Champagne Ivy of the mood created by old wooden floors, burnished beams, and low ceilings illuminated by candlelight.

As for the food, silken chicken liver paté, rich onion soup, and crispy veal sweetbreads keep the crowds very satisfied. (One guest, wowed by the sweetbreads, wrote a poem about them; it now appears on the menu.)

"The guest response makes me happy," says Ivy. "I'm on stage in our open kitchen, so when someone praises a meal, that's applause to me."