In Williamstown, you can Play with Your Food

Submitted by Seth Rogovoy on August 9, 2010 - 7:01am

by Seth Rogovoy

Photography by Jason Houston

During the summer, when almost every night brings a date with a play, concert, or dance performance, I can’t help but envy those who live the life of leisure. Not because I’m ready to retire by any stretch – but primarily because of the problem I have never been able to solve in a quarter-century of covering the cultural scene in the Berkshires: How to fit in dinner between a full day of work and curtain time.

I’m not much of a grab-and-go guy, and, I suppose, I’m a pretty fussy eater, in the sense that fast food is not on my menu, I prefer local and organic, and, finally, I’m a vegetarian.

This rules out a lot of options. Add to that the time crunch – I’m often not out of the office in Pittsfield, Mass., until 6 p.m., and the Jacob’s Pillow bell rings or the theater lobby lights flash before 8. Add travel time into the equation, and you can see how I’m pressed for time, precisely at the hour I most need to relax for a few minutes and enjoy dinner. (Did I mention I’m not a late eater, so post-show dining is not an option?)

To their credit, many restaurants in the region are well aware that their early dinner patrons are theater-bound, and if you clue them into this in advance they do try to accomodate your needs for timely delivery of your food and check. But it’s a dilemma of sorts, because you don’t want to eat at a good restaurant and wolf down your food or anxiously be counting the minutes, constantly looking at your watch, to make sure you’re out in time.

Which is why I was so impressed several times this summer when, on my way to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, I dined beforehand at the new Mezze Bistro+ Bar at 777 Cold Spring Road (Route 7), where Jae’s and Le Jardin before that used to be.

Both times I went, curtain was 8 p.m., which of course means I needed to time my arrival as close to 7:45 as possible, as you need to factor in time to find parking, walk to the theater, and get your tickets from the box office. I did have reservations both times, but the first time, for a 6:30 reservation, my date for the evening was running late and we only made it to Mezze with a few minutes to spare before 7 p.m. That was cutting it close (although Mezze is only about five minutes by car from the theater).

Nevertheless, the waitstaff knew from the outset that we needed to be out of there by 7:45, and without rushing us at all, they were totally on the ball. We ordered, the food came swiftly, we were able to enjoy a relatively unhurried half hour of dining, and we made it to the theater with a few minutes to spare.

The second time I made sure to plan a little better, and my date and I arrived around 6 p.m. This gave us plenty of time to relax and unwind before and during dinner; to peruse the menu more carefully; and even to enjoy fabulous desserts and coffee at the end of the meal, before heading out to the play – which this night was After the Revolution, a world premiere by young playwright Amy Herzog, bound for Playwrights Horizon in New York City this fall and, if there’s any justice in the world, bound for glory, too.

Mezze co-owner and visionary Nancy Thomas

It’s worth noting that on both evenings, the dining room at Mezze was buzzing. The place was packed, which wasn’t a surprise, as Mezze has been on the scene for years in Williamstown, and has established a well-earned following and reputation for its creative cuisine and comfortable dining experience. Presided over by the visionary restaurateur Nancy Thomas, who is a welcoming, reassuring presence in the dining room, Mezze sets the stage for an intimate dining experience that combines rural charm – large windows provide views of neighboring Sheep Hill – with metropolitan chic – Mezze, like its southern cousin, allium in Great Barrington, Mass. -- is staffed and managed by a well-trained team of sophisticated servers.

Oh, yeah, and then there’s the food.

I had two wonderful meals at Mezze this summer. Chef Joji Sumi creates his dinner menu anew each day based on the best of what’s available from local farms and purveyors. While my carnivorous friends enjoyed meals based on fish and other animal flesh (without any guilt trip from me, honestly), I found plenty to satisfy my self-imposed dietary restrictions, including a dish of soba noodles with local vegetables, dominated by smoked mushroom dashi, and a homemade pasta dish of cavatelli with zucchini and squash, cherry tomatoes, and pesto, served in a light garlic parmesan broth. The latter dish appears as a starter on the menu but our server was happy to cater to my request to supersize it as an entree, as well as indulging me when I asked that the kitchen go lightly on the broth (as I’m a sloppy eater and I knew that half the broth would wind up on my shirt).

Warning: Don’t ask about desserts unless you’re prepared to order them. I’m not a dessert person, but we had time the second night, so just as a lark I was curious about what was on the dessert menu. Once the server read our options, which included Lemon cheesecake with candied lemon and strawberry gelato; chocolate and ginger bread pudding with coconut gelato and citrus tuile; Madagascar vanilla crème brulee; Berle farm yogurt panna cotta with blood orange sherbert and candied mint; and peanut butter and chocolate trifle with Devil’s food cake, peanut butter mousse, whipped cream, and salted peanut brittle, the decision had been made for us. And we didn’t regret it one bit.

Mezze and Williamstown Theatre Festival have formalized their connection, with a one-stop online portal called “Play With Your Food,” which makes it simple and direct to make pre- or post-show dinner reservations and to purchase tickets to the theater.

To make dinner reservations at Mezze, call 413.458.0123 or visit OpenTable to book online.

Seth Rogovoy is Berkshire Living's award-winning editor-in-chief and cultural critic.

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