America’s past is a key component of the dining experience in central and western Massachusetts, with legendary establishments that are guaranteed to add a unique flavor to meals.
Worcester/
Central Massachusetts
A true taste of Americana is featured at the Publick House Historic Inn (508.347. 3313; www.publickhouse.com), which has been dishing out traditional Yankee fare for over 230 years. Less than a mile from Old Sturbridge Village, it was here that Col. Ebenezer Crafts enjoyed a culinary feast hearthside with his revolutionary troops.
Another classic 18th-century dining atmosphere awaits groups that stop for a meal of contemporary American cuisine at the 1790 Restaurant & Tavern (508.366.1707; www.1790restaurant.com) in Westborough, which is housed in an historic mansion.
Springfield Area
American “artistic” cuisine is served at the Pub & Oyster Bar & Grill at Holyoke’s Yankee Pedlar Inn (413.532.9494; www.yankeepedlar.com), an award-winning Victorian inn that dates to 1863. The restaurant’s Sunday champagne brunch is a sure bet for groups.
The Berkshires
Completed in 1902, Blantyre (413.637.3556; www.blantyre.com) replicates a grand Scottish manor set amid 100 acres of Berkshires countryside in Lenox. The restaurant’s gourmet French cuisine is served in a variety of rooms, including a formal dining room and a conservatory. Meals are complemented by fine vintages from a wine cellar with more than 600 selections.
Indoor and outdoor banquet catering is available at Rumplestiltzkin’s (413.637.0020; www.villageinn-lenox.com), the acclaimed restaurant of the historic Village Inn in Lenox that opened for business in 1771. The seasonally changing dinner menu is supplemented with daily specials that take advantage of the freshest ingredients around.
Ulysses S. Grant and George Bernard Shaw are among the many illustrious guests who have enjoyed the hearty New England cuisine and first-class hospitality at Morgan House Inn (413.243.3661; www.morganhouseinn.com), a classic stagecoach inn built in 1817 on Main Street in the town of Lee.
