There's no place like home, so Dorothy says, but sometimes you just want to go out. Out to eat, that is. And if you're a vegan in the Berkshires, that can be tricky.Berkshire County, Mass., takes pride in being a destination for the artsy, cultural, yoga-loving type: We've got Mass MOCA, Kripalu, Tanglewood and all manner of art galleries, studios, theatre festivals, shops and the like. Often, such places attract vegetarians and vegans ... but I'm sad to say that most eateries in the Berkshires haven't gotten the memo. I've lived here for almost nine years, and I can rarely eat out without driving half an hour or more for vegan options. Those options are great -- don't get me wrong -- but I'd love to have something closer.
Here in my city, Pittsfield, smack between North County and South County, there are no vegetarian restaurants. We have Baba Louie's, where the soup of the day is always vegan and the pizza with its tasty, spicy tomato sauce can be made with Daiya; Flavours, a Malaysian joint with a plethora of fried foods and a chef who caters to each diner's preferences; Hot Harry's Burritos, where you can get a plain bean-stuffed burrito ... and that's about it. I've heard good things about Effendi's Oasis on North Street but haven't yet tried it. My one experience with the Marketplace Café ended in disaster when they forgot my party's order completely, served everybody else before us, made us late returning to work and got my order wrong (I'd paid extra for avocado on my sandwich and asked for no onions, but when I picked up the top slice of bread there were plenty of red rings of onion with no creamy avocado in sight).
Tomorrow we'll look further afield at North and South County, for those times when a Pittsfield vegan doesn't mind venturing away from home for a while.
Image: Moose in Lanesborough, Mass.; taken by me in April 2011.
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