Lenox has a charming downtown with some very good restaurants to choose from. My top recommendations include:
Brava Wine -Beer – Food: At 27 Housatonic St., this is a small Tapas Bar featuring traditional Spanish tapas. I had a really good arugula salad, a nice scallop dish with balsamic reduction and garlic shrimp. I highly recommend it!
Alta Restaurant & Wine Bar: At 34 Church St., this Mediterranean inspired restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and features local and organic ingredients. It is considered one of the best restaurants in town.
Nudel Restaurant: This is a small, downtown restaurant featuring three course, four course and five course prix fixe, seasonally inspired menus. I had the three course with a wonderful chilled soup of charred cucumber and Berle Farm yogurt, grilled local broccoli and a roasted pollock with cockle and fresh tomato jus, summer squash and garlic scapes. Chef/Owner Bjorn Somlo is a nominee for the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year and a three-time semi-finalist for Best Chef Northeast. Somlo, was also nominated as one of the top 100 chefs for The People’s Best New Chef award for Food & Wine Magazine. 37 Church Street. Make sure to add this to your list but go early, when it opens, to assure that you get a table since they don’t take reservations.
Lenox Coffee, featuring Barrington Coffee Roasting Co., is a good spot for a caffeine hit in a charming old house. 52 Main St. Shots Cafe at 27 Housatonic St. is a good coffee spot as well along with a bakery and cafe open for breakfast and lunch.
I recently read about Chocolate Springs Cafe at 55 Pittsfield Rd. It is a casual cafe featuring their freshly-made chocolates, cakes, gelato and other treats as well as coffee, espresso and their award-winning hot chocolate.