Plate to Plate

The lights were warm and low last night at Elf Parlor, North Adams’ all-around best coffee shop and local hangout, and people gathered in little groups around small glittery tables topped with wildflower-stuffed Ball jars. Seven and Mike Blakeman darted around their space, offering tastings of tea and serving up small plates of seasonal food. As Dan and I made our way to our table, stopping to chat with friends, settling in along with the din of whirring ceiling fans, the clinking forks and glasses, the crackling bursts of laughter, I thought to myself that it was almost, almost like being in New York again. Or better yet, Brooklyn.

A considerable compliment, coming from the girl who spends more time than she’d like to admit pining after small, hot spaces, packed with strangers and stuffed into small buildings set atop concrete. North Adams is no New York, but sometimes it feels a little bit like home, and Elf Parlor really helps in that department.

Last night’s dinner was a special event, and I hope the first of many more. Billed as a Local Garden Dinner, it was a prix-fixe, three-course menu of simply prepared, wonderfully fresh vegetarian dishes prepared by local garden enthusiast Peter Camacho, along with a sampling of several organic loose-leaf teas — sage, lemongrass ginger, chilled Earl Grey, vanilla rooibos, and blueberry, among others.

First up was a salad of soft, almost feathery lettuces, along with tiny sprouts, and strips of something cruciferous — broccoli leaves, or maybe raw kale or collards? — and studded with tiny yellow broccoli flowers. Along with it came a sweet-and-vinegary carrot dressing, which I proceeded to dump lustily all over the greens. (“This isn’t carrot juice,” said Mike as he brought the dressing, served in a little juice glass, to our table.)

Next, some lightly sauteed green and yellow beans flanked by two huge, evergreen-colored sauteed kale leaves stuffed with a ratatouille-like stew of eggplant and onion. I fobbed most of the white rice off on Dan, but had fun chewing through the crisp beans.

Dessert was an adorable little tower of buttery shortbread wafers and berry mascarpone, with a strawberry sauce drizzled over the top. It was very sweet, and very good, almost like a soft, fruity ice cream sandwich.

We left Elf Parlor stuffed and sated, and strolled down Ashland Street. No, North Adams isn’t New York, but when it gets it right, it really gets it right.