When the charcuterie board was placed on our table at the Lumber Yard, one of Amherst’s newest restaurants, I knew it was all over for me.

The rustic cutting board was covered with nuggets and slices of cheese, a small cup of olives, an orange-colored chutney and something made from figs. This came shortly after the hazelnut molasses bread had arrived, a totally new spin on restaurant bread. I am a sucker for cheese and this was some of the best.

Lumber Yard, located in a former art gallery (and a former lumber yard if you go way back) at 383 Main St., opened the weekend everyone seems to call the one with the big snow (Oct. 29). Luckily they didn’t lose power long enough to lose all their food.

(No Web site yet, but you can check them out on Facebook. 413-253-4200. Open Tuesday-Sunday at 4:30 p.m., with the kitchen closing around 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 on weekends. Closed on Monday. The restaurant liquor license allows the bar to be open until 11:30 p.m.)

The Lumber Yard is the dream come true of Cindy and Rolf Nelson, who have lived in Amherst for 12 years and have two children in Amherst schools. They also own a restaurant called ‘Sconset on Nantucket which is only open seasonally. In the women’s bathroom, there is an article in a frame on the wall that tells you the couple met there in 1983.

The restaurant space itself is unique, with a bar section, a formal seating area and a lounge area with couches in front. There is a porch with benches out front and when the weather gets better, it will be a great spot for outdoor dining or just waiting for a table.

I was amazed when I walked in with my children at 5:45 p.m. on a Saturday, the place was really busy. I was lucky to get a reservation, I guess. Very quickly Cindy welcomed us at our table and gave us a quick history lesson about the location and its surroundings (stuff I didn’t even know and I’ve been here since 1968.)

One way I judge the quality of a restaurant is how the leftovers taste after a day or two in the refrigerator. In this way, the Lumber Yard is rock star great. That charcuterie board’s left-overs, even with slightly stale bread, were amazing. I don’t know where that blue cheese came from, but matched with the slight sweetness of the bread it was still terrific when it was several days old.

I wanted to try as many things as possible, so I ordered no main course. The offers include a bar menu with smaller items and a main menu with the appetizers and main courses. So you can get a simple burger, fancy mac and cheese or fried calamari, but there are also many unique items to try.

The Moroccan chicken pasty came between two crisp and buttery layers of filo dough and spiced with apricots, figs, preserved lemon and cilantro. It was melt-in-your mouth tender with an exotic taste. I noted my son, Elliot, 15, ate many shared bites, a high compliment from one who usually doesn’t go for unusual dishes.

“It’s got a lot of spices and it’s almost tangy,’’ Elliot said.
I ordered butternut squash tartar ($7) after asking the wait staff just what that meant. I thought of steak tartar and couldn’t figure out if that meant the squash would be uncooked. I was assured it just has to do with the shape of the food.

It arrived shaped like a small cylinder with a blend of the pinenuts, apples, sage and pine nuts stopped with crispy shallots. A dollop of ricotta was next to it. (I have to mention that each meal came looking like a little art work, the food composed beautifully. Photos on the Facebook page illustrate that.) The flavors blended together smoothly and there was a hint of sweet vinegar that was slightly reminiscent of sushi (not the raw fish part.)

While we waited for the main courses, we noticed that the plates and especially the bowls were not ordinary. Even the glass wine carafe had a shape I’ve never seen before with a hole in the middle so wine comes through two tubes to a center tube to the spout.

Livvy ordered the pan-roasted chicken breast with gnocchi, mushrooms, wilted greens and cream ($22). The meat was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and the sauce was very subtle and not overly rich. This was my favorite leftover. Elliot had a burger ($13) with fries and a delicious fresh and crunchy cabbage slaw. He loved that burger.

Fortunately, we saved room for dessert because it may have been the highlight. I’m not a fan of chocolate, but that chocolate volcano ($10) that Elliot ordered was amazing. A sort-of upside down chocolate cake with a warm inside of smooth chocolate and caramel sauce was not-too-sweet and merged perfectly with the ice cream and whipped cream on the side. I honored it with the “best chocolate dessert” I had ever had.

My plum cake ($9) with almond streusel, lemon honey and mascarpone cheese on the side was sublime. I considered whether the plum cake was just a vehicle to eat the mascarpone cheese which is so buttery and creamy. Livvy had the simpler local pumpkin ice cream with caramel topping.

Overall, the Lumber Yard is an excellent addition to Amherst’s high-end eating scene.