No Reservations

No Reservations: Check, please

Friday, July 16, 2010

This will be my last column for No Reservations. By my count it will be my 66th. Food coverage in Hampshire Life will be taking a different direction so I am moving on.

No Reservations: Daily show

Friday, July 2, 2010

My wife and I took her son, Gideon, and his son, Oscar, out to Eclipse for a treat last Friday night. ECLIPSE (186 Main St., Northampton, 584-6006, www.eclipse186.com) is the newest entry in the fine-dining scene in Northampton.

No Reservations: Zoe's, continued

Friday, June 18, 2010

When word spread that Jim and Rita Sands were reopening Zoe's in the former Butternuts space in Hadley, people were excited. Zoe's Fish and Chop House in Easthampton had ended its 13-year run in 2003, done in by high energy costs and shrinking margins. The site today is home to a medical center. For many people, Zoe's was the place to go for fish in this area.

No Reservations: Palate pleaser

Friday, June 4, 2010

I can't help it. Whenever food seems bland and uninteresting, I turn to Indian cuisine. There's something about the spices and the opulence of the side dishes that awakens my palate. Tasting simple, sweet Basmati-style rice with a hint of cumin, or raita laced with salt, cumin and mint or coriander makes me appreciate flavors again.

No Reservations: Dam right!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Holyoke is never going to get over the dam puns. The dam in the Connecticut River once furnished power for the city's mills, and while the mills have moved on the dam remains, memorialized in Paper City Brewery's Holyoke Dam Ale. And now, the DAM Cafe (2014 Northampton St., Holyoke, 533-1866, thedamcafe.net) carries on the tradition.

No Reservations: A room of his own

Friday, May 7, 2010

Martin Amaya comes from a family in El Salvador in which the women were in charge of the kitchen. His mother and sisters made everything from scratch; his mother even built a wood-fired oven for baking.

Something's fishy (in a good way)

Friday, April 16, 2010

For a long time, I didn't know what to make of MOSHI MOSHI (4 Main St., Northampton, 586-5865, www.moshimoshi-noho.com). I'd eaten there once or twice when it first opened, but the combination of the spiral staircase to the second floor and the first-floor sushi bar and eating area left me puzzled.