LENOX -- It was a friend from Lenox who tipped me off that a new little eatery had opened on Church Street, joining what can arguably be called the town's restaurant row.

This fits the game plan of owners Nick and Devon Caplan, who hope that offering reasonably priced, well-made but uncomplicated food in a casual atmosphere will attract a word-of-mouth local following as much as a tourist trade.

To that end, the cafe is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch as well as three days for dinner.

Devon did the makeover, transforming a boxy room that had been a natural foods store and later a deli into an eye-friendly space with a curving wall, floor tiles, a palette in gentle greens and arty track lighting that could hold its own in SoHo.

Mirrors add dimension, and a painting, a wall hanging and red tulips on the tables add splashes of color. Daytime furniture of blond wood dresses for dinner in white linen.

The dining area is small (seating for about 26), and it can get noisy when full (closely spaced tables and lots of echo-y surfaces).

Nick Caplan, who came from San Francisco to be chef at Once Upon a Table in Stockbridge, does the food. His menus manage to be stylish, but not trendy.

Advertisement
They draw on classics, on local provender and on various intenational cuisines, but without faux chic or flights of fusion.

Breakfasts feature frittatas and burritos alongside pancakes, omelettes and highly recommended apple-stuffed French toast. At noon, the sandwich selections come on baguettes or organic whole-grain bread. Salad toppings include local chevre from Rawson Brook Farm, as well as chicken, salmon or tuna, and a couple of the dinner appetizers make an appearance as lunch fare.

There are usually a half-dozen each of starters and entrées on the dinner menu. Choices typically include rack of lamb, pork tenderloin, a fowl, one or two fish items and a pasta.

The selection and presentation varies from night to night, depending on what's available, and what there's been a run on. This gives Nick Caplan a chance to follow both whim and market (and to keep his food out of the freezer). For potential "regulars," it mixes it up a bit and keeps a short menu from becoming "been-there-done-that."

When we first visited last October, my husband had a rainbow trout with a crusting of pecans and a slick of honey-lemon butter ($17), and I had the marvelously tender and blushing rack of lamb on a mound of mashed potatoes capped with a few fat asparagus spears ($20). Both were at peak flavor and memorable as honest-to-goodness food.

When we went again recently, those items were both still offered, but while it was tempting to have another go at them, we opted for something new.

I went fairly traditional with Chicken Liver Paté with Armagnac and Truffles ($7.50) as lead-in for a Roast Game Hen with porcini and portobello mushrooms ($18). Rod took an Oriental route with a starter of Pan-Seared Dumplings ($6) followed by Sesame Salmon with stir-fried vegetables ($18).

The paté was velvety and rich and a tad bland. It could have used a more generous lacing of the truffle or the brandy, or both. Still, it was gratifying to smooth it on thin toasts of lightly buttered baguette and add slivers of onion or take minute nibbles of sweet gherkin for a pungent counterpoint.

Tomato slices mostly gave color to the plate. Can one expect much else of a tomato in February?

There certainly was nothing understated or unstinting in the mushrooms that graced my game hen. They were plenteous and plump, a rush of earth and woods in an intense mouth-filling sauce. The little bird was split and grilled to a golden-skinned turn, albeit just a little dry in the white meat.

Pencil-thin asparagus contributed a herbaceous note, and red Himalayan rice added nuttiness and grainy texture that was wholly satisfying.

The Asian dumplings were basically lightly fried wonton wrappers filled with Chinese cabbage, carrots and a bit of water chestnut. Alone they might have been unremarkable, but here they strutted their stuffing in an invigorating soy vinaigrette with a jolt of ginger, a colorful minced pepper and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds.

A centerpiece of gari, the pink pickled ginger that plays sidekick to sushi, added extra zing. This is surely destined to be a café best-seller.

The salmon entrée was tasty, but the parts didn't fully come together. The filet, generously cut and nicely moist, was flanked with rice -- that great Himalayan stuff again. The accompanying stir-fry included lots of fresh things: asparagus, shiitakes, red peppers, cabbage and other greens, but it somehow seemed disassociated with the fish. The delicate lemon and scallion beurre blanc, which could have had a starring role on a simpler plate, was somewhat overwhelmed.

The chef said that he also does the salmon simply on a bed of baby spinach with the lemony sauce, and I think I might prefer it that way.

There were just two desserts that night, so that was easy -- one for Rod and one for me ($5 apiece). His -- a flourless chocolate cake -- was undistinguished, lacking the dark depth of chocolate that is usually the hallmark that confection. My créme brulée, however, was exemplary -- a little ramekin of swoony vanilla custard with a glazing of burnt-sugar that shattered into sweet little shards as the spoon plunged in.

One small gripe was that the lone waitress on duty could have used some backup, given the full house. She was pleasant and did things well when she got to them, but when we arrived at 7 the place was in full swing with a very merry reunion of women from a nearby law firm, and lots of smaller parties.

We waited to be welcomed, waited for water and bread, waited for wineglasses and sat for a good 20 minutes before our order was taken.

Fortunately, we weren't in a hurry, and we enjoyed the spill-over conviviality of our neighbors, but this is an area that will definitely need to be addressed as business increases -- as we confidently predict that it will.


Restaurant Review

Dish Café Bistro, 37 Church St., Lenox. Tel. (413) 637-1800

Style: Essence of bistro -- good food, no fuss

Hours: Breakfast: 8:30 to 11, daily; Lunch: 11:30 to 3 daily; Dinner: 5:30 to 9, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Extended hours/days in summer season.

Prices: Breakfast: $6.50, average; Lunch: $7 average; Dinner: Starters $5 to $7.50; Entrees $16 to $20; Desserts $5

Liquor: Bring your own, for the time being -- glassware and corkscrews are provided. A wine and beer license is pending, expected this spring.

Accessibility: Yes

Reservations: Strongly advised at dinner

Specials: Menu variations regularly

April 25, 2004