Spice heats up North Street
by Bess Hochstein
 
The word came to me last month via Joyce Bernstein’s TREO. (If, like me, you’re not tech-savvy, that’s a hand-held wireless phone, scheduling, and email device, like a Blackberry.) The recently introduced spring menu at Spice included house-made thyme gnocchi with spring vegetables and arugula in a pesto broth. Leave it to Joyce to know exactly what will pull me into her restaurant. She might also have mentioned the lemon and olive oil poached artichokes with spiced carrot couscous. These dishes are precisely the kind of food I want to eat now that it’s warm outside, just as I enjoyed a rich stew with mushrooms, fennel, and chick peas during the winter. When I got Joyce’s message I knew, with the talent in Spice’s kitchen, that these new dishes would be perfectly executed. After all, just this fall executive chef Douglas Luf was recognized by his peers in the Western Mass Committee of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association as “Chef of the Year,” with less than a full year at the helm of Spice. 

There are a few familiar-sounding items on the menu that are popular favorites, such as the wild mushroom “toad in the hole;” macaroni and Maine lobster with spinach, bacon, and chive cream; and grilled mustard and herb-marinated chicken with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms. When you attract a loyal following, as Spice has already done, you make sure they can find the food they love while introducing new dishes with the potential to become just as popular. Which is in keeping with Spice’s mission: to serve “Familiar food with a twist.”

Since its opening last summer, Spice has become something of a community gathering spot, hosting events for non-profits and charitable organizations, a role that has broadened with the opening of Spice’s upstairs private function room. These events have included a luncheon honoring Shakespeare & Company’s innovative “Shakespeare in the Courts” program for having won recognition by First Lady Laura Bush with the “Coming Up Taller Award;” another to announce grants to several local organizations from the Massachusetts Cultural Council; a recent fundraiser for the Storefront Artist Project for which Norman Mailer was the honorary chairman; and affairs for other groups such as Berkshire Grown, Friends of Tanglewood, Charley’s Fund, Barrington Stage Company,  and the United Way.

Even without a special event, Spice’s tables are full and the bar is hopping just about every night of the week. With that in mind, you can see why reservations are definitely recommended. You can also understand why Bernstein and her partner Larry Rosenthal are continuing to Spice up North Street, increasing their function space and planning a July opening for “Burger,” a spin-off serving many varieties of its namesake item, as well as hot dogs, fries, shakes – well, you get the picture. And down the road there will be “Sugar,” a dessert bar. I can just see Joyce sending me TREO notes whenever some new decadent confection makes its way from the chef’s imagination to the serving platter…