Seasons' Eatings...

Karen Carpenter once sang:

"Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home..."

This has been my mantra forever. I want to spend the holidays at home. It doesn’t need to be my home-it could be yours, or anyone’s for that matter; I just don’t want to be eating out and spending the holidays at a restaurant.

Restaurants serve a solid purpose on the holidays-there are people that perhaps are stuck here for business, or maybe just moved to the area and don’t have any real connection to other people locally. But for life-long New Englanders, the last thing I want to do is go out for Thanksgiving.

I eat out all the time (big surprise, right?) and having worked in restaurants growing up, I can tell you it’s the last place staff want to be on holidays. The front-end people don’t want to be there, the wait-staff don’t want to be there, and the cooks/chefs don’t want to be there. If they’re serving you, when do they get to eat? Believe me, they’re figuring out some way to take it out on you.

Sooooooo, due to a number of circumstances, we found ourselves planning on eating out for Thanksgiving this year. I think of a number of surgical procedures I’d rather have, but you know me, “Mr. Silver Lining”…and we got a reservation for Bergson’s 1790 House in Westboro, MA.

I have to tell you…like an innocent country boy stumbling onto an old fashion revival, I’ve seen the light and maybe been converted. The 1790 House really pulled it off well. The food was served buffet style, but unlike the massive “super buffets” that are a blight on our roadsides, this was a buffet of chafing dishes holding freshly prepared food, followed by cut-to-order turkey and prime rib. The picture is of the Senior Palate’s plate, with a hunk of beef just carved off the cow. “SP” likes it a little rare.



Grammy Palate observed that they placed small doilies on the saucers under the tea cups…that was a big hit with her. A big hit with me was that Mrs. Palate had plenty of items she could eat, since they weren’t all swimming in butter, and the turkey was fresh, and not coated in butter, and the prime rib was perfectly done and cu to order. The staff seemed genuinely happy to be there and working hard to make you want to come back again, and the price was right, including a kids’ price (for 13 and under) that was less than half of an adult. All in all, the 1790 House was a hit…so good that the Pilgrims wish they were there to celebrate their freedom by oppressing others.

You've been great...enjoy The Carpenters.