Spice owners plan next move
New Pittsfield eatery, Burger, will be casual
By Scott Stafford, Berkshire Eagle Staff

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Wednesday, April 25
PITTSFIELD — There's a new burger joint coming to North Street. It's called "Burger."

The owners of Spice restaurant recently solidified the concept as the latest addition to their massive food service operation, and they hope to have it open in the northernmost storefront space of the building by late June.

As recently as Sunday, owners Joyce Bernstein and Larry Rosenthal and head chef Douglas Luff were still debating whether to offer hot dogs as well as burgers. The pro-dog faction won.

"This is going to be a very casual place," Bernstein said. "It is a departure from the rest of the operation, something that will attract a broader audience — a great place to bring the kids before or after going to the movies."

She said beer and wine will be available, as will veggie burgers for vegetarian customers and turkey burgers for those on a low cholesterol regimen.

"There will be a wide variety of burgers and toppings, and a wide variety of toppings for fries, too. We will use naturally raised local fruit, produce, beef and poultry wherever possible," Bernstein added. "The food will be high quality, fresh and made to order."

Construction is under way in what Bernstein affectionately calls the "burger joint."

There will be seating for between 80 and 100 patrons, who will order at the counter and get their drinks, and their food will be delivered to the table. "It will be very family-oriented, and we will open early and close late," Bernstein said.

Surplus construction material will be used to create the wall decor, and the tables and chairs will be 1960s retro style, she said.

Several concepts had been envisioned for the space, but the owners felt this one had the most potential, Bernstein said.

Another North Street building owner, George Whaling, said the "Burger" concept should work well there. "We've got a couple of burrito joints, a couple of pizza joints, but I think a well-done burger joint will be a real hit — I think they're on to something," he said. "And I'm sure they'll bring the same level of Spice quality and service to the burger joint."

Plans for the other two unfinished pieces of the Spice operation are nearly completed, and construction is expected to be completed by midsummer on the ground-floor dessert bar and the larger of the two second-floor banquet spaces, Bernstein noted.

Located between Burger and the Spice lounge, the full-service dessert bar will be accessible through the restaurant. With seating for 30 to 40 people, the dessert bar will offer gelatos, sorbets, ice creams, pastries, tarts, cookies and pies. There also will be dessert martinis and wines, after-dinner drinks, espresso and various coffees. "There will be a bigger selection of dessert than in the main restaurant," Bernstein said. "There will be standard offerings and specials."

The pastry chef's workspace will be visible from the dessert bar, she added.

Upstairs, the larger of the two banquet rooms will have seating for 300 and will include a bride's dressing room and a catering kitchen. The food will be prepared in the main Spice kitchens, then transported upstairs in a dumbwaiter for plating and serving.

The other banquet room, completed last fall, has seating for 125.

The sections of Spice that opened last June — the main dining room and the bar/lounge — are doing well, Bernstein said. In fact, the NECN food show, "TV Diner with Billy Costa," presented Spice with its 2007 Gold Plate Award for Excellent Dining.

"The food is fabulous, the physical plant works really well, and our service is improving daily," Bernstein said. "By the height of last summer, we were meeting all our expectations, and we did better than I expected this winter. In fact, we had a record-breaking day for the whole year in late February."

Recently, Spice started closing on Mondays during the slow season, she noted. On Memorial Day weekend, it will reopen on Mondays for at least the summer and fall. On Mother's Day, the restaurant will be opening on Sunday through the summer and fall. Right now, Spice is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday.

The main dining room seats 150, the bar/lounge seats 75.

The food operations — the kitchens, the dining areas, offices and storage — occupy the basement, first and second floors of the building at 273 North St. that once housed the former Besse-Clark store and, most recently, a Goodwill store. The food operations also occupy the basement and first floor of the building next door, at 297 North St., for a total of about 30,000 square feet. The second and third floors of that building house Bernstein's and Rosenthal's other business, Link to Life, which also occupies the third floor of the Besse-Clark building.

Two kitchens — one on the first floor and the other in the basement — occupy about 2,600 square feet. The basement includes storage, employee locker rooms, walk-in coolers and freezers, and offices.

Purchased in 2002 for $270,000, Bernstein and Rosenthal have invested more than $6 million in rehabilitating the building and in equipping and furnishing the food operations.

SPICE 297 North Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 413.443.1234
www.spice-restaurant.com