Berkshire Palate — Restaurant in Pittsfield

This restaurant looks beautiful online and the exposed brick, lighting and art were great. Unfortunately though, our food experience was poor. When we arrived the staff failed to acknowledge us for at least five minutes. The restaurant wasn't busy enough to excuse the inattentiveness. The staff were friendly when they did finally seat us. The roasted vegetable salad was unique and tasty. Unfortunately the beef brisket Flatbread was borderline inedible. The brisket wasn't brisket.. but instead was closer to the fat in pork belly. It was laced with chunks of fat with no brisket to be found. The cheese was wet and flavorless and the bread of the Flatbread also flavorless. I ordered salmon and requested it to be well done. Knowing that many people prefer their salmon rare, I specifically ordered well done. When the salmon arrived it was still transparent and could be described as quite rare. I asked for it to be thrown back in the oven or pan or broiler to bring it to my preference (fulling understanding the cooked level is preference). When the salmon finally returned to the table, everyone else had finished eating. The fish had clearly been microwaved and was somehow still transparent in the middle. We fully understand that food and taste often come down to personal preference and so I hope to be objective in this review to help others. The butternut squash ravioli was good, the sides on the salmon dish were truly delicious and the shrimp and garlic meal, while small, was delicious. Another troubling part of our experience was watching the bus boy (wearing ear buds and often dancing through the dining room) serving all tables in dining room from the same water jug and carelessly touching the rim of the water jug to everyone's tumblers during covid. It felt like this restaurant is at a moderately high price point and packages itself as an upscale location, but misses the mark on service, food quality, and consistency. We are tourists who were enticed by a beautiful location and unique menu, but were disappointed by the lack of quality and consistency in providing good dishes. Value for money wasn't...

Where to begin.. I used Berkshire Palate catering for my baby shower in February, what a mistake this was! I’ll only pull a few highlights as there is just a list of items that are disappointing.

-They were supposed to set up the event space and it was not set up, not a table or chair was in sight. My shower was supposed to start at 11 AM with a charcuterie board. This was not put out until 11:20. -The charcuterie board was lackluster and so scarce of food that my guest didn’t want to eat it as they were afraid there wasn’t enough food for everyone. -The fruit was a joke. They put out brown bananas and green oranges for people to eat. -The description of the board said the cheeses would be from Highland Farms. It looked like everything was purchased from the supermarket, which would be fine if they actually put enough of the cheeses, crackers and fruit out. -The brunch food was set out to eat at 11:25.. Just five minutes after the charcuterie board was placed. -The food wasn’t hot as the sternos were not given enough time to preheat. -The food that was served they should be embarrassed about, it looked unappealing to say the least. -The “roasted potatoes” were frozen diced potatoes that were thrown in a fryer and over fried -The pancakes looked awful, they were crumbly and thrown in the pan -The crab cake sliders - were not sliders (what I was upcharge for), they were quarter sized bites that were charred. They were so burnt my guests didn’t even know what they were!

It was just one thing after another the whole day and I could continue with a list. When I spoke to the owner Paul, he had countless excuses and did offer his apologies. However, you only get one event and I am beyond disappointed with the catering services that I received.

I just want everyone to be aware of the catering services that Berkshire Palate / 413 Bistro offers as everything sounds and looks great on paper and in photos but when it comes down to the actual event it is nothing but pure disappointment. I would NOT recommend using them for...

Great concepts with the food here, but unreliable execution and even less reliable service.

We've eaten here several times, and have always been impressed by the creativity of the menu and often enjoyed some lovely presentation. There are some truly inspired combinations and they do change things up frequently to keep things interesting.

Unfortunately, out some half dozen lunches and dinners, we've only had a really great dining experience a couple of times. Partly this is due to undertrained serving staff -- or staff who doesn't quite comprehend the concept of working hard or paying attention to customers or what they're being served. Partly this is due to the kitchen running out of ingredients (pecans for a salad, a cut of meat for an entree, etc.) which may be beyond their control. And partly this is due to mistakes in the kitchen (undercooked or overcooked items, ingredients listed on the menu but not included in what's served, etc.). On the two occasions when we actually received everything we ordered very nicely prepared, and the kitchen, bar, and serving staff were all on-the-ball as well, it was a five-star experience without a doubt. :-)

It's just that, when we're paying $35 for a small-portioned entree and upwards of $100 total for our two meals, we would expect a bit more consistency and quality in both preparation and service at Berkshire Palate than their hitting the mark only 30% of the time.

My wife hopes that once inflation and supply problems begin to settle down in the future, we might have better luck at Berkshire Palate. I would love that, because I think the chef has great ideas...