We attend an event in mid-Mass several times a year, and finding good food in that area is.....problematic. We have found the Casual Cafe in Sturbridge. It is owned by two ex-New Yorkers, one Italian-American and the other Japanese-American via Hawaii. They run a dinner house that offers nightly appetizer and pasta specials as well as Asian specialties and Italian plates. Rita makes the French/Italian bread and all of the desserts in house, and Karen cooks every plate to order. The cafe itself is tiny, and reservations are really a must other than in dead of winter. This idiosyncratic little wonder has garnered notice from Gourmet as well as from the Massachusetts press. Most of the people coming in the screen door are known by name, many are hugged, and Rita remembers who likes what and how they like it. (My husband is a pushover for Karen's Spaghetti Carbonara, and...surprise...it was frequently a special during times she knew he would be visiting. Now, as I recall, it has made permanent menu status.) The name says it all here... it is a casual place. But it survives because of the repeat business it gets for its "cooked with love" food, well chosen jazz and its warm welcome. Tell them that the Pilgrims sent you! Although we are from 3000 miles away, we are always remembered and treated like townfolk. Pilgrim
Massachusetts