Butternuts
195 Russell St. (Rte. 9), Hadley, 413-586-0234
Tue.-Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Entrèes to $24.99
The ritual of finding a table, sitting down, smiling at your friends and looking at the menu is interrupted by a new pressure on the restaurant industry to turn the experience into a manifesto on sustainability, local dining, allergy warnings and helpful hints on what to order if you’re feeling guilty/fat/indecisive. The menu at Butternut’s in Hadley provides such a treatise—and offers decent, very creative local food into the bargain.
At Butternuts, “gotcha” dining takes place in a box-store-sized restaurant that serves generous, rich portions of everything, from deep fried squid to a full rack of lamb to crème brulee. Celebrating a promotion or other milestone such as the end of the week? Go for it with an all-out feast. But caveat emptor: the choice of one of these temptations comes with a poke in the form of a little icon. The “gotcha” part comes when ordering something like Beaujolais braised lamb shank (C + heart icon) or tuna Nicoise (C + heart icon) or stuffed acorn squash (C + heart icon + V). C is for celiac friendly, required for those allergic to gluten. Heart icon is heart-healthy, meaning no cheese or other fat. V is vegan, meaning no meat, no dairy.
My monkfish medallions featured a ragout of hen-of-the-woods mushrooms foraged by a local vendor. This ingredient provided an earthy finish in the wine sauce which gave the monkfish a rich, lobsterlike flavor. It was superb. Owner Andy Sussman doesn’t mind the itinerant forager with the sack on his back knocking on the delivery door of his kitchen.
To a local, knowing that the potatoes are all from the Szawlowski Farm in Hatfield might be about as useful as knowing that the senior center is hosting a costume contest. But to the visitor to the Valley, it might be wildly interesting. Sussman buys from Szaw because his father, a grocer from Connecticut, did. TGIF and Ruby Tuesday can’t advertise such homey associations, try as they may.
Soups of the day included a butternut bisque made with a lobster base and a vegan soup. The bisque is delicious and a staple during fall when the restaurant’s namesake squash is in season. In spring, it is replaced with a seasonal asparagus soup. The vegan soup consisted of carrot, onions and broccoli in a seasoned vegetable broth. Although “vegan” might bring to mind miso, tofu and other soy-based ingredients, this had none—rather, a pedigree stock providing the complex flavors.
We also ordered oysters Romney: baked mollusks served with a spinach-artichoke filling. This is not a bad choice for those who love shellfish but disdain the brine-in-your-face that comes with raw oysters. The dish is listed with a C next to it; in other words, no bread.
What’s up, Andy? It’s one thing to be calorie conscious or avoid wheat due to the shock to one’s system, but on this menu it’s information overload. Just when you envision biting into a meaty tendon of lamb chop with crispy-smooth fat and swirling it down with a balloon glass of red, there’s a deflating big C icon and a heart icon (rice vs. buttery potatoes).
Not only is Butternuts is at the top of its game providing a dietary public service; there are deals to be had. Tabs totaling over $30 get a $5 discount and $10 comes off checks of more than $50. During Andy’s birthday month (January), all appetizers are half off. And if you always wanted to know, “What’s in this stuff, anyway?” but were afraid to ask, you’ve come to the right place.
