On a weekend morning when the sun is shining and you aren’t forced to grab stale coffee as you jet out the door to work, enjoy a leisurely drive out of town past scenic landscapes to Strawbale Cafe in Westhampton, a weathered cabin on the edge of a family-owned farm. The plastic sign that hangs from the wood panels mirrors the casual, rustic feel of the breakfast cafe within. Seated at a table below the exposed wood beams and between the earth-toned walls, I felt like a guest in the kitchen of the Aliosi family’s farmhouse.
The “truth window” carved out in a corner of the dining room and the occasional stalk of straw poking through the wall are the only signs of what makes this structure unique and what gives credence to its name. Behind the plaster walls are 355 bales of straw. Purchased from a Pioneer Valley grower and stuffed between two layers of a natural mud plaster, the straw makes for excellent insulation, according to co-owner Leo Aliosi. The Strawbale Cafe is one of a handful of buildings in the state that have opted for the eco-friendly design.
The menu at Strawbale features local produce, and local means it was grown in the back yard. Fruits and vegetables picked from the garden are worked into classic breakfast favorites. The zucchini in my flavorful zucchini bread French toast was harvested from the garden last year and the syrup that had me scraping my plate for every last drop was bottled in the sugaring house next door.
The Florentine Eggs Benedict were equally tasty, with a creamy hollandaise sauce over a heap of fresh tomatoes, spinach and poached egg. Served with it were the key to any good breakfast: well-seasoned homefries on the side. The plates are simple, as is the d?cor, but excellent service and creative food combinations set the meal apart from the average breakfast at a diner. Other house favorites include baked eggs (with cottage cheese, shredded cheese and “other secret ingredients”) and baked oatmeal (with eggs, raisins and cranberries).
Outside the dining room, Strawbale is surrounded by 150 acres of farmland and forest that customers are encouraged to explore. Strawbale tends to be much busier during syrup-making season, from February until April, when the tubes that run from the Maples to the sugaring house are filled with fresh sap and Leo is showing tour groups how he makes his prized maple syrup. For those of us looking for a low-key breakfast, off-season means less of a wait and a fuller menu. But even then, Leo is happy to show those who are interested around.
Strawbale Cafe and the surrounding Hanging Mountain Farm is a family-run business to the core. Leo bought the farm from his father after having spent his childhood working on what was then a dairy farm. In 2001, Anita and Leo began what would be more than four years of laboring to complete the cafe under the direction of their youngest daughter Missa, an architect. Friends and family would gather on weekends to pack straw; eventually Anita brushed the mud concoction on the inner walls.
Leo and Anita continue to bottle the syrup that has poured from the maples on the farm for more than 100 years, making enough to sell and to use in the restaurant for the rest of the year. When the cafe first opened, the couple served a buffet breakfast and the dining room was only open during sugaring season until one day, as the season was coming to a close, a neighbor asked, “You wouldn’t mind keeping it open, would you?” So they did.
Today the Strawbale Cafe is open year-round on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. A range of classic breakfast dishes is served in addition to daily specials like my zucchini bread French toast. On this particular Sunday afternoon, a family is laughing around the unlit campfire and Leo has pulled up a chair to joke with customers before checking to make sure our meal was satisfying.
As the weekend hours come to a close, Anita is pulling the few stray weeds from the garden in the front and Leo is showing me where old taps had been pulled from the maple tree. He points to a small fruit and vegetable display near the road and reminds me that in this neighborhood, the Strawbale is still a farm stand—just a farm stand that has grown to include a kitchen, a dining room and a satisfying breakfast.”
Strawbale Cafe, 188 North Rd., Westhampton (413-527-3210), www.hangingmountainfarms.com.
