Mezze Bistro + Bar in Williamstown will take on an Irish feel Sunday for St. Patrick’s Day when they will feature Irish dishes as part of Comfort Sunday, a prix-fixe dinner special that runs from November to mid-May. (Photo by Jason Houston)
Saturday March 16, 2013

Some North County restaurants will serve Irish cuisine this weekend in honor of St. Patrick's Day, which falls on Sunday.

According to Nancy Thomas, co-founder and owner of Mezze Bistro + Bar in Williamstown, because the holiday falls on a Sunday, the restaurant will feature Irish dishes as part of Comfort Sunday, a prix-fixe dinner special that runs from November to mid-May. The menu offers two courses for $20 or three courses for $25.

Additionally, Chef Joji Sumi's mother was Irish and preparing Irish food is part of his heritage, Thomas said.

"I feel that comfort foods are the dishes that our families cooked at home," Thomas said. "This Sunday's menu is truly a Comfort Sunday."

The first course will include bangers and mash, veal knackwurst, and potato puree and onion jus. The second course will feature house-made corned beef brisket, boiled potatoes, cabbage, and carrots and horseradish cream.

Thomas said that Mezze is a "farm to table restaurant" that purchases its meat from local farmers. For Sunday's menu, the beef will come from Kim Wells at Eastern Mountain Farm in Williamstown and the veal will come from Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown. The cabbage is being supplied by Mighty Food Farm in Pownal, Vt.

"The menu for this Sunday reflects the values of the restaurant and keeps in the spirit of Irish heritage," Thomas said.

Colleen Taylor, co-owner of The Freight Yard Pub in North Adams, said

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the pub has traditionally celebrated St. Patrick's Day every year for the entire 21 years she's been there.

Corned beef and cabbage will be on the menu because it's the traditional meal that is served in the United States on St. Patrick's Day.

Freight Yard will also serve Guinness beef stew, which they started making a year and a half ago and now sell regularly. Taylor said that since Guinness is made in Ireland, they decided the dish would be fun to serve for the holiday.

"People really seem to enjoy the taste for it," she said. "If you have that type of palate, you tend to taste the Guinness in the stew."

Freight Yard will serve their St. Patrick's Day specialties all weekend, accompanied by Irish bands and green beer.

"St. Patrick's Day is really popular here in the USA," Taylor said. "Even if you're not Irish, you're Irish on this day. It's a celebratory kind of feeling that in mid-March is kind of needed."