The new Petrino's Cafe on Main Street in North Adams opens Monday, the day after Easter.

In an earlier posting, iBerkshires  incorrectly special invitation-only event. We apologize for any confusion. (If we're invited to an open house, we assume everybody else is, too. It actually was a preview. oops.)

But the cafe will open to the general public two days later.

Anyone walking by Main Street can see the work that's been going on inside. The floors have been refinished, the kitchen expanded and reconfigured and a the deli case is right up front when you walk in. We can't wait to see the menu.

Petrino's is opening the space occupied by the Cup & Saucer for several years.

Anyone calling Moulton's Pizza in North Adams got a new message: "Hi, this  is Supreme Pizza, formerly Moulton's."

The new salutation — along with new, slimmed-down menu — began earlier this week but the transformation began taking place some two months ago when Antonio's Pizza Group bought out owner Turgut Aydin. Area residents will also be getting the new menu in the mail.

The restaurant is open to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 on Friday and Saturday.

Manager Spencer Leonard said the group was bringing the same sensiblity to North Adams as it has to the original's Amherst — deliver fresh, healthy products in a reasonable time to a college town. Everything that can be made from scratch, will be.

"Our pizza dough is made here, our pitas are made fresh, too, and they take a lot of time to do, and are garlic bread as well, that's a lot of work," he said. The first order was cutting down the unwieldy menu of 263 items by 100 by talking to customers. "We really attacked that."

The result is a menu with more vegetarian options, including gourmet pizzas, and discontinuing some of the Greek and Turkish choices in favor of more Southwestern flavors. The pizzeria is also offering Fuze drinks over soda as more healthy alternative. Soup will still be available as a daily choice, but not clam chowder to start.

In addition to college students, Leonard said the pizzeria will focus on offering healthier fare for the working lunch crowd and specials for the budget conscious.

The delivery area has been whittled down to ensure faster service: All of North Adams, Clarksburg and Williamstown, and limited deliver to Adams with a $10 minimum.

The group has brought in new equipment and the position of expeditor to ensure quality, accuracy and timeliness in orders, and is stressing customer service. It's mostly new staff, including assistant manager Jessica Wells, with a couple holdovers from the previous management.

The name of "Supreme" was settled on after the new management learned there had been other Anthony/Antonios in the area and its working with city on signage. Leonard would also like to see the Main Street side of the building put to better use, such as having meal preparation moved to the front window so passers-by could see the action. That's off in the future but the area, which had been used for storage, has been cleaned out.

Aydin, who operated the pizzeria under the Moulton's banner since fall 2006, said back in January it was time to retire and do some fishing. He stayed on for several weeks as the new management took over.

The building on the corner of Eagle and Main streets, once the location of Rice's Drugstore, is still owned by the Moulton family and was briefly operated by them when the Pizza House closed in that location.

"We've gotten a very positive response," said Leonard.

North Adams Regional Hospital has revamped the way it delivers meals to provide patients a better dining experience.

The dietary department switched to room service at the beginning of the month, abandoning a long tradition of assembly-line meals that worked in the days when the kitchen fed well more than 140 patients a day.

Changes in health care over the years mean fewer patients being admitted and shorter stays for the ones who are. With a patient count averaging around 40, it made more sense to re-orient meals around their needs, rather than keep them on the kitchen's schedule, said dietitian Kristin Irace.

"The patients love it," said Irace. "We've been getting tons of good comments from doctors, too."

Irace showed us around the new layout on Friday and demonstrated how the meals are entered as patients call in their orders from the menu.

"They can have anything they want as long as their diets allow it," she said. In other words, just because it's on the menu, doesn't mean you can eat it.

The computerized ordering system automatically keeps track of caloric intake, salt limits or other dietary restrictions. Prohibited items are grayed out on the screen.

That may be a disappointment for say, diabetics, but for the average patient, the menu offers a variety of hot and cold entrees, from breakfast sandwiches to fruit platters to homemade meatloaf. Also on the menu are items off the grill, create-your-own-pasta dishes, deli sandwiches and soups. Specials are offered, too, depending on what the cafeteria is offering.

The trifold menu is easy to read and the cover is a still life by local artist Ed Carson, whose work is exhibited at the hospital.

Patients can dial 5500 anytime between 7 a.m. and 6:15 p.m., when they're ready to eat. Their diet and ability to order is indicated on their admission charts; the computers can be taken to patients who have trouble ordering over the phone.

They can also order one meal for a visitor at a cost of $5 or $3 for breakfast.

The orders are tracked through a bar code system: Once the order is entered into the computer, an order slip with a bar code is printed to the cook and server. The slip is scanned when the meal tray is completed and again before it leaves the kitchen.

The wait to get trays out at mealtimes is 10 minutes or 10 trays, whichever comes first, said Irace. "This ensures meals are getting to patients within 45 minutes or less."

The new dishware and equipment required for the change to "At Your Request"  dining, including a fast-heating charger, was provided by Sodexo, the company that's operated the dietary department for two decades.

"Meals are something that the patients can control in a situation that may difficult for them," said Irace. "It's gives them some comfort, so that's nice."

Umm, good. Hancock Shaker Village served lunch in the Brick Dwelling on Tuesday.

The media and guests invited to the announcement of Hancock Shaker Village's 50th anniversary programs got a pleasant surprise on Tuesday: Lunch.

"Oooh," I thought discovering the set trestle tables into the sunlit dining room in the historic Brick Dwelling. "Are they going to feed us?"

It could have been for someone else; we could have been hustled off to a room somewheres. But the villagers are a hospitable folk so I didn't think they'd tease us like that.

For most reporters, a chance to sit down for a nice meal in the middle of the day is a luxury. We're usually on our way to event, at an event or coming back from an event. Meal times can be erratic. It was nice to eat a lunch before 4 that's more than a muffin., said a colleague next to me.

The village Harvest Cafe's chef Michael Roller, formerly of Blantyre and operator of Samel's Deli, served up a wonderful tomato soup with onions, chicken pot pie and caramel apple dessert.

The soup was rich, creamy and flavorful. I had to shoo away the poor server twice because he was trying to clear the table while I was taking notes, shooting pictures and eating at the same time. There was no way that cup was going back into the kitchen with a drop of soup still in it.

The pot pie was hearty with a buttery pastry topping; the dessert was to die for. Luckily they didn't offer seconds because I would have shamelessly indulged. An hour tour of the village afterward helped walk off the meal.

I give Hancock Shaker Village five stars for a great lunch and even better conversation, since we happened to sit with the always informative Director of Education Todd Burdick, who filled us in on Shaker eating habits. 

Gramercy Bistro has settled into its new location in the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts complex in North Adams.

The restaurant had a soft opening this past Friday in the space formerly occupied by Cafe Latino. Owned by chef Alexander "Sandy" Smith, the restaurant first opened in 2001 on Marshall Street and seated about 60 after renovations a few years ago.

The new location offers a more comfortable layout and adds about a dozen more seats in the bar area and allows expansion into a patio during the summer. The somewhat spare decor of Cafe Latino has given way to a more luxurious look, with creamy yellow walls and charcoal shades on the many windows. White tableclothes, gleaming dinnerware and upholstered booths gives the space a more classic feel.

"We really wanted it to be fresh and new," said Sarah Smith on Wednesday. "We wanted to make it our own."

The restaurant's added on a lunch menu on Wednesdays through Saturdays from noon to 2 and a brunch on Sundays from 11 to 2 with menu items including apple pancakes and eggs benedict. The bar will be open from noon until midnight, offering a small menu of light fare between meal periods and after dinner service ends. The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays for the winter, but will be open seven days from July to October.

In a statement, Alexander Smith described the opening as exciting. "We have been looking to grow for a while, and when the space became available it was the perfect opportunity," he wrote. "We'll have more seating for our growing dinner business, seasonal outdoor seating, and a kitchen that can accommodate more meal periods."

Sarah Smith said the restaurant's opening days have gone well. "We've gotten a lot of good response from our existing clientele."

The bistro will continue to offer contemporary classics and its strong commitment buying fresh, local ingredients as a member of Berkshire Grown. Gramercy also offers full catering service. It's Web site is currently being revamped.

Cafe Latino closed in September when its lease was up. The restaurant and its predecessor, Eleven, were both owned by Nancy Thomas and Bo Peabody of Mezze Inc.